


A Brush With Death

by Suteruben



Category: One Piece
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Friendship, Funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-31 01:11:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 78
Words: 647,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6449530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suteruben/pseuds/Suteruben
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dangerous was an understatement, a huge, huge understatement. The day they met, the moment their eyes first locked, she'd never had her body warn her as strongly as it did then of just how dangerous crossing paths with this man would be. This brush with Death would change her life. Slow burn, smutty/lemony, LawxOC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A close encounter with Death

The landscape of Sabaody Archipelago was misguiding; serene and peaceful in appearance, despite what went on there and the nature of its visitors.

Looking around appreciatively at the soothing green and blue hues of the landscape and enjoying the gentle, consistent pops of distant bubbles, she couldn't help but think what a shame it was that such a beautiful looking 'island' was home to some of the worst activities that went on in the world.

Her deep and thoughtful reverie was broken by the obnoxious sound of cheap beer swilling back to the bottom of the bottle of her current company followed by an equally obnoxious; "Ahhh" of satisfaction.

She narrowed her eyes at him. Here she was quietly contemplating the wrongs of the world surrounding them in full view and there he was seemingly oblivious to it all, catching an early afternoon buzz.

Wiping away the overspill from his mouth with the back of his hand, he raised a brow at her expression. "What?"

"Nothing, Zoro." She sighed out.

"Want some? I did offer." He asked her, tilting his half empty bottle in her direction.

"Nah I'm...meh alright, I'll have a little." Taking the bottle he offered her, she promptly grabbed the edge of his open shirt and wiped the rim his mouth had just been on before slipping the bottle to her own lips with a sly smile. Awaiting the rebuttal.

"Oi oi, what's that about?! Don't act like I have cooties or something after I offer you my drink, little jerk." He leant down and with a little more force than necessary, rest his elbow on top of her head to emphasise his point. Nearly spitting out what small amount of alcohol she'd managed to get into her mouth before his elbow rudely contacted the top of her head, she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her as she looked up at his annoyed face.

"Awww, I don't think you have cooties Zoro, sweetheart." She cooed, gently removing his arm from its currently draped position over her scalp.

Uh-oh. That nickname, that honeyed tone, that low octave, those bedroom eyes. He looked at her, nervously anticipating her next action, knowing where this was going already but optimistically hoping he was wrong.

A teasing smile took her lips as she maintained eye contact with him, lifted the rim of the bottle back to her mouth and slowly, deliberately placed her lips around it, tilted her head back gently and allowed the liquid to slip into her mouth, making an obvious show of swallowing every mouthful. She even had the nerve to emit a quiet satisfied hum as she removed the bottle from her mouth.

It took a considerable amount of willpower not to audibly gulp at the less than subtle tease as she leant in closer to him, leaning her hand on the arm that she had removed from her head...bringing his attention to the fact that she had never actually released him and that he had been so suckered into her little display that he hadn't even realised.

"On the contrary, I'm quite happy to prove how eager I am to swap spit with you...in another context." She purred close to his face, happily noting his current fixation on her lips as they moved.

"C-Cut it out, dammit!" Pulling away with a deep blush blooming on his face, Zoro moved his eyes off of her, to anywhere but her, that damn woman.

Her laughter made him reluctantly look at her again from the corner of his eyes as he found himself unable to help but wonder how such a warm and innocent sounding thing could come from such a devious little creature.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." She managed to say in between her subsiding giggles. "Here, want this back?" She tilted the bottle towards him, which he grudgingly accepted, muttering under his breath as he continued walking ahead of her. His response, apparently worthy of another round of deceptively sweet-sounding laughter, much to his annoyance.

Lifting the bottle back to his own lips for a swig, he stopped short when he felt the sensation of being watched. Zoro didn't allow the stutter in his movement to last more than a split second and resumed taking a drink. He didn't want whoever was watching them right now to realise that he was aware of it just yet and tried to subtly use his peripheral vision to catch sight of whatever had gotten his gut into a mild twist.

He'd heard a scuffle up ahead a few minutes ago but hadn't seen anything past the crowd gathered up there. He hadn't paid it much mind. This many pirates, bounty hunters, kidnappers, marines and big egos in one place? Scuffles had been breaking out constantly since they'd got there.

His predatorial scanning of the people ahead was interrupted when she caught up and fell back into pace with him as they walked, looping her arm through his free left one and beaming up at him with a big smile on her face, obviously pleased with herself. He rolled his eyes at her in response but he'd miss her antics, he always did, even if she did poke fun at him. That smile though, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she was as they continued their aimless stroll through the streets of the archipelago.

"Hey Zoro, let's do something fun before we part ways, ok?" Thankful that her voice had stopped his train of thought at simply appreciating the fact that she had a pretty face, he chuckled, finishing the last drops of the beer in his bottle before tossing it neatly into a nearby public trash can.

"Sure, fun like what? Pick a fight? Find a good bar?" He asked, looking down at her with a positively demonic grin of his own at the thought of a good fight.

"Hmmm, more like let's visit that huge amusement park and buy super sweet and fatty things to regret we ate later on?" She asked, looking up at him pleadingly.

Zoro was certain that the additional squeeze of his arm and pressing of her breasts against it was absolutely not accidental. 'Beautiful' was soon replaced with 'manipulative wench' in his mind as he looked at her but he eventually folded at the hopeful look in her eyes and sighed in defeat. "Fine, not really my thing but seeing as we won't be meeting up for a whil-" He stopped abruptly in his tracks, gaze fixed forward and body tense.

Coming to a stop beside him, she followed his line of sight to a small group of people walking towards them. The other people on the street were parting around them, eagerly trying to stay out of their way. She counted at least five men, all wearing some sort of white boilersuit, one...bear...in an orange version and in front, a man in casual wear with a strikingly large Nodachi slung across his shoulder. They were about 30 feet away.

She couldn't feel any malicious intent coming from them but wasn't going to question Zoro's instincts on this. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on his arm as she cautiously watched the men walking towards them, looking for any sudden movement that may give away intention to attack but saw none.

25 feet away.

She could already tell to keep her focus on the man in front, the one with the Nodachi, he was clearly the leader of this group and no attack would come without him commanding or initiating it she reasoned. They still didn't look to her as though they would but she couldn't seem to help the irrational rise of her heart rate as they drew closer.

20 feet away.

He was tall, very tall, certainly over six feet...she barely managed to get past five herself. Olive complexion, pierced ears - the gold was glinting in the early afternoon sunlight. A smug smirk above a neatly maintained goatee was all that could be seen from the shadows that fell from beneath the brim of his hat.

15 feet away.

His hoodie was concealing lean muscle, that she was sure of. He was stronger than his slim frame suggested, if the size of his weapon was any indication. She could only imagine how much it actually weighed.

10 feet away.

Taking in the tattoos across his exposed forearms and hand, she read "DEATH" across the fingers clasping the Nodachi to his shoulder as he came closer..."DEATH" was approaching her...the wording of her thought unsettled her a little bit. The man's smirk seemed to widen at that, as if he could hear her morbid thought as clearly as if she had said it out loud. She was starting to feel the anxiety that Zoro clearly felt if the clenched jaw she saw in her peripheral vision was anything to go by but she didn't dare remove her focus from the man approaching them.

5 feet away.

The man looked up then, tilting the brim of his hat back and as if he had known exactly where to direct it, his gaze immediately locked with hers. A paralysing clash of steel grey to her own dark blue. At the exact same moment their eyes met, a large hand slammed onto her waist and pulled her in close. Startled by the timing and suddenness of the contact initially, she quickly realised Zoro had drawn her further into his side protectively. She looked at him then but he didn't return her gaze; he looked like he was trying to maintain a calm demeanour but she knew he probably wasn't far off from snarling at the approaching man.

0 feet away.

The man...she quickly looked back at him, finding his eyes had never left hers and to find him and his group were right in front of them. He easily towered over her, she barely reached the bottom of his nose in heeled boots and he wasn't even stood at full height. Her breath caught...But there was no pause, no hesitation in his movements. He and his group fluidly walked to the side of them to avoid collision. Oblivious or uncaring of the tension-filled standoff their presence had caused, completely at ease.

He was side to side with her now as he made his way past, his arm tauntingly close to her own. She could feel his body heat but there was barely any physical contact, only the faintest possible brush of his skin on hers.

He never broke eye contact. Though his face remained forword his eyes simply slipped into a side-glance to hold her gaze hostage.

His smirk never faltered and his lips never parted to speak.

He reached his hand up then.

Zoro tensed to such a degree at the movement that she was certain the grip he had on her waist would bruise.

But no attack came.

He cordially tipped his hat, as a polite gentleman would, his smirk widening ever so slightly before he returned his gaze forward and continued to walk past her at his own pace.

...

She was certain she had forgotten how to breathe, when had she stopped? When had the street around them been muted and replaced with the horribly loud rushing sound of her own blood past her ears? When had her mouth gotten so dry? She was shocked at how strongly her body had reacted to this encounter. Had she been that scared or was it just anticipation and excitement for a possible confrontation?...She'd like to believe it was the latter.

That man's body language, he had exuded confidence and power with every stride. His eyes...they were an amazing colour, an unusual hue of blue, nearly grey. Their intensity was something else too; they had pierced and locked her in place. She couldn't help but feel as though he were assessing her, testing her and reading her simultaneously.

The most striking feature of this casually dressed, leisurely paced, seemingly calm and powerful man had undoubtedly been the alarming but subtle glint of madness in his eyes. He was dangerous.

Brought back to her surroundings when she heard the telltale clink of metal to metal as one of Zoro's swords slid back into its sheath, she realised she'd not even noticed he'd begun to draw his weapon. When had he pushed the hilt of that sword with his thumb to begin unsheathing it? Was it when the guy reached for his hat? Or when he lifted his head and looked at her? She hadn't even heard or felt him do it.

Zoro released the breath that apparently he had been holding as well, removed his hand from her waist and looked at her. Neither of them said anything for a moment as they allowed the adrenaline to leave their systems.

He looked down the street at the backs of the men who had passed them; they were already some distance away. Had they always been moving at that pace? It seemed to have taken them an eternity to pass by. Deciding they were far away enough to disregard for now, Zoro looked back at her and she was surprised to see the mild annoyance on his features.

"What?" She wasn't surprised however to hear the crack in her voice as she spoke, her mouth felt like parchment at the moment.

"Why do you always, _literally_ , attract trouble?" He grumbled before turning to walk on ahead of her.


	2. Attracting trouble

She stopped picking at the light lunch she had ordered for herself in favour of glancing across the table in the booth at Zoro. He'd not ordered a meal, opting only for another drink, which he was currently guzzling down in his usual iron-liver manner. Going back to rearranging the finely chopped components of her salad with her fork, she returned to her own thoughts as he remained silent.

They had both decided to visit Sabaody Park a little later, or tomorrow perhaps. The idea of more booze and some lunch seemed more appealing at the moment. There was on odd feeling of unease after their encounter with 'Mr. Death' earlier, as she'd mentally dubbed him, after his distinctly tattooed knuckles.

Zoro was annoyed. Annoyed he couldn't put a name to that guy even though he knew he had seen him somewhere before, annoyed the guy had made no move to warrant taking a swing at him with one of his swords, annoyed at the smug look on the guy's face, annoyed at how his own presence had been completely ignored as if he were no threat at all, annoyed at the way the man had looked at her - and annoyed that that had annoyed him. It had piqued some misplaced possessiveness of her on his part. Overall, he was annoyed about the whole encounter.

The man they ran into had to fit into one of the limited number of categories of people on the archipelago. He was no civilian, that was for sure. Certainly no marine. Kidnappers didn't exactly have uniforms like the other men that had been with him nor did they usually require a Nodachi of that size for what they commonly hunted down. Bounty hunters didn't travel in groups that large, splitting a bounty amongst that many people would be pointless, he would know.

The fact that man's face had seemed familiar probably meant he had a bounty poster that he would have glanced at in one of the papers the News Coos delivered to the ship or perhaps he'd seen it in a fleeting glance when walking past bulletin boards and walls with various bounties posted up.

Either way the logical conclusion was that 'the creep,' as Zoro mentally dubbed him, was a pirate.

Visiting the amusement park tomorrow would be wiser and he was itching to suggest _definitely_ postponing it until then or even later but he didn't know how long it'd take for her to find a new ship heading in her direction to board. Maybe days from now, maybe she'd happen across one as soon as this evening...But if they went to the amusement park now, he wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy himself with her if he had to keep looking over his shoulder knowing that creep was probably still out and about today, skulking around.

It wasn't that Zoro didn't feel confident enough to protect her if she needed it, it was simply that he didn't want what short time they did have left together to be taken up by having to do it...She'd probably smack him if she could hear his thoughts though, despite her small frame, she was actually quite capable of defending herself...but still, this guy, this weird creep was in a different league. He could feel as much from their brief interaction this afternoon. He could feel as much from over thirty feet away.

Placing his new empty bottle onto the table's surface, Zoro glanced at her. She seemed to be deep in thought about their encounter too; he couldn't help but feel a little bad about that. Maybe he hadn't been a reassuring enough presence. He shouldn't have tensed up as much as he did; he probably made her feel as though he couldn't handle the situation. Maybe he made her feel it wasn't safe enough with just him around? Though Zoro had wanted it to be just the two of them - god knows that annoying cook had been all over her, maybe he should grab someone else from the crew to help her feel more secure in case they ran into that guy again. He didn't want her to be wasting her energy worrying, he wanted her to go back to enjoying their time together before they parted ways, carefree and full of smiles that promised nothing but mischief, as always.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to offer some words of reassurance he noticed the corner of her mouth was lifted into the start of what he was sure, was a poorly suppressed, devilish grin.

"No." He deadpanned.

She looked up at him from her plate, blinking innocently. "I'm sorry, what?"

"No." Zoro repeated more firmly, putting his hand down onto the booth's table in emphasis.

"But I-"

"No."

"I didn't even say or do anything." She pouted, putting her fork down and leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed.

"Yet! No." He said sternly, locking eyes with her. She opened her mouth to retort but he beat her to it. "Whatever it is that you were thinking of, whatever it was, do not do it, do not say it, do not act on it, do not think about it. Just. No."

"...Do you even want to know what it was?" She asked, resting her chin on both hands, elbows on the table and leaning towards him with a grin.

"No."

"I was thinkin-"

"No."

"He's kinda hot." She cut to the chase, grin widening in anticipation of what was sure to be an entertaining response.

Zoro looked at her incredulously then, mouth agape, as if she had just announced to him that she was pregnant with mutant kitten hybrids and that they would grow up to rule this world with an iron claw. How her thoughts had gone from the frank fear he _knew_ she had felt in that man's presence to; "He's kinda hot," was beyond him. It seemed as though her thoughts travelled with the same directional prowess as he did...though he'd never admit his inept sense of direction out loud.

After a moment of stunned silence he groaned and leant back against the plush cushioning of the booth's bench, shielding his eyes with one hand, already feeling a headache coming on from the hundreds of questions that instantly arose in his mind after hearing her outlandish statement.

Opting to address none of them, he chose to respond with a simple and tired sounding; "...You have the most fucked up taste in men."

She laughed and leant forward across the table to reach for the hand over his eyes, pulling it away from his face and smiling at him.

"Don't say that Zoro...or you'd be in the same category you know." She said, purring the last half of that sentence at him from her close proximity.

"Cannot believe I was worried about you, feeling sorry for you even. I'm such a moron."

"You're such a sweet moron though." She said softly, releasing his hand in favour of using hers to stroke his check affectionately.

"Y-You're not supposed to agree with me, damn it." He grouched, pushing her away, crossing his arms in annoyance and turning to look elsewhere as she sat there unfazed and giggling. No doubt, at the second blush she had managed to elicit from him that afternoon.

"...Hey, you still wanna go to that amusement park with me?" She spoke up after a moment's pause.

Hearing the small chime of hope in her voice, Zoro glanced back at her from his sudden interest in attempting to glare holes into the wall across the room and sighed at her badly hidden and barely contained excitement at the prospect of childish fun and sweets. She really did have a way of melting him, with or without intending to.

She seemed in good spirits, more than good, unaffected by this afternoon or already recovered he wasn't sure...It was probably very unlikely that creepy guy would be lurking inside the park itching for a fight anyway. Even if he were, Zoro would be ready for him; he wasn't going to let that fuzzy hat-wearing weirdo spoil what could be his last day with her. He didn't know when they'd next be able to cross paths like this, now that he was travelling by sea as a wanted pirate. It had been hard enough to catch up with her once in a while when he had been travelling by land as a law-abiding bounty hunter...though she would argue that that had been because of his terrible sense of direction.

"Yeah...let's go." He reached into his pocket and lay down the money they owed for the meal and drink onto the table before getting up.

Gleefully following suit, she straightened out her clothing and adjusted the weapons on her hip as she stood before catching up to him to walk towards the door together. After a few steps he pulled back a little, closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair as he spoke next.

"Nayla."

"Hmm?" Stopping and glancing back at him, she wondered what it was that was on his mind that he was obviously reluctant in voicing.

"...Promise me something, alright?" He opened his eyes to make firm eye contact with her.

"Sure Zoro, what is it?" She turned fully to him, waiting to find out what had him so serious again all of a sudden.

"Don't go looking for that guy. I have no doubt he's a pirate, a strong one. He's trouble."

Taking in the level of concern on his face, she nodded solemnly in agreement before responding seriously as she took the last step towards the small bar's exit. "No, I know and of course I won't...But-" She reached for the door, smiling mischievously over her shoulder at him. "-I never did make a habit of looking for trouble, it just always seems to find me. You said it yourself, I _attract_ it."

Rolling his eyes and groaning, Zoro followed her outside and back onto the street, that cheeky smile on her face giving him the sudden, overwhelming feeling that this was going to be a long and tiring day.


	3. Heavy metal

Huffing indignantly, she trudged on in the general direction she knew she needed to go in, alone.

No, she hadn't let her attention slip from Zoro for more than five seconds and turned around to find he had wandered off and gotten lost. She had anticipated _that_ move, learnt that lesson the hard way, many, many times in all the years she'd known him.

What she hadn't anticipated however, was his idiotic captain, riding a fish in midair, to extend one long, rubbery arm and literally haul him along for the ride whilst screaming something about kidnappers and mermaids that she wasn't quite able to coherently piece together in her shock. Leaving her halfway to Sabaody Park, alone, gawking at the sky like an idiot and wondering if she was experiencing a very peculiar acid trip.

"What. The absolute. Fuck?" She muttered to herself, closing her eyes and trying to curb her temper, still seeing the afterimage of a struggling Zoro being hoisted into the sky kicking and screaming.

She couldn't entirely understand how such a serious man like Zoro had landed such a goofy captain, no matter how many times he tried to explain to her his ironic situation of pirate hunter turned pirate. Don't get her wrong, it only took a minute in Luffy's presence to understand that he was a good guy - as good as they came, right down to his core and very likeable and reliable when it came to it...but the kid was a poster child for Ritalin.

Having seen which way the uh...fish had gone, she headed in that direction at her own speed, knowing that whatever chaos was happening at her destination, she was better off missing the most of it. It was nothing Zoro and his crew couldn't handle and she had no intention of getting involved if she wasn't needed. She was no pirate and had no desire to be openly affiliated with a notorious crew in a conflict and donned with a bounty for it as a result.

'Guess the amusement park will have to wait,' she pouted, mentally promising to make Zoro buy her a huuuge amount of candy once they finally made it there to make this up to her, even if it wasn't really his fault that he got abducted by a flying fish.

Startled when something white suddenly and roughly shoved her shoulder, she looked up to see the back of a marine as he ran past her. To his credit, he did turn and call back a rushed apology as he carried on hurrying down the road, though she soon saw more marines run past her one by one, following their comrade. 'Four, five...seven...twelve...twenty...thirt-oh, what the hell Luffy, seriously? What has he done now?' She inwardly groaned.

Marines continued to pour past, running at top speed but she kept her leisurely pace, slowed down even, wasn't too far off of dragging her feet in fact. She really, really didn't want to know what was going on up ahead but she could already see a mass of white uniforms in the not so distant distance.

Taking in the pandemonium as she approached, she tried to piece together what nonsense Zoro's crew had caused or gotten involved in this time. The first thing of note, aside from the horrendous noise level caused by the screams, shouts and gunfire, was the large crowd of rather wealthy and noble-looking people being ushered her direction and away from the scene. Beyond them was a vast clearing with a large building situated in the middle of it, surrounded by marines.

Whatever was going on, it hadn't finished yet, she'd have to wait to retrieve Zoro and resume her day. Disappointed but deciding to try to be patient and make the most of this turn of events she looked around for a suitable, safe spot to enjoy the show. She settled for standing at the edge of the clearing behind one of the larger trees, far enough behind the marines that she wouldn't be in the line of fire nor encourage any of them to try to evacuate her further back for her own safety.

Just about able to see through a gap in their ranks, she spotted Luffy almost immediately. No surprise there, of course he was spearheading whatever this confrontation with the marines was about. A captain like Luffy and Zoro had the nerve to insinuate _she_ was a troublemaker? She let out an indignant snort at the thought but her breath soon caught in her throat as she caught sight of Mr. Death.

He was here too. That she hadn't expected, at all. Did Luffy know him?...No, if that were true then Zoro would have known who he was too. She took in his stance and unsheathed Nodachi and couldn't help but wonder what had provoked the seemingly cool, calm and collected man into this confrontation - alongside Luffy no less.

Dragging her eyes off of him, she scanned the area for Zoro but couldn't see him or the remainder of his crew for that matter. Though she did spot a large, red-headed, assumed-to-be pirate on the other side of Luffy. She concluded the crew she was looking for must still be inside the building; they weren't outside fighting but there were no marines leaving the area to give chase after them either.

'Guess this will be over as soon as these marines get flattened and the crew is able to leave,' she inwardly sighed, leaning against the trunk of the tree comfortably and crossing her arms. Although she may have been curious to see Mr. Death in action, she was entirely uninterested in whatever this commotion was about but had no choice but to allow it to play itself out for now.

It didn't take too long for it to escalate and frankly the battle was bizarre. Unbelievably bizarre. She was already familiar with Luffy's brand of bizarre, 'Redhead's brand was comparably understandable to his odd, rubbery fighting technique but Mr. Death's was just...a delicious mixture of sadism, torture, mutilation, shock value and fear induction. She'd nearly licked her lips at the incredible (and disturbingly, slightly arousing) display of the man in action. Zoro was right; she really did have fucked up taste in men.

She couldn't help but wish she had been close enough to hear what he'd been saying to the poor marines he dismembered. Though she was sure from his posture and expression that he had been taunting them in a nonchalant manner, she had an indescribable desire to hear his voice. Maybe because he had denied her that privilege earlier on. The thought of how he had assessed her with his unwavering stare and deemed her unworthy of so much as a single syllable of vocal greeting kind of irked her actually, now that she thought about it. She wasn't too used to men not fawning over her based on appearance alone. On the rare occasions it did happen though, she found her response to it an odd mixture of being impressed and offended but usually enjoyed the challenge to garner their favour.

The marines Mr. Death was playing with were screaming, that much she could hear but she wondered if it was in pain or in shock...Was what he was doing hurting them? Were those rearranged bodies permanent? Would it kill them? She wanted to understand what she was seeing but she knew that an opportunity to ask the perpetrator would most likely never present itself and if it did, she got the impression he wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know.

Even at her distance she could see the pleasure and glint of madness in his eyes as he toyed with and distorted the severed bodies of the marines near him. She strained to hear some of the ones nearer to herself, the ones that hadn't been disembodied (yet), hoping to overhear some snippet of information of what the strange ability she was witnessing was about but instead picked up on names. "Monkey D. Luffy" - she already knew, "Eustass Kid" and "Trafalgar Law," all captains apparently but not much else of interest was said between their shouted orders and panicked screams.

She'd already deduced Mr. Death had been the leader of those men she saw him with earlier and she agreed with Zoro that he was likely a pirate. Piecing together that he was a pirate captain herself hadn't been difficult. What she was left wondering now though was which name belonged to him. Furrowing her brows in thought, she pulled her gaze off of the marines to look him over again, finding him to still be casually tossing and catching a decapitated head with a smile, as if it were the most normal thing to do...'Hmm, does he look like a "Eustass" or a "Trafalgar?"'

Her eyes widened as she felt a sudden, rough tug on her body and heard the distinct clinking of metal. Quickly able to dismiss the fear of what she had initially thought had been a sneak attack, she looked down at the weapons on her hip to find them traitorously reaching out towards 'Redhead,' horizontal to the ground in their efforts to escape her. Looking up she could see a rain of blades, rifles and other assorted metallic weapons pelting in his direction. It seemed he had amplified the strength of his odd magnetism ability to disarm even the marines all the way at the back, the ones closest to her.

The pull she felt suddenly increased another tenfold and made her gasp aloud as it lurched her forward. Gripping the tree she had been leaning on, she used her free hand to hastily unclasp the weapons from her hip, immediately embedding both swords deeply, blade-first, into its trunk to prevent them from joining 'Redhead's ranks.

Staggering even further forward as she felt a strong pull on her thigh, she tried to dig her heels into the ground, quickly unsheathing the small blade kept in her thigh holster and embedding it next to her weapons in the tree.

She was _still_ being wrenched forward. The tug on her piercings and jewellery was strong but not enough to pull her forward any further or rip through her flesh...hopefully. She took a moment to glance up and re-verify that Mr. Death's ears were still intact before looking back down and frantically scanning for more metal to remove over the parts of her body that seemed to be most affected.

Her feet skid across the grass, forcefully enough to break her grip on the trunk and nearly making her fall. 'Damn it, my boots are full of blades,' glancing down at her knee-highs, she swore aloud to herself at the sheer amount of buckles and zips required to undo them. They made the boots look awesome, practicality be damned, but she was certainly questioning her style choice now. Raising one foot from the ground, she began to hurriedly unfasten the numerous buckles but immediately regretted the action as her one-footed balance did nothing to keep her from stumbling forward further. Quickly planting her foot back down she bent over to unbuckle the boot instead but felt herself get pulled practically head first at her new angle, the tug strongest across the front of her ribs. 'Oh crap, the weapon brace on my chest.'

The realisation dawned on her then that there was no way she would be able to undo the fastenings of both her bladed boots _and_ the intricate brace under her top in time to stop her making a truly unwanted appearance on the battlefield...Digging her heels into the ground with boots that were being so powerfully attracted in the first place was proving unproductive. All she could hope for now was that 'Redhead' would halt his ability before she was pulled into the line of fire and give her an opportunity to remove her boots and brace.

No such luck, of course. She swore inelegantly again under her breath as she eventually lost her battle and less than gracefully staggered forwards far enough to begin bumping into the backs of marines who were busy staring dumbly at the rifles leaving their hands.

As she got pulled through and past some of the marines, a few of them noticed her and quickly pieced together her predicament, admirably snapping out of their daze and reaching out to try to grab her before she could be pulled any further forward towards the dangerous pirates. It was unfortunate that only one of them had been fast enough to react but had only managed to grab onto the edge of her top, the material easily slipping through his fingers under the influence of the strengthened magnetism.

She found herself pulled through the throng of marines and stumbling into the opening between them and the three captains. For the second time that day, she was within 30 feet of Death.

Looking up at him, still caught in forward momentum, chest heaving from the exertion of struggling against 'Redhead's ability and from what she hated to admit was slight panic, she noticed immediately that Mr. Death's eyes hadn't _snapped_ to her as she broke through the marines - no, they had already been on her. The amused look on his face told her as much and that he had been inwardly laughing at her for some time.

25 feet away.

She wondered how long ago he had spotted her but wouldn't be surprised if he had done so as soon as she was out of the tree line, long before she had forcibly melded into the group of marines.

20 feet away.

She also wondered what had happened to the head he had been tossing around. His left hand was free of it and back in his pocket. She had been so focused on trying to remove her metal affects and minimise the bumps and bruises as she passed through the marines to have been paying much attention to his actions. Probably a terribly fatal mistake to make in this man's presence she acknowledged grimly as she looked at him.

15 feet away.

The red-headed magnet was directly behind him and she was still being pulled forward, she was going to collide with Mr. Death. Surely he must have realised that too but his expression remained the same and his mouth remained shut, his handsome features adorned with a small, warped grin - he was obviously finding some twisted humour in her dilemma.

10 feet away.

She hoped that maybe he would say something before it was too late, before she crashed into him and knocked them both to the ground. Maybe to her or maybe to the stupid guy behind him to make him stop his ability but he remained still, unfazed and made no attempt to neither move nor speak.

5 feet away.

Futilely digging her heels into the ground one last time she hoped that the redhead would notice her and/or choose to stop his ability within the next few seconds. If she lost her footing one more time at this proximity, she would physically crash straight into Mr. Death's chest. Considering his demeanour earlier that afternoon and what she had just seen him do to those marines, the idea of giving this man a very forceful and intimate hug, breast-first, was not as entirely appealing as it may have been under different circumstances.

It took no more than two seconds. She lost her footing. She was going to hurtle right into him and he was still just standing there smirking like a cocky bastard...He wasn't stupid, that much she could already tell about him. He knew she was going to collide with him. Why hadn't he said or done anything? Why hadn't he moved? Maybe he didn't because he intended to catch her? Maybe he was going to play the smarmy hero and catch her neatly before they collided and give her a dashingly handsome smile from his height advantage to make her swoon...That or maybe crashing into him would be a good excuse on his part to make physical contact with her and cop a feel? She would have rolled her eyes at the thought if she'd had the opportunity to.

0 feet away.

Bracing herself for the unavoidable impact with him, she decidedly watched his arms, waiting for him to casually and effortlessly catch her before she smashed into him. She was already mentally steeling herself _not_ to swoon under the inevitable cocky grin afterwards nor allow so much as a single wandering finger upon her person once he caught her...but at the very last moment possible, he sidestepped her.

So shocked at his sudden abandonment when he had been so close - close enough to begin feeling the heat radiating from his body, she didn't even think to attempt to halt her forward momentum once more as she whizzed straight past a surprised-looking Luffy and slammed straight into the extremely hard body of one very bemused looking red-headed pirate captain.

She turned her head to look over her shoulder so fast that she could have sworn she gave herself whiplash and glared straight at Mr. Death with what she was sure was unreserved anger clear on her face only to find he was looking right back at her with nothing less than that same, infuriatingly smug look on his face.


	4. Chick magnet

'Asshole.'

"OOOOOOH! It's you!" Luffy excitedly exclaimed at her sudden appearance, grinning ear to ear.

'Absolute asshole.'

"Whatcha doing here though?" He asked, completely oblivious to the heated glare she had fixated onto Mr. Death behind him. Relaxing her frown a little and settling her gaze onto Luffy's face to respond, she bristled again immediately as she heard a chuckle.

'Absolute. Asshole.' She could practically feel a vein in her temple about to blow, her temper only rising further when she realised that despite her current annoyance with the man, his laughing at her was the first verbalisation from Mr. Death that she had heard and in the back of her mind, she was eagerly drinking in the pleasant smoothness and low pitch of the sound. 'Go to hell brain. Stupid, traitorous, horny brain.'

Finally finding her voice, she chose to ignore Luffy's enquiry in favour of venting her anger at the source of it over his shoulder instead. "What's so funny?!"

He returned her stare, completely unfazed by her outburst, he had a habit of making direct eye contact it seemed. A lack of basic social skills, attempt at intimidation or to get a clear read on the person he was focusing on. Definitely the latter two, possibly the first...He did seem fairly psychotic. Psychotic people tended to have warped social skills.

Luffy turned his attention to him then too, wondering why she was directing so much venom the man's way but instead of responding to her angry or Luffy's questioning expressions, he simply chuckled again before lifting his gaze above and behind her.

"It would seem that you've made yet another new acquaintance today, Eustass-ya."

'Oh god...his voice is like audible velvet. - Wait, did he just ignore me? - Ugh, I wish I could caress it. - Yeah, he ignored me. - Like the laid back but powerful purr of a big cat; laced with confidence and underlying threat. - Flat out ignored me, what a rude prick. - It's like having the inside of my ear canals coated with a warm, fine syrup made from nothing less than the molten threads of the most luxurious silks this world has to offe-...Eustass-ya?'

It took a moment for her brain to reel back from her inner conflict of being rightfully pissed off at his rude dismissal and her involuntary swoon over his voice. She was thankful she was being forcibly held upright or she may have physically swooned over it too.

Speaking of being held upright and of one such 'Eustass-ya,' she looked back to find herself at eye level with bare muscle, both hands unconsciously settled onto the male torso in front of her but only now realising she was feeling the warmth of skin beneath her palms. Looking upwards into the face of the red-headed man which she could probably presume to belong to 'Eustass-ya,' she couldn't help her own face from morphing into a complete deadpan as she sighed.

He was leering at her. Openly leering at her. Not that she could blame him really. Her breasts were crushing against him with considerable force and from his height advantage, he had more than a good view directly down her tank top at her cleavage. She noted that he was taller than Mr. D- well, Trafalgar Law. If _this_ man was Eustass Kid then Mr. Psychotic Chop-Happy over there had to be Law. The irony of a notorious criminal named Law wasn't lost on her.

"Well well, it appears I have." He lay a free hand on her lower back and pulled her in closer, not that it was really physically possible at this point. Eustass' voice was a lot deeper than she'd anticipated, though she may have thought that because she could feel the reverberations of it through his body contacting hers. She'd practically forgotten Law had ignored her to address him until she heard his response.

"Eustass Kid, release the woman!" The man that spoke up seemed to be the marine in charge here, judging by the additional decorum on his uniform's jacket and the horror on his face at what he must have thought had just redeveloped into a hostage situation.

"Repel!" The mass of metal that had accumulated in the air around Eustass was sent flying back towards the marines, though the magnetism hadn't dissipated on her at all. He had kept her there on purpose she realised with growing irritation as he laughed loudly.

"Oh? But _she_ came on to _me_ , you guys saw it. Can't help it if I'm such a chick magnet." Grinning widely at his own joke, he returned his attention to the woman trapped against him when she began trying to push herself off of his chest. "I'm curious lady, just what is it-" He slid his free hand up her top without warning, over her stomach and straight in between breasts. "-that has you so attracted to me?" He hummed lowly, keeping his eyes on hers with that lecherous look back on his face.

"What do you think you're doing?! T-That's none of your business! Get off of me, you pervert!" She grasped at his wrist and tried to pull his hand out from underneath her top as she felt his fingers clasp around the dense metal of the concealed dagger that lay between her breasts in its sheath.

"Ooooooh, nice." His grin grew wider in approval before retracting his hand at his own, decidedly slow, pace. Unsure if his praise was directed at her weapon choice, the creative location of its concealment or her breasts, she opted to scowl at him in response, his annoyingly lewd-looking face far too close to her own for comfort. Opening her mouth to tell him just that, she was silenced by the angry yell of a familiar voice.

"What the hell?! What have I _told_ you about getting yourself into trouble? What are you doing here?!" 'Timing. That timing,' she thought to herself in dismay as she turned herself as best as she could from within Eustass' iron-grip - no pun intended, to look at Zoro.

"Ah! Zoro! Guys!" The look of confusion that had been on Luffy's face as he watched the strange exchange morphed back into a grin as Zoro, the remainder of his crew and what she presumed to be the crewmates of the other two captains began emerging from the building behind her.

Zoro looked at her with a face like murder, well, she thought it had looked like murder until his gaze travelled from her to look at Eustass. _That_ look, looked like murder...Alright well the look Sanji was sending Eustass' way looked like _that_ murder augmented a hundred times over.

Feeling the magnetic pull on her suddenly stop and Eustass' hand leave her lower back, she frowned up at him once more for good measure before backing away a few paces, wondering if he'd released her because he'd simply finished having his fun or if it was because he felt it the wisest thing to do considering the intensity of the death glares he was now on the receiving end of. She narrowed her eyes as he licked his lips at her...Alright no, he definitely wasn't intimidated by the death glares, he was just done with her.

"Luffy, we have to get going before the admiral shows up. No time for fun and games, let's go."

She halted her own death glare at the redhead to look at Zoro in horror. "An admiral? Are you serious?!" The stern look on Zoro's face answering the question for her, she immediately rounded on Luffy grabbing a fistful of his vest on either side before shaking him violently. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DOOO?!"

"Nothing much. Punched a guy."

"Punched a Celestial Dragon." Sanji corrected, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and exhaling slowly.

She gaped at the chef, at a complete loss for words for a moment before closing her mouth and calmly releasing Luffy's top. She turned back to him, smoothing out the wrinkles she had caused with her palms before gripping his shoulders and looking him dead in the eyes, speaking quietly so that the marines couldn't overhear her.

"Luffy, thank you for everything. Thank you for the lift and thank you for taking care of Zoro. I hope to hear you guys are well and causing mayhem wherever you go in the news...but you are fucking. Insane." She could have sworn his grin actually widened at that. "I'll be taking my leave now and it looks like you guys will be doing the same. I'm gonna get back to the ship as fast as I can to grab my stuff before you guys set sail whilst you handle these marines, ok?" Deciding that she'd have to come back for her weapons embedded in that tree trunk later when the chaos had died down and the coast was clear, she hoped that nothing would happen to them and that they would remain unnoticed whilst she was gone.

"Yeah, no problem. Take care of yourself. Sure you don't wanna join us though? I'm sure Zoro would love having you on the crew."

"I-Idiot! Watch what you're saying!" Ignoring Zoro's embarrassed outburst and keeping her focus on Luffy, she knew without looking that the poor guy was probably wearing his third blush this afternoon. She lamented the fact that it was still so early, she had planned to at least double that number before the day was through. It really was a shame they weren't going to get to go to that amusement park too.

"Absolutely not." She replied, smiling good-naturedly at him before beaming at the rest of his crew in what they knew was a subtle goodbye in front of the marines. "Ready for escape plan B?" She asked mockingly, settling her gaze on Zoro.

"...Yeah, sure." He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and scratching the back of his head, unable to help but feel a little bad about the way things had turned out, even though it wasn't his fault and couldn't have been helped.

"I'll come with, you'll do four laps around the archipelago before moss-head finds his way back to the ship."

"Oi, you just wanna come along cause you're a perv-" Cut off abruptly as Sanji sped past him, he watched as the chef swept her off her feet bridal style and started running.

"Get outta the way you stinking marines or the _beautiful-goddess-that-has-torn-my-soul-asunder-with-her-very-presenc_ e gets it!" He practically sang as he kicked his way through some of the dumbstruck marines to get out of the clearing.

"Moron! Like they'll believe you when you say it like that!" Zoro yelled running after him.

"Wait! Stop! Put the girl down Black-Leg!" A marine yelled as he took aim with his freshly retrieved rifle.

Nayla screamed convincingly, closing her eyes and kicking within Sanji's grip. "No! Please don't shoot! You'll hit me! I don't want to die! Please don't shoot!" The marine faltered and lowered his weapon but he and a few of his comrades started to give chase to gallantly retrieve what they thought was a frightened hostage.

Zoro turned his head to them as they headed towards the tree line, drawing his swords, his menacing aura practically palpable in the air as he looked at them. "What? You think I won't slice the girl up, limb by limb until you guys learn to back off?" He held a sword out above her legs, dangling over the crook of Sanji's arm as he carried her. She screamed on cue at the threat, managing a few frightened crocodile tears.

"Y-You bastard!" The marine hesitated to pursue further.

"Scum!" Another chorused before he also stuttered in his own footsteps at the malevolent look on Zoro's face as he gripped his swords.

"They won't get far before the admiral arrives and they won't leave without their captain! Focus on Straw Hat Luffy!" Their commander called out to them.

"But the gir-"

"They'll release her when they see we aren't pursuing, a hostage is excess baggage to them right now and won't help them once the admiral arrives. Resume your positions! The priority is apprehending the culprits that attacked the World Nobles!"

"Y-Yes sir!" They reluctantly turned away to reattempt to subdue the three pirate captains in front of the auction house, one of them sparing her one last apologetic look before retreating to follow his orders.

"No! Please don't leave me! Someone save me!" She screamed from over Sanji's shoulder, her fake tears in full swing. "I-ow!" She glared at Zoro as he ran alongside her, swords re-sheathed.

"Don't go overboard, you little ham."

Scoffing at him she rubbed her arm where he had pinched her. "May as well make it sound convincing, ya know. That one poor marine that looked back though, his conscience is getting the better of him. I bet he'll forever be haunted by the image of the poor woman he failed to save, carried off by scoundrels who did only god knows what to her, wondering whatever became of that unfortunate beauty, waking up in a cold sweat at night when he replays the memory over and over in his tortured mind." She rest the back of her hand against her forehead in an over-dramatic fashion, though Zoro didn't react; he was all too used to her ridiculousness already.

"He'll be haunted just by your beauty alone Nayla-chyaaan~"

Zoro rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore Sanji's antics as well. "...I'm sorry we won't get to say goodbye properly. We'll get your stuff off the ship and leave you in a safer part of town. We need to set sail until the admiral is out of our hair. If you're still here when it's safe for us to come back and get the ship coated, then we'll see about that amusement park, alright?" He offered quietly as they ran through the trees towards The Sunny.

"Sounds like a plan but don't worry about that stuff, I'm sure we'll bump into each other again someday. You guys just keep safe and do what you need to do. Thanks for going along with the little charade and not getting me involved." She smiled gratefully.

"No problem." He said, returning it.

Sanji looked at them both before rolling his own eyes and verbally slicing through the fluff. "Tch, don't you _ever_ open your mouth about me being soft when it comes to women again, moss-for-brains."

"What did you say, bastard?!"

"You heard me, did you enjoy your romantic date this afternoon Mr. 'Just the two us?' You're practically in love with her, who knew you were such a mushy bastard."

'Blush number four,' she inwardly counted as she glanced between them.

"You're just bitter we didn't want you along! And not every relationship with every woman is a romantic pursuit, we're just friends, you love-sick moron!"

"Me?! I-"

Tuning them out for a moment in favour of peering over Sanji's shoulder, she looked back at the situation at the auction house as it quickly receded from view. Fortunately the marines had paid them no mind and hadn't seen their farce fall apart so rapidly and so - "YOU'RE THE MORON!"...loudly.

Luffy and the remainder of his crew were still kicking ass, Eustass and his were beginning to take their leave and Law...was looking right her way. He _still_ looked amused, though it was probably at the ridiculous little act she had just pulled. It seemed that she'd provided him with far too much entertainment today, all of it at her expense. That was annoying.

She would have preferred her first impression on Trafalgar Law to not have been that of a rabbit frozen in the headlights, a stumbling fool unable to muster enough strength to not be dragged across a battlefield and of an overzealous actress playing the part of 'damsel in distress.' That was even more annoying.

Nayla was sure he'd be leaving the archipelago as soon as he was able to get past these marines too. It was possible he'd be back when things had settled down if that was what the Straw Hats planned to do.

She didn't know if she'd be able to find a ship to leave on today or whether she should stick around on Sabaody and wait for a little while in the hopes that Zoro's crew would be back soon. An admiral's visit would have a huge impact on her travel options and clear most of the docks. There was a chance that she'd be stranded there for some time without the accompaniment of the Straw Hats and with a real possibility of another run-in with Trafalgar Law whilst she was alone.

That thought alone should have been enough sensible, rational thinking to stop her making such a stupid move. She prided herself on her relative maturity, levelheadedness and ability to think before she acted. It was what had helped her survive in her line of work by herself for this many years.

She'd considered a simple and cheeky sticking out of the tongue, something she could play off later as harmless teasing should she have the misfortune of bumping into Law again...but it simply wouldn't have been enough to knock the smug look off of his face like the middle finger she was sticking up at him over Sanji's shoulder was doing now.

She wished he wasn't running so fast, the look of shock on Law's face was priceless and fading far too rapidly from view for her liking. Nayla couldn't help but laugh at his expression, it had been the first time she'd seen anything other than that superior, lazy smile on his face and it had felt so good to be the one to wipe that off.

It didn't last too long though; it was quickly replaced with a sinister grin. One that from this distance she could try to convince herself had the slightest hint of humour to it but that from even this distance she could tell, promised nothing good would come of it if they met again. That promise was crystal clear.


	5. A merciful Death

Law had been mildly hoping to see her again sometime but hadn't thought it would be quite this soon.

Removing the sterile tools from their packaging, he placed them carefully onto the surface of the trolley next to her.

He'd already been mentally generating numerous, punishing responses should they meet again the moment she had dared to flip him the bird.

Re-washing and re-gloving his hands, he pulled them taught with a satisfying snap of latex.

What he'd had in mind had ranged from playfully taunting her with her obvious fear or attraction to him to outright teaching her the hard way what it meant to have the audacity to piss off a notorious pirate renowned for sadism and cruelty. Had she not just  _seen_  him dismember and mutilate dozens of marines right in front of her? Idiot.

He glanced at her motionless face. Even void of expression and marred by dried blood, her attractive features were still obvious. The soft, delicate curve to her jaw line, plush lips still painted a dark red, high cheek bones, a petite nose, long, thick lashes - though the mascara she still had on probably had a lot to do with that, fine brows, soft, smooth skin that was void of imperfection and a near-perfect facial symmetry. All the standard characteristics of what was deemed a beautiful and feminine face...Well, apart from the stereotypical beauty mark, though Law had never really felt that a small aggregation of melanocytes on someone's face had much impact on their appearance either way...he was pretty sure that was just the medicine talking though.

Maybe she'd felt confident enough to flip him off from what she (had mistakenly) thought was a safe distance and haven in the arms of a retreating Straw Hat. No. If he had  _wanted_  to pursue and reprimand her for her actions then he could have easily done so.

Law repositioned the overhead light to illuminate the area he wanted to focus on.

Honestly, deliberately attempting to piss someone of his profession and infamy off, the nerve and/or stupidity of her. She was fortunate that it had been him and that he had been the one to happen across her. On the other hand, his 'colleagues,' per se - for lack of better word to describe other pirates that he refused to acknowledge were even within the range of warranting a label like 'rival'...the things that  _they_  could and would do in retaliation to an attractive little thing like her. Unspeakable.

At the dark thought, he glanced down the length of the table she was currently laid on at the rest of her body. That too, though marred by dried blood, was still of obvious appeal. She was short, her legs weren't long but they were shapely, toned and tanned. Most likely a result of whatever her profession was. He'd noticed the weapons on her hip the first time he had seen her and their absence - likely courtesy of one Eustass Kid, the second time he had seen her. She had a textbook hourglass figure; curvaceous hips and a small waist...Speaking of curvaceous, Law allowed his eyes to graze over her flat stomach, pierced he had noticed, to settle on her chest. Frankly speaking, for a woman of such a petite frame, those were ample. Overly ample. If he wanted to keep that thought relatively polite.

Resuming his focus on his work, Law sat down on the stool between the examination table and the medical trolley.

However, this woman wasn't unique, far from it. There were plenty of beautiful women with amazing bodies - especially on the Grand Line, and he was no stranger to their attention and flattery.

Law tilted her head to face away from him as he thread his fingers through her hair to her scalp. He'd actually been slightly tempted to stride past her more closely the first time he had seen her, just to sate his curiosity and see if the long strands that would have glided across his exposed forearm were as soft as they had looked. It was difficult to tell now, through the gloves and the thick matting of dried blood. Her hair was an exceptionally dark brown, one that he had mistaken for black from a distance, with a rather eye-catching red shimmer to it under the afternoon sunlight. The red hue, he had realised when he had gotten closer, was caused by the numerous, very fine, red highlights running through it.

"Bepo."

"Yes Captain?" Said navigator closed the door of the room, scurrying back over to him from the threshold where he had been ushering some curious crewmembers away from the hallway outside.

"Hold this." He indicated the strands currently in his hand for the bear to take who obediently lifted the section of hair out of his captain's hand and away from the area he was working on.

Law was tempted to trim the hair around her injury shorter but considering the length of it, she would probably not be very appreciative of how long it would take to have to regrow a large chunk to meet the rest at her mid-back. The large laceration on her scalp was accessible enough through the parting with Bepo's assistance anyway, he'd be able to work like this; if he trimmed her hair now then it'd only be to enjoy her reaction to it later. The thought of how her temper had flared when he'd allowed her to careen into Eustass instead of helping her made the corner of his mouth tug up into a small smile as he examined her.

The laceration was bigger than he'd initially anticipated, the underlying muscle was injured but intact, a small amount of the tissue at the edges didn't seem viable, too heavily crushed, he'd have to remove it. Other than that, a simple decontamination and some staples should be more than sufficient to close the wound. The harder part of her treatment was already over.

Reaching over to the trolley's surface, Law soaked some gauze in antiseptic and began cleaning the edges free of debris.

He wasn't entirely sure what had made him decide to help her, he owed her nothing. He didn't even know her name. It had been a whim.

Soaking a fresh wad of gauze in antiseptic, he began cleaning the centre of the wound outwards, the iodine in the solution painting the layer of exposed flesh a morbid new colour.

Perhaps it was partly due to the mild but misguided feeling of gratitude towards her, had it not been for her screams alerting him and his crew of more danger up ahead then they could have run straight into another Bartholomew Kuma. They had been in no condition to fight a third and the Kid Pirates had already gone in a different direction towards their own ship, not that he had needed their aid in taking down the first two anyway.

She had been screaming the swordsman's name; Zoro. There are few things more emotive than hearing the cries of someone who believes they're witnessing the death of a loved one. Anyone who has ever heard them knows that it isn't a sound that is easy to ignore or forget, especially not for those who can relate. Maybe the obvious anguish in her voice had been another contributor in his decision to help her. Hearing that level of pain had made him wonder what the nature of her relationship with the Pirate Hunter was. They undoubtedly must have been close.

Satisfied the injury and surrounding scalp was clean, he used a small scalpel to quickly and skilfully debride the small area of tissue of questionable viability.

When he and his crew had cautiously peered through the trees towards the sound it appeared as though the Straw Hats were being annihilated one by one. This third Kuma had not identified her as a target but she had attempted to intervene between it and the remaining Straw Hat crewmembers, still without her weapon. Maybe she really was stupid, that or overly emotional. Although it had been difficult to tell from their distance, it seemed she had a surprising amount of skill in her hand-to-hand combat abilities but it was obvious it wasn't her forte and that she had no hope of winning. Whatever this Kuma had been doing to the others to make them disappear, he didn't do it to her and had simply chosen to fling her at full force through the trees instead. He and his crew had watched her fly backwards, past them and slam head-first into the tree that had stopped her flight.

Gently pulling the edges of her wound to meet each other, Law stapled the flesh together neatly. It took twelve to close the entire length of the laceration; he'd need to remember that number to jot down on her temporary medical notes later on.

Law knew that his crew's desire to help her had definitely played a role in his decision. Even if they hadn't voiced it, it was obvious from their faces as they watched her slump down the trunk to the floor that they didn't feel right about leaving the woman seriously injured and unconscious on the ground of a battlefield at the mercy of her surroundings. To be completely honest, although he wasn't exactly the most chivalrous man himself, it didn't sit right with him to leave her there like that either. Besides, part of being a captain meant earning and maintaining the respect of his crew...He didn't want them to think him  _that_  much of a cold, heartless monster. He'd barely managed to suppress the urge to roll his eyes at the practical glee and adoration for him that had shone in their eyes when he had ordered Jean Bart to carry her back to the sub with them.

Pulling away, Law inspected his work critically with eyes and fingers until he was satisfied.

On a personal level, part of his decision to help had simply been the fact that he had seen her no more than fifteen minutes prior, still so full of life and energy...The image of her flipping him off with that cheeky smile made the corner of his mouth twitch up into the start of one of his own again...And then to see her laying in a heap on the ground with blood pooling beneath her head was...Well it was just a shame for that to be her end really, if he were able to prevent it. That wasn't a guarantee though, even with his aid and even with the Ope Ope no Mi at his disposal, there were never any guarantees in medicine. Head injuries with loss of consciousness were always very serious but what he  _could_  guarantee was the fact that she had zero chance of survival without his merciful intervention.

Applying a generous amount of antibiotic ointment over the area, he pressed a sterile dressing to his work, hoping that it would be sufficient to prevent any contamination and infection until her hair could be washed thoroughly.

"Bepo." Already understanding what was wanted of him, the navigator gently lifted her head from the table for Law as he grabbed some gauze to wrap around it to hold the dressing in place, resting her head back down gently once his captain had finished.

"Captain?" Penguin knocked on the door opening it slightly and peering into the room, awaiting permission to enter.

Law motioned for him to come in before removing his gloves and discarding them into the clinical waste bin, noticing that he had showered and changed into a fresh boilersuit following his own patching-up there earlier.

"How is she doing?" His crewmate asked, making his way over to the examination table slowly, as if approaching too fast may further injure her somehow. He winced at the amount of blood still on her face. "Do you need a hand?"

"Severe concussion, complicated by an epidural haematoma, no lucid interval and her GCS is abysmal. Bluntly put, she's essentially comatose for the time being and will need reassessment at least every fifteen minutes for signs of deterioration until her GCS improves." Law looked at him, annoyed, blaming him silently with his glare for this woman being there and inconveniencing him at a rate of  _every fifteen minutes_  because of his and his other crewmates' god damn puppy eyes. Yes, he was going to blame  _them_  for this. Penguin flinched a little under the look, knowing what it meant. "And no, that won't be necessary. Bepo is sufficient and I'm already finished." Said bear was already on the other side of the room to clear away the contents of the trolley.

"On that note, Bepo, clean her up a bit before she's moved to a bed." Law stood and pushed the stool back under the table, locking the wheels.

"Aye aye Captain." He replied, discarding the used tools and moving to fill one of the larger plastic tubs from the cupboards with warm water to carry out Law's orders.

"Lemme give you a hand whilst you're doing that, Bepo."

Law watched Penguin move to the foot of the examination table from his mid-stretch and begin to undo the numerous buckles on the woman's boots. He could see how she hadn't been able to take those off in time to not face-plant Eustass and could take a very good guess as to why she'd been trying to do so in the first place. "Penguin, be careful, I'm pretty sure she has-"

"Hidden blade in the soles, Captain? Yeah I figured as much." He gestured to the empty holster on the woman's thigh. "She seems like she's the kinda girl to be packing." He grinned at Law, obviously proud of his observation and insightful deduction, though Law frowned at him slightly for his interruption.

Penguin carefully manipulated the side of the heel of the boot he was currently grasping, his grin widening in satisfaction as a particularly sharp looking blade slid from the back of it. It didn't last long though as he had to drop the footwear altogether in favour of protecting his palm from being impaled by the second blade that appeared, jutting out where his hand had just been.

"Whoa, dangerous." He held his nearly-injured hand with the other, warily eyeing the shoe as though it might bite him if he looked the other way.

Satisfied at what he deemed to be a mild work of karma that knocked the grin off of Penguin's face - how dare he interrupt him, Law sighed and leant forward to grip the woman's ankle.

"You don't know the half of it." He drawled, neatly and firmly tapping the side of the boot to the edge of his examination table, instantaneously producing at least another seven individual blades from the shoe along its edges and at the toe. 'This looks more like the correct amount of metal to have caused her to be drawn into Eustass-ya like that,' he thought to himself as he carefully lowered her foot back down, over the edge so as not to damage the surface with any of the exposed blades.

Gawking at the vicious-looking footwear and still clutching his hand protectively, Penguin was thinking more along the lines of what someone might  _look_  like after taking a kick from something like that. He found himself glancing back up at the girl's face to verify she looked as sweet as he thought she did, didn't she?

Rolling the trolley back towards them, the tub of warm water and clean rags set atop it, Bepo eyed the boot curiously, thinking more along the lines of how it resembled what he thought a black porcupine might look like if it had metallic spines.

"Penguin, Bepo will be busy for some time, pass by the cockpit to make sure there are no navigational issues and to make sure they are aware of where he is if they need him. I'd like you to go help Jean Bart get settled in."

"Aye aye Captain." And with that Penguin turned and left the room, eyeing the shoe that had nearly claimed his hand with distrust one more time on his way out.

"Bepo, when you're done, ask whoever is duty medic to help you move her to a bed with the appropriate monitoring equipment on. I want them to maintain observations and alert me to any changes in her condition, good or bad. Then I want you to go rest but check in with the cockpit one last time before doing so. I'll go take a shower and rest for a bit myself." Finishing his orders, Law stifled a yawn as he made his way to the door.

It had been no coincidence on his part to assign his only non-human male crewmember the task of assisting him and cleaning the woman up, even if it had meant having to pull his main navigator and first-mate off of regular duty for a little while.

"Aye aye Captain but um...I was wondering if...you could help with..." He felt bad to ask, he knew his captain was tired after today.

Pausing in his tracks, Law looked back at him, Bepo's discomfort evident in his tone and body language as he fiddled his claws together in front of him; much like a human might twiddle their thumbs in insecurity.

"...I-I'm sorry."

"It's fine Bepo." He wasn't going to make him feel bad for asking for his help, he'd already had a feeling that his first-mate might find this task a little bit difficult to do by himself. At least no one could say Law didn't  _try_ to maintain her privacy.

Making his way back over, he pulled a blanket off of one of the beds along the side of the room as Bepo began wiping the woman's face clean. Looking her over once more as he approached, Law decided that the vast majority of the blood from her head wound had run down her face, neck, shoulders, upper chest and back and didn't reach any further than that in any great amount. There would be no need to undress her from the waist down, for now.

Setting the blanket beside her on the table, he began peeling the straps of her black tank top over her shoulders, sliding the material down over her chest and stomach. It was the easiest way to remove it without cutting it, disturbing her other injuries or getting in the way of Bepo who was now cleaning along her jaw and neck.

Lifting her hips slightly, Law was able to pull the stretched material past them to slide over her skirt, down the length of her legs and over her boots with ease. Glancing at those buckles and blades again, he decided that that tedious - possibly dangerous job, he was leaving to someone else. He was absolutely not dealing with that.

Placing the bloodied material aside, Law made a mental note to have someone launder it for her at some point so that she would have something of her own to wear when she was well enough to be gotten rid of.

He looked at her chest in interest. Not in  _that_  way...necessarily...but at the thin strap of black leather that was running around her torso, just beneath the underwiring of her black bra. The lacey texture, racey design and large contents of which, he was valiantly attempting to ignore.

Extending from the centre of the strap was a sheath that ran upwards between her breasts. The size just sufficient enough to fit a small dagger and only the very bottom of it visible, the remainder was nestled and concealed within her cleavage. Raising a brow at the metal hilt of the blade fastened inside of it, he gently pried the tops of her breasts apart with his fingers.

"Uh...Captain?" Bepo paused wiping her shoulder when he saw Law parting the woman's chest with a curious look on his face.

The tip of the sheath was connected to a fine metal chain that ran upwards in confluence with her necklace. What he had mistakenly assumed was the long, decorative chain of a cleavage necklace was in fact, a component of this interesting chest brace, keeping her concealed weapon secured upright and in place. 'How very clever,' his hands left her breasts and reached behind her neck to undo her jewellery.

Law ran his fingers across the leather strap under her bra, following it around her sides and beneath her body, searching for whatever it was that kept it in place - a small buckle at her back. 'She seems to like these,' he thought with a glance back at her boots as he unfastened it.

Pulling back, he inspected the brace dangling from his fingers, the small dagger twirling from it, still within its casing. Bepo looked at it with interest, silently understanding why his captain had suddenly taken to molesting the woman and resumed his task.

Laying the weapon down onto her soiled tank top, Law could feel the metal's pleasant warmth through its leather sheath. 'I guess that explains why she hadn't been able to pull her chest away from Eustass-ya...and what he was groping at I suppose.'

Moving his attention back to her, Law slid the straps of her bra down her arms in much the same was as her top, freeing each arm in turn before reaching underneath her back and unhooking it. Picking up the blanket he'd brought over, Law draped it over her chest, sliding her bra off from underneath it and placing it aside with her discarded weapon and clothing. There was no need for her to be unnecessarily exposed, he could adjust the blanket as and when needed.

Pulling on a fresh pair of gloves and picking up the extra clean rag that was sat on the edge of the plastic tub full of water, Law moved to wipe the dried blood off of the shoulder opposite the one Bepo was currently working on.

After wiping the few drops that had spilled across her collar bones and upper chest he motioned for Bepo to assist him in rolling her onto her front, draping the blanket around her sides as they did so. The majority of the blood had run down her back from the way she had landed and been carried by Jean Bart.

Turning to re-soak the rag, Law frowned at how dirty the water had gotten after just a few wipes across her back. About to suggest Bepo refill it, he looked back at him when the bear gasped in alarm.

"What is it, Bepo?" He followed his first-mate's line of sight to the woman's lower back. There was a moderately-sized tribal tattoo there; he already knew that from his second encounter with her. It had peered out from between the hem of her top and the waistband of her skirt when Eustass had pawed at her there. He'd thought nothing of it, it was a common place and common style for a tattoo, there was nothing strange abou-...Law blinked hard for a moment, closing and opening his eyes firmly to make sure that he was in fact seeing the black, ink lines of her tattoo, gliding slowly back and forth beneath her skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GCS - Abbreviation for 'Glasgow Coma Score,' a scoring system used to assess a person's consciousness level.
> 
> Ever notice the huge amount of crewmembers in the operating theatre with Law when he was treating Luffy and Jimbe? It makes me think that most, if not all of the Heart Pirates have some medical training. 
> 
> If you aren't familiar with what a cleavage necklace is and are curious, think the necklace that Matsumoto from Bleach wears or give it a quick Google, some pretty interesting designs out there.


	6. Tree surgeon

If someone were able to consume the amount of alcohol equivalent to Zoro and Nami's intake combined and able to live to tell the tale the next morning to experience the hangover it'd bring, she imagined this was probably what it would feel like.

Feeling her eyes well up at the thought of them and her chest constrict in pain, she remembered why she was coming to in, what felt like, a hospital bed. That weird large guy working for the government...That weird large guy did something to Zoro, something so bad there wasn't even a trace of him left where he had been. She tried to slow her breathing, it'd seem that at least a couple of her ribs were fractured, sobbing was a no right now, she had to calm down. Maybe he was ok, she hadn't actually seen any proof of him dead, just...gone...Denial was going to have to be her friend until she could ask someone what had happened to him and the other Straw Hats. If they  _had_  been killed by the government, then it would be something they would be boasting about all over the news.

At least she had survived and someone had been kind enough to bring her to a hospital. Opening her eyes slowly, she observed the room blearily without moving her head and took in the equipment around and on her bed. 'How bad is it?' Nasal cannulae - she was being given oxygen and she was sure its effectiveness was being monitored by the pressure she could feel around her right index finger. A pulse oximeter most likely, but couldn't bring herself to crane her neck off of the pillow to look down and confirm it. Wires reaching out from underneath her blanket - chest leads, her respiratory and heart rate were being monitored. The rhythmic beeping she slowly became aware of confirmed it. The tight cuff and intermittent pressure around her left arm - her blood pressure was being monitored. She couldn't see much else without moving and couldn't bring herself to care anymore past the blinding headache.

Scrunching her eyes shut in pain, she felt the bedding around her hands blindly, hoping some kind nurse had left her a Patient Controlled Analgesia button within reach. Whatever pain relief was going through her IV, she needed more of it. She groaned in frustration unable to find neither the button nor the strength to call out for a nurse to help her.

"Oh!" Hearing shuffling to the side, she reopened her eyes with great effort to look towards the doorway of the room where a doctor seemed to be making his way towards her. He quickly looked her over, leaning in from the side of the bed. Swallowing thickly, she tried to open her mouth to speak but before she could manage a word he cut her off. "Looks like you're finally up, I'll run grab Dr. Mordacitas to come take a look at you. Hold tight!" He ran back out of the room before she had even closed her mouth. Groaning in frustration again, she waited patiently for the doctor he was fetching to show up, hoping that  _his_  bedside manner would be a bit more considerate.

It wasn't long before she heard multiple sets of feet coming slowly down the hallway. 'No hurry,' she thought bitterly, biting back the agonising headache and rising anxiety in her chest over finding out if her friends were alive or not. Soon, a somewhat elderly-looking man with an air of authority entered, hands clasped behind his back, peering at her through his thickly rimmed glasses. It was clear he was assessing her condition as he approached her bed with the first, much younger-looking, doctor in tow.

"Well now young miss, it's good to see you're finally awake. You've been out for a little over a day and a half, looked a bit shaky there for a while." He chuckled to himself as he pulled a pen-torch from the pocket of his white coat and promptly pulled her eyelid up to check her pupillary response, causing her to flinch away from the sudden and unwelcome intrusion.

"Do you-" Her voice cracked from misuse, she cleared her throat and spoke again. "Do you know what happened to the Straw Hats?" She asked, allowing him to check her other pupil with less flinching, now that she had expected the action.

"...You lost your hat?" He asked, confused as to this being the first thing she would enquire about after what he had just said to her. If his bushy, grey brows raised any higher she was certain he could have used them as a comb over for the bald spot on his head that was gleaming under the bleak, hospital lighting.

"Uh no doctor, that's the name of a pirate crew that was recently here. I hear they were the cause of the admiral's visit the other day." The younger doctor supplemented from behind him.

"Oooh, oh I see. Well, no miss-?"

"Nayla."

"Miss Nayla, I'm afraid I don't. I don't keep up with current events. So many pirate crews pass through here causing trouble that it's a bit difficult to keep track of them all...Are you a part of their crew?"

"Has there been any new news about them at all since then?" She directed her question to the younger doctor that seemed to be more in touch with what was going on on Sabaody, ignoring what she had been asked.

Raising his hazel eyes up to the ceiling, he stroked his short, brown sideburn in thought for a moment before answering. "No, not that I've seen. Just reports about how they caused a fuss with a Celestial Dragon or something, recycled story, nothing new."

She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or saddened by that. "Wait...how did I get here? Where am I at the moment?"

"Oh, some kind fellow brought you in yesterday morning. You're currently in Sabaody General." Answered the elder of the two as he peeled away her blankets, exchanging his pen-torch for the miniature tendon hammer in his pocket as he moved towards her feet. She noticed she was in one of those hideous patient gowns, but a glance to her side soon answered her question of where her clothing had went. It was folded neatly on a chair beside her bed, her dagger laid on top. 'I guess they get so many weirdos with weapons visiting this hospital that they aren't even fazed by it.'

"The young man said that he found you unconscious among the trees on grove one. The nurse had asked his name so that you could find and thank him if you wanted to but he just left in a hurry." His aged brow furrowed deeply in thought as he pulled back from testing her ankle reflexes. "It didn't make sense though, your injuries are older than from just yesterday morning...and last time I checked, trees couldn't use staplers."

Scrunching her face in confusion at him as he tested her knees, she looked at the younger doctor as if to ask if this, what she assumed to be a neurology consultant, was senile. In response to her questioning gaze, he pointed an index finger to a spot on the back of his head. Mimicking his action, she was surprised to feel small pieces of metal embedded in a neat line along her scalp.

"So, you think the guy patched me up before dropping me off here?" She asked, trying to clarify what it was the older doctor was implying.

"That or we have some very talented trees here on Sabaody." He muttered, replacing the blanket back over her legs and moving on to her arms, setting them across her lap as he needed them.

He hesitated in his movements for a moment before looking back at his junior doctor, as if non-verbally asking his opinion on something she wasn't privy too. He merely shrugged in response to whatever the silent question had been.

"I'm not entirely sure how to phrase this..." The consultant began as he resumed testing her arm. "But, it would appear you've had brain surgery."

She tensed immediately, ruining the reflex he had been trying to elicit and making him huff. "S-Sorry." She said, trying to relax her arms again to allow him to do his job. Pretty hard to do when you've just been told someone has dug around in your head whilst you were taking a nap. "What do you mean I had brain surgery?" Her voice wasn't staying as level as she wanted it to at the unnerving idea.

"Well, when we did a CAT scan of your head, it was clear that you had suffered an intracranial bleed. One that was probably large enough to cause a fatal increase of pressure within your skull...but the damaged vessel had been repaired and the blood had been evacuated before you arrived."

"Is...that why I have the staples?" She panicked as she felt along the length of the metal in her flesh again, using the arm the doctor currently wasn't testing. 'The guy must have been a hack, that kind of surgery doesn't need an incision anywhere  _near_  this big! What the fuck did he do to my brain?'

"Oh, no, that was a simple laceration and it was treated very well. You  _have_  no other injuries to your scalp...which is why I hesitated to bring this up..." He looked up at her solemnly before continuing. "Because I don't know how to explain how you had surgery without any incisions."

She stared at him then, unsure of what to make of what he had said, wondering if he was just messing with her but his face remained stern. There was a small pause before he sighed, placing the tendon hammer back into his pocket and leaving his junior to complete the rest of the examination in his stead.

" _Very_  talented trees." She heard him mutter under his breath as he left the room.

* * *

 

Law was disturbed. In most senses of the word, but in this instance it was by the nagging feeling in his gut. Something was really off and it was disturbing him.

Sitting at his desk, he tossed his hat aside and put his feet up onto its surface, crossing his legs at the ankles. He leant back, placing his hands behind his head and sighed tiredly.

It had been his intention to toss the woman some merciful medical care and get her off of his submarine as soon as the situation on Sabaody allowed it and he had done so. He shook his head, recalling how Penguin and Shachi had asked if they could 'keep her' a little longer, practically pleading with him as if they were asking if they could keep a stray cat they had found.

The other members of his crew that had been ashore the day of the auction house incident had wisely headed straight back to the sub to await Law's arrival and orders after the news of an admiral's imminent approach had spread like wildfire throughout the archipelago. They had been in town and had grabbed a copy of one of the newspapers that had rained down from the News Coos that afternoon, the extra edition that had been sent out in droves - announcing the execution of Fire Fist Ace days from now.

All of the marine's big names would need to be at Marineford, meaning it was now safe to go about his business on Sabaody once more. He still had some stocks to retrieve and information to dig up before making his decisions about the New World. Most of which were on hold until the outcome of the inevitable war was over. For now, his mind was free to wander to the weird phenomenon he had seen on that woman's back.

Law would have believed he was delirious if Bepo hadn't been there and seen it too. Examining the ink beneath her skin, he couldn't feel its movements when he placed his fingers over it, he couldn't manipulate where the lines travelled by touch and there seemed to be no regular rate or pattern to it. He had even used his Ope Ope no Mi to remove the segment of her lower back and dissect it, alarmed to find that not only were the lines...'flowing' horizontally along the plane of her dermis but they flowed directly downwards into her flesh too, though they didn't seem to extend much further than a two inch radius from the centre of the tattoo...He'd never seen anything like it before and truthfully, examining it had given him an ominous feeling that he couldn't quite explain.

Glancing at the slim, paper file on his desk - the woman's temporary medical record whilst he had been treating her, Law flipped it open to the notes he had made about the odd sight.

Unable to come to any logical conclusion as to what it was Bepo and he were seeing, he had replaced the flesh of her lower back and asked his first-mate to keep what they had seen to themselves for now. The ominous feeling hadn't left him though and although he had wanted to assign observation duty to another medic on board, he decided to do it himself. Frequently re-examining the odd, flowing lines of her tattoo. They moved in graceful curves and curls, independently timed of each other, extending outwards from the centre before receding, over and over again. It reminded him of how waves would lap at a shore then recede backwards. No set of waves hitting the shore ever looking entirely the same.

Through his frequent reassessment of it and her as a whole, he was able to notice that as her GCS improved, the movement of the lines had slowed, reduced and then stopped altogether. Leaving behind a simple, static tribal style tattoo. For some reason, her consciousness level corresponded to it.

Unable to take a biopsy of them directly, he settled for taking one of the skin around her ink. Perfectly normal. When he had examined her blood microscopically he had seen a normal blood film except for what he could only describe as numerous, tiny, black blebs.

Flipping to the back of the file, he scanned over the printed lab reports produced by the machinery in his infirmary.

When he had put her samples through several different tests, hoping to explain this substance as some sort of toxin or metal poisoning from her tattoo pigment leaking into her blood stream, he found nothing but impossible, unreadable, nonsensical results. If he believed the automated numbers and graphs he was now glimpsing through, then what he was looking at was an unidentifiable, pitch black substance that behaved nothing like a solid, liquid or gas, had no mass, a non-existent charge and couldn't be separated, filtered, stained or manipulated in anyway. All he could tell was that it was there, black and coming from that strange, moving ink on her lower back.

Shuffling through the duplicated reports, Law hoped in vain that something new would occur to him. He had resubmitted her sample to his machines several times. The results never changed, each printed report for each machine coming out exactly the same.

Whatever this was, was it dangerous? Was it harmful to her? Was it killing her? Was she aware of it? Was it contagious? He had done blood tests on himself, Bepo and Jean Bart out of caution to the fact all three of them had been exposed to her blood in varying degrees to ensure this black substance wasn't some sort of unidentified contagion but nothing in their own blood work was abnormal...Maybe she really was suffering from some sort of toxin or poison build-up...He quickly squashed the pang of sympathy he felt as the thought of Amber Lead Syndrome crossed his mind.

Honestly, he should just say it was none of his business. Whatever it was had nothing to do with him or the head injury he had treated...but that's where his instincts were nagging him. Aside from genuinely being curious as to what it was, his instincts were telling him that it was something important and they were never wrong. Anytime he had chosen to disregard them in the past he had always regretted it. Right now, they were practically screaming at him to not ignore what he had seen on that woman's back.

Law had hoped that once she was gone he would soon forget about it, but he had known better. Sighing in resignation, he looked at the clock on the wall, noting the late hour before getting up from his chair grudgingly, grabbing his hat and nodachi before leaving his quarters. He walked though the hallways of his sub quietly, not particularly wanting any of his crew to know where he was headed and made his way outside onto the deck.

The night was warm but the air was refreshing. A cool, salty breeze grazed over his face as he looked around, thankful to find it was Bepo's turn to stand watch. The bear watched him curiously as Law walked towards the gangplank connecting them to the shore.

"Going somewhere, Captain?" His first-mate enquired.

"I'll be back soon, just making a quick house call." Bepo didn't miss the knowing smirk on his captain's face nor the telltale tone of dark amusement in his voice as he glided out of view and into the night.


	7. Glow-in-the-dark pacifiers

Awaking with a start in the darkness to the sound of a large thump and what had sounded like a muffled squeal, she groaned in pain as the sudden, jerky movement worsened her headache. Rubbing her scalp tenderly over, what she was lovingly referring to as, her 'Frankenstaples,' she listened closely for any further noises outside of her room. Hearing none, she resettled in bed and tried to ignore the pounding of her temples, assuming one of the night nurses must have stubbed their toe or something.

Sighing tiredly, she started to relax back into sleep again when there was a hurried knock on her door, but before she could verbally permit the person to enter, it was pushed open and the lights were switched on.

Blinking away the sudden visual assault, she looked towards the doorway to find her nurse standing there breathing heavily, hand still on the doorknob. Jade, she recalled, who had apparently been the nurse on duty in the emergency room yesterday morning when she had been brought in. It was an easy name to remember, considering the young woman's eyes were the same colour as her name suggested. They were wide with fear at the moment though, her face pale and in a panicked sweat, if the fine, black hairs slicked to her forehead and temples were any indication. Nayla's stomach sank, this couldn't be good.

"Y-You have a visitor." The nurse's voice was shaky.

'This  _really_  can't be good,' glancing at the clock on the wall opposite her bed to verify that yes, it was the middle of the night; she looked back at the woman warily, confused. 'Wait, maybe it's one of the Straw Hats! Maybe they're ok after all, found out where I was and wouldn't take no for an answer when they were told visiting hours were over! It sounds like something they'd do, Zoro can be really scary when he wants to be.' Her apprehension was suddenly replaced with hope, her heart practically alight with the thought but before she could respond she heard the soft press of shoes to the tiled floor outside her open doorway.

Looking towards the sound eagerly as a black, pointed shoe came into view from around the doorframe, her initial thought of it possibly belonging to Sanji was smothered as soon as she realised it was a boot and that it was being followed by spotted denim that she  _knew_  she had seen before...She bolted upright in her bed as the realisation hit her, the action causing a horrible increase in her headache and a wave of nausea that she wasn't sure if she should credit to the concussion or the situation she was hoping she had  _severely_  misread.

Her alarm intensified when the person turned into full view of her open doorway, a flash of yellow and black as she stared at a smiley face that seemed to be sneering at her in gleeful contempt. Not needing to look up any further, she jerked her head back to Jade in horror to find the woman back-stepping out of the room fearfully, keeping her eyes trained on the back of the tall, menacing man entering the room.

"J-Jade!" She called out, unable to find a way to phrase her follow-up of: 'Please don't leave me alone with him, he's not a friend of mine, he's a psycho pirate who I've pissed off but - Oh, wait even if I did ask you to stay and help me you wouldn't be able to but please go find someone who can!' in a more succinct way that wouldn't make her sound as terrified of him as she hated to admit she felt right then.

The nurse looked back at Nayla, guilt written all over her face as she continued to back out of the room and into the corridor, saying nothing. Nayla instead slowly returned her gaze to Law, in time for her to watch his face as he spoke three words that made her heart plummet so fast, so heavily through her gut that she was sure it made a hole through her bed, the hospital floor and all layers of the Earth's crust.

"Close the door." She looked back at Nurse Jade, the plead to not comply with the man's request clear on her face for both of them to see.

The woman held out a shaky hand to the knob of the door and began pulling it shut; giving Nayla one last look that was a blend of apology and a request for forgiveness and understanding. 'Not a chance,' Nayla scowled at her through the slowly shrinking gap between the edge of the door and the doorframe until it shut completely with a foreboding click that reverberated off of the walls of her hospital room.

Anger subsiding as her attention was brought back to the man looming a few feet away from the side of her bed by the rustle of his clothing, her plots of vengeance were rapidly replaced by an overwhelming anxiety.

She was thankful she was hooked up to heart monitoring equipment because she was pretty sure she was about to flatline; courtesy of a fear-induced cardiac arrest or courtesy of an attack from the man in front of her. Either way, she hoped the alarm would be loud, she hoped this was a cheesy, over-dramatic hospital that announced its Code Blue's over a  _very_  loud intercom system...Though inwardly she knew it didn't matter how deafening the alarms were or how many people rushed into this room to help her. She'd seen what this man was capable of. No one would be able to. Not even a marine barricade with mortar cannons could stop this man from doing whatever he wanted to do to her, she'd seen that much first hand. He was incredibly dangerous.

How the hell had he found her? How had he gotten into this hospital? How had he found her room? Eyeing the large nodachi he had slung over his right shoulder nervously, she quickly realised that it was probably the answer to her last two questions.

Looking from his weapon to his face, she took in the entirely neutral and analytical expression on it as he looked back at her. Somehow, it was more chilling then if he had walked in with a sadistic smile.

Dammit, she was really going to die this time. Had that stupid middle finger really been worth it?...She hated the back of her mind that had  _immediately_  said 'Yes!' and closed her eyes as she awaited the inevitable, breathing as heavily as her injured ribs would allow. She wasn't able to defend herself in her current condition and no one could save her, she was completely at the mercy of Trafalgar Law.

After a prolonged moment of suffering through her own laboured breathing, she hesitantly opened her eyes, half expecting to find the blade of his sword swinging towards her throat or his face suddenly an inch from hers like in a horror movie but found that he was still standing calmly in the same spot he had been in when she had closed her eyes, except his gaze was on the monitors behind her. When had she pressed herself against the bars on the side of her bed?

Hesitantly taking her eyes off of him (not that it would change anything if she kept them on him), she followed his gaze, only now hearing the noisy, frantic beeping coming from the screen monitoring her vitals. Holy crap, her heart rate was over 150 beats per minute.

"Lay back down." Snapping her head back around to face him as he spoke, she immediately regretted it when another wave of nausea followed the sudden increase in her headache from the action. Clutching her head with her hand and focusing her vision on the fist she was using to tightly clench the blanket over her lap, she tried to fight down the sudden urge to vomit.

She heard him approaching the bed more closely but had nowhere else to retreat to; she was already pressed against the bars of it as much as she could. She watched him lay his nodachi against the foot of her bed out of the corner of her eye, noting how it was carefully placed within  _his_  arm's reach but not within hers.

"I don't like having to repeat myself, lay back down and relax." He said smoothly, placing his tattooed forearms onto the railing of the bed nearest to him, leaning his weight on them as he looked at her expectantly.

She found it really difficult to comply. An equally terrifying, handsome, possibly unstable pirate was inexplicably alone with her in her hospital room in the dead of night bringing along a six foot sword telling her to lay back down in her bed and relax. In her mind it was something akin to a predator asking its prey to lay down on its back and expose its vulnerable underbelly to it, decision to attack at its discretion.

Sighing at her and deliberately slowly - so as not to alarm her, Law wrapped his hand around the wrist of the arm she had held up to her head in pain. Pulling it away from her face and resting it to her lap, he then slowly gripped her shoulders, pushed her gently but firmly down to lie flat. She was glad she wasn't prone to blushing because even despite her current fear, she might have done when she felt his large, warm hands press her down to her mattress.

"I'm guessing you need a higher infusion rate of morphine." He muttered, more to himself than to her. Reaching over to the IV stand near the head of her bed, he flipped open its transparent cover and punched a few of the keys on the small electronic interface. Pausing in what he was doing, he looked up at her heart rate monitor when it beeped violently to alert him of another dramatic spike of her pulse. Gazing back at her in the bed, he found she was watching his hand on the interface with wide eyes and a grim expression. He couldn't help but laugh a little at her then, guessing her train of thought. "If I wanted to kill you, sending you into a pain-free abyss with an overdose of morphine wouldn't be my method of choice." She found it hard to relax at that 'reassurance' when she caught the positively demonic grin on his features.

Law finished typing in the new setting before moving back to his position of leaning over the railing of her bed, his lips still pulled into a devilish smile as he spoke. "You'll find your headache getting better but you'll also start to feel more tired. I'm guessing they kept the infusion rate a little low because they wanted to be sure your continuing unconsciousness was because of your head injury and not because of sedation. Shame they forgot to up it for you once you had woken." He mumbled the latter in obvious distaste as he glanced around the room, seemingly taking in everything with rapid calculation.

Practically feeling the wave of tiredness hit her as he said it, she struggled to keep her eyes open and on him. She suddenly had hundreds of questions for him but couldn't seem to summon the cognition or the energy to speak, having felt exhausted when she woke, overexerting herself in her panic of his sudden appearance and now having more opioids running through her system.

He seemed to read her mind though. "I take it you have a lot of things you'd like to ask but you'll be out like a light soon and probably won't be able to remember a lot of what I say to you now when you next wake up."

Feeling slightly more reassured that her demise at his hands wasn't immediately imminent, she relaxed a little, sinking into her mattress more comfortably, her eyes struggling to meet his own as they returned their attention to her. Law had already inadvertently committed to memory that hers were a dark, deep shade of blue - a rim of even darker indigo around the edges of her iris and numerous light, sapphire flecks around the pupil. He'd really had no choice but to notice because of the sheer amount of times he had needed to check her pupils during her care.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice sounded tired, even to her own ears.

"I had a few questions of my own actually." He muttered, displeased at how he was unlikely to get as much out of her as he'd wanted to now that he had, kindly-stupidly, given her a more suitable amount of pain medication.

"...You don't have red hair."

Raising a fine brow at her peculiar, obvious statement, he wondered if he'd overdone it, double-checking the infusion rate he'd typed in on the IV stand's interface before looking back at her, slightly perplexed. "No, I don't."

"Hmm, that nurse said I was saved by a guy with red hair. At first I thought the gropey goth-pirate had saved me..." He nearly laughed when he realised she was talking about Eustass but suppressed it and allowed her to continue. "...but...I don't get the impression he'd be smart enough to pull off brain surgery...Was it you?"

Looking him directly in the eyes as she asked, she tried to read his reaction but his face gave nothing away, though there was a slight pause before he spoke in a carefully levelled tone. "What would make you think that?"

Nayla glanced at the newspapers sitting on her bedside cabinet, she'd asked for any copies from the day she was injured until now, looking for information about Zoro and his crew. The junior doctor had been right; any news about them was just updated information and details of the same auction house story as they unravelled. Trafalgar Law's bounty information had been reprinted several times in relation to the incident that he was allegedly an accomplice to.

"You're a doctor, the 'Surgeon of Death' apparently and I saw the weird ability you used on those marines...The only thing that doesn't fit is the redhead." He gave her no response, simply gazed at her with an unreadable, neutral expression as though in thought.

Concluding that he would give her no reply to that either way, she spoke again. "Hey...do you know what happened to the Straw Hats?" Law had fought alongside Luffy outside that auction house; maybe they knew each other after all, maybe they had contacted each other since the incident? Maybe Law would have heard something about them?

He looked as though he were trying to choose the correct words before replying. "We were there, we saw what you did, the way they disappeared." He started slowly. "Bartholomew Kuma is rumoured to have a strange ability and I don't believe the marines wouldn't already be gloating if they had successfully taken out the Straw Hat crew...There's nothing confirmed either way, time will tell."

It wasn't the best news to hear but it could have been worse, they weren't confirmed dead and right now that was enough for her. She was really starting to lose her epic battle with her extremely heavy eyelids and was beginning to partly blame the soothing tone of his voice for it. He had subtly affirmed her suspicions though, at least divulging that he'd been near enough to her at the time of her injury to have been the one to help her.

Realising that he hadn't come here to simply answer all of  _her_  questions and that she'd been babbling ('thank you morphine,' she added sarcastically), she refocused on him with some resolve to stay awake. "What was it that you wanted to ask?"

Law looked at her in surprise of her offering, taking in her tiredness and her fight to stay alert. He'd been thinking of all the things he wanted to know about the oddity on her back on his way here, how to go about phrasing the questions, how much to let on he knew, what to do if he felt her responses were dishonest...but she was simply still too unwell, and now, too tired to give him the answers he had wanted.

He settled for something simple instead. "What's your name?"

Not believing for a second that he had dismissed her from his care before she had woken, left her in hospital for nearly two days then decided to forcibly enter her room in the middle of the night just to ask her name, she realised then what he might have seen whilst she was unconscious but had no choice but to take his question at face value for now.

"Nayla."

There was an oddly comfortable silence then as each mulled over their own thoughts, looking at each other. She openly took in his features, realising that this was the longest she had been this close to him. He was undeniably attractive, though she would never have thought he'd be a doctor, a surgeon no less. He fit the saying of 'you can't judge a book by its cover' to a T.

The combination of his devious facial expressions, the bags under his eyes, his colourful attire, the fuzzy hat, his piercings and his tattoos reminded her more of a shady drug dealer. The type that would hang out around the back of rave clubs selling ecstasy; he was just missing the glow-in-the-dark pacifier necklace to his ensemble. She didn't want to laugh out loud at the thought of him wearing one, shadily skulking around in an alley outside of a club blasting trance music but couldn't hold in the small giggle that escaped her at the thought...Morphine sure was good stuff.

He raised a brow at her but couldn't help enjoying the sound. It had been that giggle that had drawn his attention to her in the first place, the day that she had been laughing with the swordsman of the Straw Hat crew. It had a beautiful chime to it, light, heartfelt, innocent-sounding but if one listened closely enough, there was an underlying trace of mischief to it as well. It had carried over to him easily on the gentle breeze that afternoon; it was a pleasant sound...Though he couldn't understand why she was laughing now. He glanced once more at the IV stand's interface,  _triple_  checking the infusion rate he had set for her.

It was becoming difficult not to fall asleep on him and although the rational part of her mind (the part that the opioids were muting thoroughly right now) said that falling asleep alone in a room with a male pirate that had 'cruel' and 'sadistic' in their bounty description hovering over you was a terrible idea, she couldn't help but close her eyes completely.

She felt the need to say something to him before she fell into a snooze. There was a sudden urge to apologise to him for flipping him off, she felt pretty bad that it had been the last thing she had done to him before he had saved her life but quickly negated that thought when she justified that her rudeness had probably evened out with his own that day. Instead she simply said: "Thank you."

A little surprised by the expression of her gratitude, he observed the small smile on her lips and the slowing rhythm of her breathing, taking a moment to respond. "...You owe your thanks to my crew, it was because of them that I didn't leave you behind." It was a partial lie but she didn't need to know that, fortunately he could blame the kind gesture on others this time. She was a stranger to him, he still had his pride and reputation as a fearsome, cold-hearted pirate to maintain.

Reaching for his nodachi, he began leaving but turned to look back at her when he heard another small giggle. Her eyes were still closed but her smile was wider. It was as if she was saying: 'I don't believe you.'

Law narrowed his eyes at her before making his way out of the room in long strides, hoping it was just his paranoia or her taking a liking to her morphine.

 


	8. Against doctor's orders

Walking back through the bland, off-white painted hallway of the ward, Law tapped his fingers against his nodachi's sheath in thought. That woman had pieced together that he had been the one to save her; perhaps she wasn't as stupid as he had given her credit for. It didn't matter too much that she had he supposed, he would have held it over her head if she had woken on board his sub anyway.

He hadn't gotten the results he'd wanted tonight though, or gotten any closer to understanding the weird tattoo and substance in her blood which had made him visit the hospital to begin with. Should he come back another time for the answers he wanted? Should he just forget it altogether? He probably should...He knew he wouldn't.

Rounding the corner quietly in his contemplation, he wondered if any of the doctors here had noticed anything strange about her test results as the side of the nurses' station came into view. The nurse he had encountered, 'Jade' apparently, was stood hunched over the surface of the desk, her back to him. Even from this angle he could see that she was biting her lips raw with worry, eyeing the Den Den Mushi in front of her and griping the edge of the smooth, white wood.

Law frowned; he had made himself perfectly clear. He had specifically ordered her not to contact the marines - or anyone for that matter, and to keep his visit here to herself. Narrowing his eyes, he approached her from behind and placed his nodachi gently on the floor, propped up against the side of the station.

She seemed to be having a heated internal monologue. Deep in thought and still unaware of his return, staring intently at the small snail snoozing in front of her. If he had to guess, she was probably having an inner struggle between her conscience to do the right thing for her patient and call for help and her selfish desire to comply with his wishes for the sake of her own self-preservation.

Feeling his presence only when he was within inches of her back, she whirred around to face him, a frightened shriek halted by him clamping his tattooed hand over her mouth. The second time he'd had to do that to her since arriving, although he'd anticipated needing to do so this time. The startled nurse resumed the grip on the edge of the desk behind her and closed her eyes in fear, breathing heavily through her nose, the warm air heating the fingers he had over her lips.

"Now now, I believe I said it would be very unprofessional of you to be so noisy and wake your patients. It's very late you know, have some consideration for their well-being." He mocked, a sinister edge to his smirk, his eyes taking in the terror that shone in hers as they reopened and hers taking in the twisted amusement that danced in his.

Law pressed her tightly to the desk with his own body, bringing his face within inches of hers as he reached around her waist with his free arm. The action made her stop breathing altogether, her eyes widening and the fear on her face at their current position all too evident. He relished in it cruelly for a moment before pulling his arm back slowly to reveal the Den Den Mushi she had been considering in his hand.

"Where do you keep the patient files for this ward?" He kept her pinned in place but removed the hand over her mouth so that she could reply. Not that she could find her tongue right now, instead pointing behind him shakily to the small filing trolley rolled under the surface of the nurses' station on the other side.

Moving away from her, Law stooped down to swiftly pull it out and began quickly flicking through the labelled spines of the files, using his newly acquired information of Nayla's name to find the one that he wanted. Eyeing it curiously as he removed it, he observed the 'Jane Doe' hastily scratched out and replaced with 'Nayla -' on the label. It wasn't the fact they had given her a forensically morbid name that piqued his curiosity, she  _had_  still been unconscious when they received her after all and he didn't have a name for her to relay to Shachi when he had dropped her off here. It was the fact that she hadn't given the hospital doctors her surname; he couldn't help but wonder why.

Tucking the file under his arm, Law retrieved his nodachi and turned to leave, tossing the sleepy, stolen, little snail casually in his free hand. He didn't spare the frightened nurse another glance as he made his way out from around the back of the station but paused as he spotted the set of feet sticking out from around the other side of it; he had forgotten about that.

Looking back at the flushed looking nurse, who he had seemed to freeze in place since accosting her, he spoke. "I'd be less concerned about calling the marines and more concerned about getting this guy seen to." He used the thumb of the hand still clutching the Den Den Mushi to gesture at the security guard that he had hit with his sheathed nodachi when the man had tried to stop him from entering the ward.

As if snapping from her daze, she peered over the edge of the nurses' station down at the unconscious man on the floor; seemed she had forgotten about him as well.

"Go call a doctor. Head injuries with loss of consciousness are always very serious." Shooting her one last smirk, he made his way out of the open double doors of the ward and down the main hospital corridor, wondering how long it'd take for the other three security guards he had knocked out on his way up to be discovered.

* * *

 

It was a stupid move, she knew as much but she had lounged around far too long already and the fact that Trafalgar Law knew exactly where to find her didn't make her too keen to stay either. Nayla could swear that her wrist still tingled where his hand had contacted her bare skin and  _dammit_  he had smelt so good up close.

Waking up, she had hoped that everything she remembered from last night had been some weird morphine-induced dream but had been mortified to find the morning staff visibly shaken and discussing the appearance of an infamous pirate here last night.

"Please reconsider, you only just woke up yesterday!" The junior doctor that worked for her consultant pleaded with her, his hazel eyes watching her as she grabbed her boots.

She couldn't  _believe_  Law had seen her all tired out and drugged up like that, how embarrassing. Taking a seat on the bed to pull her shoes on, she sent a heated glower at the disconnected IV stand near her. 'Sitting there all innocent-looking, you know what you did!' She hissed at it vehemently in her head before turning back to reply to the doctor in her room.

"Are you serious? Your nurse lets a psycho into my room in the middle of night and you want me to  _stay_ here?!"

Speaking of embarrassing...maybe it was even worse than sleepy morphine talk. If he really had treated her before...had he seen her naked? When pulling on her top she'd noticed that it was freshly laundered. The fragrance of an unfamiliar detergent was still clinging strongly to the fabric and she was pretty sure hospitals weren't nice enough to do your personal laundry for you. Initially, Nayla hadn't given any thought to what she had been wearing when she had been dropped off here but now she was forced to question whether she had been in her street clothing or something else...Had Law undressed her, washed her clothing and redressed her or...? 'Oh god, I don't even wanna know.'

"I...We-...You have to understand the nurse was put in a very dangerous position, he threatened her!"

"Well of course he did." She scowled at him from the edge of her ruffled bedding as she leant down and began the tedious task of buckling and zipping up her footwear. The doctor quickly turned his head to the side as he spoke again, probably a little flustered at the gracious view down her top she was giving him as she bent over - not that she cared in her anger.

"Listen, we're going to move you to another room in a different ward, we're even beefing up the security." She snorted at that. "We could even arrange for you to be transferred to another hospital but please, you've suffered a severe concussion, discharging yourself now isn't wise!" He tried reasoning with her.

"You finished all your neurological testing yesterday, right? I'm all good. No brain damage, no cognitive impairment, you said it yourself."

Nearly retorting that her decision to self-discharge  _was_  cognitive impairment, he fought back the urge to say it and managed to remain professional. "You still need to have those tests done regularly until you're fully recovered, brain injuries can present several days after head trauma...Besides, you still have staples in your scalp."

"I can go to any emergency room or doctor's office any time to have those removed. Shouldn't be in any longer than seven days right?" Glancing at the open page of one of the newspapers on her bedside cabinet, she read the top line of the article it was opened to that stated the date of the auction house incident and made a mental note that her staples should be out no later than two days from now.

He sighed at her stubbornness as she stood, fully dressed and ready to go. Ignoring it, Nayla gave the sneering face of Trafalgar Law on the open page one last glance before speaking to the frustrated man again.

"Hand me the form that covers your ass for me leaving here." Holding her hand out for the self-discharge form he had in his hands, she waited patiently as he hesitantly held it and a pen out for her, watching her lean against her bedside cabinet to sign it. She found some inexplicable sense of satisfaction in smothering Law's smug, little printed face whilst she did so.

When done, she handed both items back to the junior and he grudgingly stepped aside to allow her to leave the room, sincerely dreading having to explain to Dr. Mordacitas why a patient under his care had disappeared whilst he had been in a morning meeting.

"Um..." Nayla stopped at the doorway to look at him. "Please don't hesitate to come back if you notice any changes in your condition. You'll need full mental and physical rest until all your symptoms subside...You'll also need some decent pain medication for the headache and anti-emetics for any nausea they or the concussion may cause. At least wait for me to write you a prescription before you leave?"

Taking in his demeanour she could tell that he really was just genuinely concerned for her well-being. He was actually a very nice doctor and she was inwardly feeling a little bad for mentally bad-mouthing his bedside manner when she had woken up yesterday. Quite handsome too, she had no doubt she'd have been flirting shamelessly with him by the end of the week had she stayed. "...Alright, thank you."

"Ok, wait at the nurses' station, I'll be there in a few minutes with it for you." With a look of relief he sped out of the room past her to fetch his out-patient prescription pad, worried she may change her mind and be gone before he got back if he didn't hurry.

Leaving the room after him and walking through the corridor in the opposite direction towards the station, she hoped to see Jade there but knew it was unlikely if the woman had taken the night shift. Rounding the corner she was disappointed to find her assumption to be right - she had been  _so_  keen to give that woman a piece of her mind before leaving. 'And possibly fist,' she added, clenching her jaw in irritation.

Leaning against the counter patiently, Nayla ignored the part-frightened part-curious looks the nurses sitting at it gave her as she watched an orderly from another ward come in to deliver a new Den Den Mushi for them.

The nurse not currently taking the snail from him timidly spoke up. "Um, excuse me, miss?"

Nayla turned her attention to the middle aged woman addressing her. She looked nervous, as if speaking to her might re-summon the demon that was Trafalgar Law to the ward. The staff seemed to be under the impression that he was some sort of associate of hers seeing as he had demanded to see her alone, at night, in her private room, with the door shut then left her unharmed and fast asleep. She frowned inwardly at the way that looked, now that she thought about it. 'I bet these people think it was some kind of weird, smutty booty call.'

"You still have an account balance. If you're leaving now, would you like it refunded?"

"Account balance?"

"Um yes, the man that brought you in, he left some money to cover your treatment costs. You still have quite a lot remaining." The nurse pushed her thick glasses back up her nose as she thumbed through the forms on the desk with her pudgy fingers.

That traitorous bitch, Nurse Jade (yes, Nayla knew it was unfair to hate the woman and that she couldn't  _really_  have expected one nurse to stand up to someone like Trafalgar Law but still!), had told her about that too. She'd wondered how she was going to pay for her treatment here a little while after she had woken. All of her money, well, all of her belongings, were still left on board the Sunny. She hadn't really asked Jade much more about it, having been much more interested in asking about the mystery saviour that had dropped her off here instead before falling back to sleep.

"Really? How much is left?" She found herself genuinely curious as to how much money someone like Law would leave for her treatment...She prepared to feel insulted.

"You still have 73,700 berries left remaining from the 100,000 pre-payment."

It took a fair amount of effort to stop her jaw from dropping...Was she really worth that much or was he really that kind? Maybe he just had that much cash to throw around...He was a pirate after all, it was all stolen money. He probably dealt in millions without batting an eyelid.

"Um...Yeah I guess, please." She watched as the nurse got up and went to the ward clerk's office across the hallway to collect it for her; presuming there was some safe kept there for money taken in before it went to some sort of central accounting department in the hospital.

It wasn't long before both the nurse and the junior doctor returned and with one last refusal of the doctor's plea for her to stay, Nayla was soon outside. Money stuffed alongside her prescription in the small, paper pharmacy bag, enjoying the first rays of sun to have hit her skin in days and stretching languidly.

She felt so much better than last night. Reluctantly, she admitted that Law had been right to increase her pain medication. It had allowed her to get an incredibly restful sleep, much easier to do when the pangs and throbs of your headache weren't disturbing you into wakefulness every other hour. One pain-free night's sleep had made all the difference.

Having not really had that much time to dwell on her near-death experience, Nayla looked around at the beautiful scenery of the well kept hospital grounds as she made her way to the main gate. Taking in and appreciating the smell of fresh grass and the peculiar but sweet scent of the archipelago's bubbly resin brought home how close her brush with death had been this time and how rapidly it had all happened.

'Wasn't the first and won't be the last time,' she thought morbidly with a sigh, pushing the feeling aside as quickly as it had surfaced.

Following the numbered signs outside the hospital's gates towards grove one, she thankfully noted that it wasn't far and hoped she wouldn't run into any trouble in the lawless zone whilst she was unarmed and whilst her health wasn't exactly at its best. 'First; my weapons. Second; my stuff from the Sunny. Third;...hope both of those things are still there.' Nayla thought grimly as she walked towards her destination.

* * *

 

There had been nothing helpful in the notes Law had taken from the hospital. They hadn't documented anything he didn't already know. Her neurological tests after waking were normal, they didn't examine her blood microscopically, they didn't notice anything strange about her at all in fact and some screwball going by 'Dr. Mordacitas' had written some unprofessional, cryptic comment about a tree surgeon that he couldn't quite make heads or tails of. 'What does an arborist have to do with anything?' He thought with a frown.

All that he had to show for his midnight venture to the hospital was her first name, possibly, if it  _were_  her real name. Law was sceptical of it now after noticing the lack of surname and having read through the rest of the personal information in her hospital file. It was all falsified. Everything from her age to her place of residence. How a doctor didn't know enough Latin to notice her home town of 'Mens vestri' in far off country of 'Tua Rei' had simply read 'mind your own business' was beyond him. She had mocked them to their faces in a language they practically speak unintentionally all day everyday...He couldn't help but find  _some_  humour in it though.

"How about this one, Captain? Looks nice, large enough too, ain't that right, big guy." Penguin grinned, slapping Jean Bart good-naturedly on the back as they walked up to a well-sized bar.

Looking over the building, Law decided it was a very typical tavern and inn set up, judging by the multiple stories. They'd come across plenty during their travels. Like most of the buildings on Sabaody, the building was painted a pale pastel colour but the windows emitted a warm, dim glow, inviting patrons in from the night-time streets. The loud sounds of merriment and the smell of alcohol and food wafting out of the large building were pleasantly appealing.

"Well, that's up to our guest of honour to decide." Law replied, turning to look up at Jean Bart from under the brim of his hat.

The crew had been keen to welcome him to their family, even more so when word of his previous life of slavery had spread amongst them. Jean Bart had undoubtedly had it rough, it left Law wondering how long it had been since the man had the freedom of eating and drinking to his heart's content and in the company of jubilant comrades no less.

"Anything is ok with me, Captain." The reply had been phrased neutrally but there was an undeniable tone of appreciation in the man's voice as he looked back at Law with unmasked respect.

"You heard him, let's go." Law turned to enter the tavern, the corner of his mouth lifting into a small smile at the rowdy calls of agreement coming from behind him as his boisterous crew followed.

Taking a glance around inside at the rich colours, plush seating and warm wooden decor, it was obvious this was considerably more upscale then he and his men often settled for, but considering the occasion of welcoming his newest crewmember he didn't mind in the least.

A hush fell over the other customers inside as the Heart Pirates were watched entering the softly lit establishment. The faint whispers of his and his crew's name were a common entrance theme into most places they visited but this time the usual chorus of whispers was practically a roar by comparison. His infamy, especially here on Sabaody, had grown exponentially after he had been repeatedly reported to have been an accomplice to the incident in which someone had dared to physically assault a World Noble.

Not that it bothered him, he just hoped that the focus of the Celestial Dragon's wrath remained on Straw Hat's offence and that they had forgotten that he had freed and taken in one of their slaves in plain view of the marines there that day.

Law led the way to the seating booths along the back wall, nearer to the bar and the staircase that he presumed led to the rooms on the second floor. They were too many to fit into the only booth that was currently empty, how fortunate that the men in the one next to it had chosen that exact moment to decide that they had finished their drinks. His smile widened slightly at their retreating backs as they scuttled out of it and he sat himself into the freshly emptied seat, his men following suit.

Beckoning a waitress over to take their orders, she started from her trance, having been frozen in her spot by the bar since they entered, clutching an empty serving tray to her chest. Making her way over to him hesitantly as the noise of the tavern began to return to the level it had been when they had arrived; she shakily pulled out her notepad and pen from her apron pocket.

The poor, flustered woman had soon taken the substantial number of requests for strong liquors and hearty meals from them all before nervously picking up the half-empty glasses the men that had recently evacuated his booth had carelessly left behind on his table. Placing them onto her tray, she politely excused herself and began making her way back to the bar to hand in their orders.

Law watched her leave, her tray trembling in her hands, before he turned back to his crewmates, tuning into their avid attempt at conversation with Jean Bart - the man was pretty stoic he noticed, when he heard the smash of glass coming from behind him. Looking back over his shoulder, he expected to see the shaky waitress he had inadvertently spooked scooping up the broken contents of her tray from the floor but instead found himself gazing into the very familiar blue eyes of a startled-looking Nayla.


	9. Stab-proof jockstraps

Blinking at the sound of clinking shards of glass around her feet, Nayla quickly offered an apology as she bent down to help the waitress place the broken shards of what had thankfully been an empty cup onto her serving tray.

She had wanted to find a nice tourist hotel to stay in but had begun to feel too tired and unwell again to travel much further after her long day and had settled for this reasonable-looking inn until leaving the archipelago. The gruff bartender had given her nothing more than a rough snort of amusement that had barely made it past his thick, bristly moustache when she had asked him what hours room service was available until.

However, after a short sob story about how she had been brutalised and left for dead in grove one –insert teary eyes, batting eyelashes and 'accidental' cleavage squeeze here– and how she was injured and needed to be on bed rest –insert the non-subtle run of fingers through her hair to allow her staples to catch the lighting here– he had softened up, allowing her to call down from her room's Den Den Mushi to have a waitress bring breakfast, possibly lunch if they weren't busy. Dinner, she was on her own; they were too busy to spare hands in the evening which was understandable.

Having come downstairs for dinner and to return a glass from an earlier drink, she had accidentally let it slip from her fingers when she'd done a shocked double take of the back of a  _very_  familiar-looking fuzzy hat.

Placing the last broken shard onto the waitress' tray, she reluctantly raised her eyes back to Law. He had draped his arm over the back of the booth to make craning his head around to watch her more comfortable. 'Enjoying the show at my expense  _again_ ,' she thought bitterly as she stood, though he did nothing but smirk at her. Most of the other members of his crew had lost interest in peering around from behind him in their seats and had turned back around to resume their conversations.

Huffing in annoyance, Nayla decided to ignore him in favour of going to sit at the bar to get the dinner she had come down here for. She was unsure of how Law had found her or if he had meant to but she  _was_  pretty sure that he didn't mean her any real harm, seeing as he'd had plenty of opportunities to hurt or kill her already if it had been his intention to do so.

Grumpily summoning Baez, the gruff-turned-sympathetic bartender over, she ordered her food and contemplated taking it up to her room to shake off the pair of eyes she felt burning into her since she had made her clumsy appearance known.

'No. That guy has gotten off on intimidating me too many times already. I wanted a break from my boring room, a pleasant meal, a drink and dammit I'm gonna get it.' Resolve reinforced, she sat down and paid no mind to the analytical perusal of her body she could feel coming from the booth not far behind her. Instead she took a good look around the tavern; she had been so tired after finding it earlier that she hadn't really given it much inspection.

Relieved to have found her weapons where she left them before visiting the Sunny and collecting her things, she'd mildly hoped to find someone on board but that wasn't the case. Just some weirdos riding fish and playing watchdog, one of which she thought she recognised as the accomplice to Zoro's kidnapping a few days back. She had to hail some odd bubble-based taxi to ride back to the hotels district though, her suitcase was way too heavy to carry all the way here in her state on foot, she really should learn to pack less...or buy less...probably both.

* * *

 

Smiling to himself in amusement, Law watched her settle at the bar, as surprised to see her as the vice versa and had taken in her appearance as she moved to her seat. She was walking steadily, favouring her left side a bit because of the two small rib fractures he knew she had there. The bruising on her back where she had slammed into the tree peering over the edge of her shoulderless, black top was evident only when her long hair swayed to the side. She was wearing her 'necklace' and seemed to have retrieved her strangely curved, sheathed blades, now hanging from the angled, low belt on her hips. Generally, she didn't look too bad at all...he felt his gaze trail from the way the belt accentuated her curves to the back of her denim mini skirt and slender legs...medically speaking of course.

"Hot." He turned to Shachi who had seemed to verbalise his own unintended thought aloud, bluntly.

"Yeah...Seems familiar though." Penguin scratched his chin in thought as he looked at her from behind.

Rolling his eyes, Law chose not to bother filling them in nor point out how much work their observational skills apparently needed as their drinks arrived. If she had come down the stairs, then it would seem Nayla was staying here. Glad he hadn't tried turning up at the hospital again to find her gone, he pondered over his drink of how to go about getting some answers today; he wouldn't let this opportunity for information slip through his fingers without being exploited.

Watching out of the corner of his eye as her food arrived, Law made sure to keep track of where she was in case she decided to make an attempt to disappear on him again, fairly certain that his appearance in her hospital room last night had a lot to do with her staying here now and suppressed the urge to laugh at her poor luck at trying to evade him.

* * *

 

It had been a while since Nayla had been able to eat a full and delicious meal and she'd finished her succulent steak in no time, swearing that it tasted even better on Law's dime. Grinning ear to ear at the thought and at the bartender, she pushed her empty dish forward a little as he came by to remove it for her. "Mmm, thank you Baez. That was amazing, my compliments to the chef."

Plopping the plate onto the serving tray of a waitress that was heading into the kitchen through the door behind him, he turned back to smile at her, the action pulling his huge moustache into a pleasant curve under his large nose. "No problem darling, headed back to bed or would you like a night cap?"

"Hmm, do you serve anything sweet?"

"Sure, one sweetie for the sweetie, coming right up." He winked at her before turning to mix her drink, pulling some of the more vibrantly tinted glass bottles off of the well lit shelving of the wall behind the bar.

Feeling her back stiffen, Nayla felt someone getting closer to her. She already knew who it was but decided not to turn around, hoping that she was wrong or that maybe he was just approaching the bar to place an order. Inwardly rolling her eyes at the distinct air of arrogance that she could practically feel encompassing her personal space from behind, she decided that the most annoying part of it was the fact that it was actually well warranted.

The delightful tinkle of ice in glass caught her attention as Baez placed a colourful-looking cocktail down in front of her, complete with straw, fresh garnish and a parasol. Smiling nicely, thanking him and relieved with his timing, she decided that she'd be enjoying this drink upstairs in the privacy of her own room before a certain pirate captain decided to-...A tattooed hand placed itself over the wrist of the arm she was using to hold her glass, halting her from lifting it and making her retreat, as if he had known it was her intention. She read the 'D-E-A-T-H' across the backs of his warm fingers before looking up at him in mild annoyance, at both his action and at the return of that unwelcome tingling from the contact of his skin on hers.

"Drinking with a concussion and whilst on pain medication is not a very wise thing to do, Nayla-ya." His trademark smirk in place. She liked the way his smooth voice had caressed her name as he spoke it for the first time. She didn't like how her filthy mind's immediate response to it was to wonder what it may sound like coming from his lips during more...'intimate' activities. 'Stop it brain.' Preferably right in her ear. 'Stop it.' ...Breathily. 'Shh!'

"I'm pretty sure you dismissed your duties as my doctor when you had me dumped at Sabaody General, I don't think my health issues are your concern anymore." Pulling her hand out from under his, she raised the straw of her drink to her lips. "Do I have to contact the marines and have them change your epithet to the 'Stalker of Death?'"

He chuckled at her as she sipped her drink with a sly smile. "Actually, I didn't even realise you had left the hospital. If anywhere, I thought I would have seen you again there." Leaning against the bar with his elbow in his laid back manner, Law stood between the barstool she was sitting on and the one behind him, nearly negating their height difference.

"Oh? So you  _were_  going to visit me again. Would you have brought me flowers this time?" Chuckling again, he kept his eye contact with her, tapping the bar as Baez walked by, indicating another drink for himself.

"Let me buy you your next drink." It would have sounded like a charming offer from a handsome man at a bar if she didn't already know him better.

"Don't worry, you will." Smiling deviously, she reached two slender fingers into her cleavage and tugged the corner of a large wad of berries into view. "...Thank you for paying for my treatment by the way." She said with more sincerity, playfulness aside as she tucked the money back in securely.

Law half-heartedly wondered what else she kept in there as he took the opened bottle of beer Baez placed for him on the bar, using it to gesture over his shoulder towards the booths he had just come from. "Again, you owe your thanks to my crew."

Raising a brow at that, Nayla looked over at the rowdy bunch of boilersuit-clad men, a couple of which seemed to be in a heated play fight across the division of the two booths the Heart Pirates currently occupied. " _They_  paid?"

Nodding in affirmation, he took a sip from his bottle, his eyes on the red lipstick mark wrapped around her straw before going back to watch the features on her face soften as she watched the boisterous group of pirates with a small smile - already knowing what she wanted to ask before she asked it.

"Hey...Law...would it be ok if-?"

Standing from his leant position with a smile of his own, he inclined his head towards the booths. "Come." He was absolutely going to ignore how his name had sounded falling from her moist, red lips as she spoke it for the first time.

Sliding down to the floor carefully from her barstool, drink in hand, she trailed behind his long strides towards his crew, beginning to approach close enough to hear what was being argued about.

"I'm telling you! It was at  _least_  six of them!"

"No way, you took out three at best, I was there!"

"If you were there then - Oh, Captain, who's- OOOH! Pen! Look who it is!" Shachi exclaimed taking his hands off of his crewmate's face that he had placed there in an attempt to shove away the man that had his boilersuit's collar in a death grip from over the top of the booth division.

"OOOH! No way! It's you! How you feeling?!" Penguin asked excitedly from next to Shachi, turning away from watching his friend squabble with another crewmate. Said pirate released Shachi's boilersuit and leant over the divider, eyeing the new arrival with interest.

Taken aback by how animated and loud they were, Nayla looked at Law in question, who merely smiled, tucked his free hand into his denim pocket and took another sip of his beer in amusement. "I-I'm fine, hi." She waved timidly at the noisy group, more from the other booth behind Penguin and Shachi turning to look at her from over the top of their seating.

"Ahhh I knew Captain would do good, see Pen? And you thought she wouldn't make it, doubting Captain's skill like that." Shachi crossed his arms in triumph as said captain slid back into his seat opposite him in the booth.

"What? No I-"

"You shoulda seen him, he was practically crying when you didn't wake up the day you were with u-" Shachi mocked before Penguin elbowed him roughly in the side.

"Oh! So she's the lady Cap' helped out?" Another head peered over the division between the booths.

"That's our Captain for you." One said in admiration, holding up his drink with a toothy grin.

"Cute, isn't she?" The one who had been arguing with Shachi remarked, bopping him and Penguin on the head before continuing. "Why were you two holding out on us, huh? You didn't tell us she was  _that_  cute." Both victims grunted at the rough contact, rubbing their heads and turning around to glare at the man.

They stopped their three-way bickering and tussle when they heard her laughing at their antics, her free hand to her mouth in amusement before she held it out to Shachi in greeting. "I'm Nayla, I take it you're the guys I owe my thanks to?"

Shachi scratched the back of his head as he reached out to shake her hand. "Oh well...I wouldn't say th-Oi!" Only to have his own slapped away by Penguin who beat him to it.

"It was a pleasure." Penguin beamed, shaking Nayla's hand in greeting and ignoring the hole Shachi was trying to burn into the side of his head with his glare. "Name's Penguin, this one is Shachi." He gestured to the redhead; she had noticed the colour of his hair as she had walked over.

Penguin held an arm out at the other occupants of his booth. "These two were there too, big guy is Jean Bart - he was the one that carried you back to the ship." The larger man grunted in greeting, his arms crossed. "The scruffy-looking bear is Bepo." He added, deadpanning at the first-mate.

"Hey!" The navigator called out in offence.

"And of course, you know Captain already. The other guys did squat, they aren't important." He finished, closing his eyes and waving dismissively at the men peering over his head from the booth behind him.

"Oi! Only 'cause we weren't there you jerk! You-" The crewmate that had been arguing with Shachi was quietened in an instant as he glanced at his captain, causing Nayla to look over at Law to find him silently indicating the man turn around with a swivel of his finger. The pirate did so, the others seated in the booth with him quietly following suit and turning back to their own table.

She had to admit, she was impressed with Law's absolute command and control over his crew, he hadn't needed to say a word to be understood. He looked at her then, sliding deeper into the booth and indicating for her to take the seat next to him.

Catching her hesitation he grinned widely. "You're welcome to sit next to Penguin and Shachi, if it'd make you feel more comfortable."

Looking back at them, Nayla noted the blushes, clasped hands and dreamy, all too eager looks on their faces before looking back at Law, sighing in resignation and sitting next to him, placing her glass on the table in front of her.

Law immediately draped his arm over the top of the booth's seat behind her but she wasn't sure if that was just how he sat comfortably, if it was a quiet claim of her to others in the tavern or if it was a mild attempt at intimidation. He hadn't left her a lot of free space to sit in, her bare thigh was making contact with the warm denim of his own, though admittedly having a bear, two crewmates and a man the size of Jean Bart in the booth with them didn't leave them much room. The physical contact was probably unintentional...probably.

The gloomy defeat that hovered over Penguin and Shachi at her seating choice soon lifted as the former thought of something. "Hey, Nayla-chan, shouldn't you still be in hospital?"

"Oh, well yeah I guess so." She shrugged sheepishly.

"Why did you leave?" Shachi asked, hoping he hadn't dropped her off at a bad hospital choice.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned deliberately slowly to glare at Law but he said nothing, just lifted his bottle slightly in mock-greeting before taking another sip, watching her with unconcealed mirth in eyes. "No reason really, I can take bed rest anywhere, doesn't have to be in hospital. Besides, they seemed to have bad pest control, one managed to get into my room last night." Law chuckled around the rim of the bottle in his lips. If nothing else, he'd admit she had a sense of humour.

"Oh...sorry, it  _looked_  pretty clean." Shachi thumbed the peeling corner of the label on his own beer bottle in mild guilt.

"So it  _was_  you that dropped me off." He looked up at her about to ask how she knew but she quickly pointed at her own hair. "You're the only redhead here, the nurse said it was a red haired man that dropped me off."

"Ah...n-no biggy" He blushed.

"Was it you that paid for my treatment too?" Now knowing it wasn't Law's money that had been spent on her, she wanted to know who to pay back for his kindness.

"That was the three of us." Penguin gestured to Bepo and Shachi on either side of him.

"...Why did he make  _you_  guys pay?" Law raised a brow at how she referred to him as though he wasn't sitting right next to her.

"Um...well..."

Saving Penguin the uncomfortable task of having to try to find a way to reply without making his captain sound bad, Law decided to spare him and answer instead. "They were worried we would be saddling you with a treatment bill you may not have been able to afford by dropping you off at a hospital. We had no way of knowing if you had money, you didn't have any personal belongings on you when we found you. I told them it was none of my concern and that they were welcome to use their own money if they felt so strongly about it. They decided to split the cost using their personal savings."

Looking back at them in surprise, she found the two men scratching the backs of their heads in embarrassment and the bear fiddling with his claws nervously. "Aww guys...Wow, I dunno what to say..."

"I-It was no trouble at all, really!" Penguin replied holding his hands up, agreement from the other two soon following.

"I  _do_  have plenty of money on me, I got it back today in fact. Let me pay you guys back."

"Ah no way, we were happy to do it, right?" Shachi asked the other two.

"Yeah." Bepo smiled happily, Penguin nodded in agreement beaming at her.

Watching her smile gratefully at his crewmembers from his relaxed recline, Law couldn't help but notice she had only offered to return the money after she knew it wasn't his own. Deciding that he must really get under her skin, he somehow found that strangely entertaining.

"Ah...hey I have an...awkward question." Nayla started, running a finger along the wet condensation of her cocktail glass nervously, tracing idle patterns in it with the tip of her long, red nail. "Um...who undressed me?" 'Please don't be Law, please don't be Law, please don't be Law.'

Looking up from her glass when no one came forward with a vocal answer, she found them all looking at Bepo. "I-I'm sorry."

"Oh no, it's fine Bepo, I understand you needed to, it's ok don't worry. I was just...curious who it was is all." She offered reassuringly, relaxing as she took a long sip of her sweet drink in relief.

Bepo shifted a little bit guiltily in his seat. "It's not just that...I'm sorry because I had to ask Captain to help me." She had a hard time struggling to swallow the drink she had in her mouth down as she turned to look at Law in the seat next to her.

"What?!" - "Captain did?" Penguin and Shachi looked at him in shock, though he ignored their outburst in favour of responding to the horrified-looking woman sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I did." Law confirmed setting his bottle down on the table and draping his other arm over the back of the booth.

"W-What, why? Bepo looks completely capable, I mean he talks and everything." She gestured to the bear who was back to twiddling his paws in remorse.

"He is, however, he has some trouble with delicate tasks that require more dexterity. Such as undoing buttons, unfastening clasps, undressing someone without accidentally scratching them or damaging their clothing." Watching her narrow her eyes at him in vague disbelief, he clarified it bluntly. "Claws and rudimentary opposable thumbs." Law summarised, emphasising his point by flexing his own.

"Ah, that's true I guess." Penguin conceded.

"Yeah, you should see the maps he draws." Shachi added.

"Maps?" She dragged her annoyed gaze off of Law to look at the polar bear in genuine curiosity.

"Yeah, I'm the Heart Pirates' first-mate  _and_  navigator!" Bepo stated proudly, perking up in his seat.

"Shut up Bepo!"

"Sorry."

"Hey come on, I'd like to see  _you two_  use pens that are too small for you well enough to draw maps  _with_  claws  _and_  non-human thumbs." She chided, looking at them sourly over the table for upsetting the sweet-looking bear. "I'm sure they're wonderful Bepo, much better than any I could ever draw anyway."

Seeming to brighten up at that, his features morphed into mild curiosity as he eyed her necklace, sparkling deceptively delicately in the dim lighting of the room. "Um...may I ask a question?"

Law furrowed his brows at Nayla as she shared a weird look with Shachi before turning back to his first-mate to respond. "Sure, what is it?"

"Well, we-" He glanced quickly at his captain before changing his phrasing. "-I noticed your um, jewellery..." She gave Law a dirty look at Bepo's slip-up, assuming immediately that  _he_  had been the one to remove her chest brace. His expression returned to a cocky smile, unashamed and uncaring to defend himself against her silent accusation.

"Isn't it a really inconvenient place to have a weapon?" Penguin and Shachi looked from Bepo to her, quickly realising that her only piece of jewellery was in fact her necklace - both staring at her chest curiously, trying to figure out where and what the weapon was. Penguin looked a little paler though, clutching the hand he'd nearly needed to have several stitches in unconsciously at the thought of another concealed weapon on her body.

"Ah, well it's really just my last resort. Its come in handy plenty of times."

"How so?" Law asked curiously, choosing to remove his arms from the back of the booth and lean forward on them against the table as he looked at her.

"Well, a lot of places I need to go tend to frisk people and confiscate weapons...Not many people have the utter  _nerve_  to grope that deeply into a woman's cleavage to check for them." She returned his stare pointedly, earning another shameless smirk from him before he responded.

"It'd still take time to move a hand under your top and unfasten the sheath to pull that dagger out. How would you be able to draw it fast enough to defend yourself if you needed it?" Law took another sip of beer as he waited for her answer, genuinely curious about her fighting style when under pressure.

"Oh that's easy, I put my hand up there pretending I'm about to take my top off for sex." Nayla quickly lifted her glass off of the table as Penguin spat the mouthful of his own drink out onto it in shock, choking on the drops that had managed to get down the back of his throat.

"...W-What?" Shachi asked with a blush on his face.

"You heard me. Nothing freezes a man's intention to attack you faster than making him think he's about to get laid." Laughing a little at their shocked faces, she took another sip of the cocktail she had rescued from Penguin's outburst.

Shachi thumped his friend on the back as he used a napkin from the central dispenser to mop up the spilt liquid on the table's surface. "Geez, how many sets of blades does one girl need?" Penguin coughed out.

"Her weapon and her...'necklace?' That's only two, that's not that many." Shachi replied, removing his hand from his crewmate's shoulder blades to go back to resting it under his chin, elbow on the table and using the excuse of its mention to stare at her necklace dreamily...the necklace of course.

"Nah, you should see her boots. I nearly lost a hand trying to remove them." Penguin thumped his own chest a few times with his fist, catching his breath from his coughing fit.

Law furrowed his brows again at the suspicious exchange of looks between Nayla and Shachi across the table before she turned to Penguin with an accusatory glare. As if sensing her thought Penguin immediately put his hands up in defence. "Whoa whoa, I wasn't there when you were undressed, only tried to help with the boots."

"Wait...her boots?" Shachi visibly paled, freezing in his seat.

"Yeah, she has like, eight blades in them?" He asked looking from his ashen friend to the girl at their table.

"Nine. I wanted ten. Nine is such an ugly number to stop at. Don't you think, Shachi-kun?" She purred, leaning across the table and resting her own chin to her hand as he'd done.

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Law looked under the table just in time to see her small, booted foot slide from between his thighs as Shachi stood in panic from his seat. Nayla smiled up at him, enjoying the look on his face as he realised that what he had initiated as an accidental, then harmless game of footsy with her had escalated into him having that many lethal blades so close to his precious, precious manhood.

Immediately piecing together the scenario, Law glared at him as he hastily excused himself to use the bathroom, attempting to escape his captain's wrath and wondering if anyone else in the world had ever considered the creation of stab-proof jockstraps before.

"What's wrong with him?" Bepo asked as he watched the redhead all but run from the table.

"Shorter list if you asked what was right with him." Penguin sighed out as he watched his friend disappear into the men's room.


	10. A condemning whisper

Curiously watching the abrupt retreat of the red-haired man from the table, the waitress returned with her tray and arms laden with food for both booths. Laying the crew's plates down to their eager cheers she then returned to their captain, addressing him nervously and fiddling with the pockets of her apron as she avoided his eye contact. "C-Can I get you anything else?"

Law looked at Nayla in silent offering but she shook her head. "Just another drink for the lady."

Watching her sigh a little at her ignored decline and sit back more comfortably against the booth's padded bench, he decided that there had been enough pleasantries and that she was relaxed enough now to be caught off guard. Keen to see her response to his upcoming question, he leant back in his own seat so that he could observe her fully. "So, Nayla-ya, where did you get that interesting tattoo of yours?"

To her credit, she hadn't flinched a muscle but it was exactly that that made her suspicious to him. Up until now, any mention of something that may have insinuated someone had looked at her in a state of undress had earned a reaction from her. Now there was none, only a practiced response to a question that she had perhaps anticipated from him.

"Hmm, you have a tattoo?" Penguin asked, looking her over in an attempt to spot it.

"Yeah, on my lower back. Just a basic, meaningless tribal pattern I got on my travels, nothing special." Drinking a mouthful from her glass, Nayla realised with a surprised blink that Law had noticed she'd nearly finished it before she did.

"You have a tramp-stamp?" One crewmate from the booth behind Penguin asked, whipping his head around to look at her.

"Oi, watch what you say, idiot!" The one that had been fighting with Shachi smacked him upside the head, making him turn back to their own table to continue the argument the action had just provoked. She wasn't sure if he was scolding him for revealing their eavesdropping or for inadvertently calling her a tramp.

Choosing to ignore his crew's antics, Law pressed  _his_  matter of interest instead. "On your travels? Which country was that?" He hadn't ordered a meal of his own but casually reached across the table and took one of the French fries off of Bepo's plate, popping it into his mouth nonchalantly as he watched her. The bear paid him no mind and continued to thoughtfully munch away at his mouthful of fish listening intently, as curious as his captain to understand what they had both seen.

Feigning thought for a moment, Nayla eventually shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure, I've been so many places and I never stay too long. It was such a long time ago."

Making it clear she wouldn't talk about it willingly and that she probably understood why he was asking about her tattoo, Law guessed then that he'd get no honest answers without directly confronting her about it. He looked at her thoughtfully, matching her unwavering eye contact as they each tried to assess the other's knowledge in a silent, falsely neutral exchange.

"How come you travel so much? Are you a bounty hunter, Nayla-chan?"

Thankful for Penguin's interjection and change of subject, she turned back to him. "Well, no not really. Though I've done it a few times here and there when I've needed to." Her mood sank a little as she thought of Zoro, sank a lot when Law brought him up directly.

"I take it that's how you know Pirate Hunter-ya?" Realising his use of present and not past tense when talking about him, her mood lifted a little bit at Law's apparent sensitivity or belief that her friends had survived.

"Yeah, we were accidentally hunting the same target. Got in each other's way, ended up fighting amongst ourselves whilst the bounty escaped." Laughing a little at the memory and at the look on Zoro's face when he'd realised it, she smiled fondly at the memory as she played with the colourful parasol sat on the rim of her glass. "We bumped into each other a lot after that, before he became a pirate that is."

"So if you aren't a bounty hunter...are you just a pirate without a crew?" Penguin asked in thought looking to his side as a decidedly less pale Shachi retook his seat next to him, avoiding eye contact with the woman smiling slyly and his captain glaring sternly at his return.

"No, I'm more of a...mercenary, I guess? For lack of a better word."

"You're a gun for hire for the right price." Law didn't ask, stated.

"Don't judge me,  _pirate_." Nayla shot back with an indignant snort.

'Touché,' Law reached over and stole another French fry from Bepo's plate, smirking at her temperamental response.

"I  _do_  pick and choose what jobs I take. I don't take on any I can't agree with, no matter how much money I'm offered for it." She stated proudly, chin up as she crossed her arms.

"Oh? A gun for hire with a moral compass? Good for you, much more respectable than a pirate." He mocked around the fry he was chewing, enjoying how easy it was to bait her temper.

Sensing the rise in her annoyance as she glared at his captain, Shachi chose that moment to rejoin the conversation in an attempt to defuse it. "U-Uh...so...what? Stuff like, fighting on behalf of other people?" He hoped he had been away from the table long enough for Law's irritation with him to have subsided a little but his captain spared him another stern side-glance as he spoke, making him flinch and think that perhaps he had spoken too soon, literally.

"I'm not always hired for fighting, sometimes people will pay me for my other services too."

...

Deadpanning at their silence, Nayla was unsure whether to facepalm over her phrasing or their perverse interpretation of it. Even Law had stopped chewing to raise a brow at her. "Minds out of the gutters, wow."

"Wouldn't being a mercenary make you a fighter in large scale conflicts?" Looking up at the large man, she realised this had been the first time Jean Bart had joined the conversation since she'd sat with them. It'd seem he'd been uninterested in the trivial nonsense but was interested in talk of combat at least.

"Sometimes but it's not always large stuff, I might take a job for just one target or information retrieval or whatever really...Jack of all trades, I guess. I'll do almost anything, depends what I'm asked for and how much I'm offered."

...

"Knock it off." She sighed out, glaring half-heartedly at the perverted faces looking at her from across the table. Law on the other hand was quietly calculating her worth as an assassin or her skills in espionage whilst watching as the waitress returned with a fresh cocktail for her and set it on the table, removing her now-empty glass.

"So, Nayla-ya, what job brought you to the Grand Line?" He wondered how formidable she was as a fighter after what she had just told them. He couldn't judge much from what little he had seen of her facing Kuma, she'd been unarmed and too far away to watch clearly.

Apparently she was an open book on most other topics, probably happy to be willingly talkative about anything other than her tattoo now that he had made it clear to her that he'd noticed the odd behaviour of it. Unsure if she was usually as willing to share information about herself under normal circumstances, Law decided to take advantage of it, not wanting to miss the opportunity to pry a little and satisfy his other curiosities.

Her lips pulled into a mild scowl at the question though. "Well...I'll be straight with you guys I guess, seeing as you've done so much for me already...I honestly just don't want to share that information with you. My last job involved a big name and if you guys work for him then I'd just be screwing myself by saying anything about it." She muttered taking a long sip of her new drink.

Frowning slightly, Law turned to face her completely. "I only work for myself, I don't take orders from anyone."

A little taken aback by his change in demeanour, Nayla took in his obvious displeasure at the suggestion that he should be  _below_ anybody, glancing at the others at the table for confirmation of what he'd said on the faces of his crewmates.

"You can trust us Nayla-chan." Penguin offered her a reassuring smile as he leant back and relaxed in his seat.

Contemplating the men in the booth for a moment, she decided that she wasn't able to detect any insincerity before finally speaking again. "Well...actually I'm kinda ticked off with my last job. I walked out on it before it was finished and before I was even paid. So the guy that hired me probably isn't too happy with me right now, been kinda ducking him for a while." She rubbed over the still-tender part of her scalp subconsciously as she spoke.

"It was a little complicated but let's just say there is a small country some way down the Grand Line in the middle of a civil war right now. Basically the rulers and the army versus the people. Problem was, the rulers and the army obviously had a huge amount of artillery whilst the people had little to none so they were being slaughtered. They managed to get financial aid from other countries that supported their cause and used it to buy weapons from a large time dealer but were struggling to hold their own waiting for them to arrive."

"So, what was  _your_  job?" Shachi asked, leaning his elbow on the table but keeping his legs a careful distance from her own this time.

"My job was to help them out until the shipment arrived then take my leave. I was hired and sent in by the guy they bought the weapons from, as a 'token of good will' whilst he was preparing their order for them. Problem was their shipment was commandeered and stolen by the rulers' side of the conflict, they ended up with double the amount of artillery than when the war had begun."

"How did the weapons dealer react?" Law asked thoughtfully, not liking where he felt this story was going as the most prominent arms dealer on the Grand Line came to mind.

"He took no responsibility for it and blamed the peoples' side for not ensuring the ship arrived safely on their end. He told them he could send another shipment but that he had other clients that were higher on his priority list and that he was now low on stock so it would cost them more this time around. The people were so desperate, they paid him nearly double what they had for the original one and my contract was extended until the  _second_  shipment could arrive safely."

Plucking the new miniature umbrella from her drink, Nayla twirled it between her fingers as she contemplated how to phrase the rest of the story without giving away any details that may be dangerous for her.

"I had a bad feeling about the whole thing. I just found it too hard to believe that the dealer I was working for wouldn't have had good enough security on the original ship to fend off an attack, so I did a little snooping...Found out the first shipment hadn't been hijacked by the other side at all. The guy had sold the original shipment twice, to both sides and purposely had it delivered to the rulers' side of the conflict to make the peoples' side more desperate - just so he could sell them that second shipment at double the rate."

"Whoa...sleazebag." Penguin muttered.

"So ultimately, the guy sent two shipments of weapons but got paid double their worth by manipulating the situation and there I was, being used like a stupid ass to make sure the side he was scamming didn't get wiped out before they were able to pay him the second time." Finishing the last of her drink with a generous mouthful, she placed the empty glass back down on the table, tossing the parasol into it. "Jerk lied to me and made so much money off of the lives of those people. He didn't give a rat's ass that his deliberate delay caused thousands more of them to die unnecessarily and then bled them dry of what little money they had left...I ducked the rest of that job, wanted no part of it. Travelled on the first ship out of there. Bumped into Zoro and his crew by complete accident on the next island and hitched a ride."

"You left in the middle of that job? What about the people you were fighting for?" Bepo asked, halfway through his dinner.

"I don't mean to sound cold but I wasn't fighting for  _them_ , I was fighting for the broker I was hired by. It's a shame they were getting killed but it was their choice to start a civil war completely unprepared and to get themselves into that situation in the first place. Their goals, reasons or whatever aren't really my business."

"The weapons dealer must not have been too happy about it though." Shachi muttered, grimacing as he got a fork to the back of his hand when he tried to sneak a French fry off of Bepo's plate whilst the bear was distracted.

"Apparently the second shipment arrived about two days after I left, so in the end it worked out fine. I did the job he wanted and didn't stick around to get paid for it, it was win-win for him. I'm mostly ducking him because he wants to rehire me for other things but I don't want to work for such a shady bastard." She sulked, crossing her arms in front of her. In Law's mind, it looked very much the pose of a spoilt child saying 'I don't wanna' as he took in the puffed out cheeks and pursed lips of her face...The fact her feet barely grazed the ground when she sat all the way back didn't help either.

"If you have to duck him then I'm guessing he's the kind of guy that's hard to say no to then, huh?" Shachi mumbled, rubbing the back of his injured hand gingerly as he glared at the furry first-mate.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Nayla-ya." The solemn tone of his voice made her look at Law, he seemed concerned, the playful smirk long gone from his features. "What was the name of the weapons dealer you were hired by?"

She knew better than to dare speak the guy's name. His organisation and reach in the underworld went phenomenally wide and she had no doubt there would be at least two if not three or more patrons in the tavern at any one time that would have connections or dealings with him in some form. She'd already decided to not give the country's name nor the name of the man when she started her story but there was something about the expression Law wore and the tone of his voice that made her resolve to not tell him weaken considerably. It was almost as if he already knew who it was.

Looking around the tavern a little nervously, she wondered whether or not to answer the question. Finally turning back to Law and making eye contact, she took her time in studying the seriousness reflected in his steel grey eyes before finally conceding, uncrossing her arms and placing her hand on the side of his face.

Turning his head gently to the side, Nayla inwardly enjoyed the feel of the smooth, warm skin over his shaven jawline and the tickle of the soft, black sideburns on her fingertips. Leaning in closely, she placed her other hand to his shoulder, making Law hope that she'd say anything other than the name he was expecting to hear so that he could have processed - even enjoyed the feeling of her proximity and the slightest brushes of her soft lips against his ear as she whispered into it.

"Joker."

Law's breath left him. He wasn't able to tell if the wave of coldness that suddenly washed over him was from a sense of dread or because she had pulled the warmth of her body away from his. Stunned he found his mind suddenly a whirr, flooded with hundreds of questions simultaneously. How close was she to Joker? Had she met him? Did Joker trust her? Had he hired her to spy on him? Was their meeting really just a coincidence? Or was it just some elaborate plot by the man to spy on Law? Or had she been sent his way to mock him, tell him that he was aware of Law's ideation of taking him down? Was he or his crew in danger?

"Whaaat? No fair! Tell us too!" - "Yeah! Whisper it into my ear too Nayla-chan!" Silencing the two across the table with a glare, Law then turned his gaze back to Nayla, analysing her reaction to his own - knowing that she would have felt his tension and anxiety from her proximity, even without looking for it on his face as she was doing now.

"So, you  _do_  know him."

"…Yeah, I do."

Meeting her eyes, he couldn't read any mockery or malice in them or her body language and tone. Not a trace of ill-meaning deceit or hidden intentions to be found. Her being sent by Doflamingo didn't add up if he thought about it calmly. The man was as manipulative as it came and had an extensive web of subordinates and resources at his disposal to make just about any situation he wanted come to fruition with enough planning…but it was unlikely Joker had sent a woman in with the Straw Hat crew, or anticipated he would be on the archipelago at the same time as them, or predicted the auction house incident, or expected that she'd attack a fellow warlord and end up critically injured at his feet or that he'd have even acted on it and taken her in. There were too many things in  _this_  scenario that even Joker wouldn't have had the power to be able to foresee and control. Then there was the fact that Nayla had tried to avoid him, not seek him out…

Law relaxed a bit as he realised it was unlikely Doflamingo had sent her…but, in that case…Could she be useful? How many times had she worked for him? Was Joker still trying to get her to work for him? Could she contact him at will? Did she have useful links and information about his dealings and the family? Their weaknesses? Their future plans? Could she be an asset in forming his own? This chance meeting with her had the potential to be a huge accelerant and opportunity to further his own ambition of fulfilling the dream of the man he owed his life too.

It may not have been the reason Law had chosen to pursue her initially, he had no way of knowing about her connection to his current target, but he was glad then that he had. His instincts were  _always_  right.

Nayla watched him with concern, this had been the most expressive she had seen him. Law's face had gone from apprehension, to one that looked as though he may be contemplating killing her to the devious smirk that was now slowly growing on his face as he gazed at her. The tense eye contact, silence and now the creepy grin he was sporting was extremely worrying. Sensing something impending from him that she knew she wouldn't like she decided that now would be a good time to retreat.

"W-Well, gentlemen." She said standing to leave and pulling her eyes away from the calculative stare of Law to look at the others at the table who had been watching the interaction between them curiously.

"Thank you for the drink but I'm getting pretty tired, had a long day so I'll head to bed…but it was really nice getting a chance to meet you all and to thank you for everything. I won't ever forget it, I owe you my life." She smiled, leaning over the table in-between Shachi and Penguin, wrapping an arm around each of their necks in a hug and planting a soft kiss to each of their cheeks before turning to Bepo. Anticipating his own, Bepo happily leant towards her returning her hug with open paws and allowed her to plant a kiss on the top of his head. Laughing at the stark contrast of her lipstick on his white fur and the way it had tickled her lips, Nayla half-heartedly ran her thumb over it in an attempt to wipe some of it off for him. Assuming the large, stoic man next to the first-mate was unlikely to lean down for her she settled for blowing Jean Bart a kiss instead.

"I hope you guys have a safe journey, I'll be looking forward to reading about you in the papers too. Goodnight guys, take care!" Moving to leave, she turned her back on the stunned duo that seemed to be melting into a puddle halfway under the booth's table as they incoherently bid her goodnight. Waving to Jean Bart and Bepo over her shoulder, she made eye contact with Law one last time. "Try not to look so creepy in your next bounty photo, would ya, Law?" She teased, matching his smirk as she walked past him and towards the staircase.

Hoping she'd get away from the table with a cheeky, well-meaning goodbye. "Nayla-ya." Was futile and hopeful at best she realised. Stopping with her foot on the first step, she hesitantly looked back at him, something unnerving in his tone as he called her name. The rest of the tavern seemed to have been tuned out to all of her senses in that moment as their eyes met again.

"Be sure not to go anywhere." His dark grin, thinly guised warning and unspoken promise that this wouldn't be the last time she saw him hung heavily in the air between them.

Turning around slowly, she silently resumed her ascent up the stairs as her heart worked its way in the opposite direction towards her gut. Just when she thought they had come to some sort of civil understanding, Nayla suddenly found herself feeling as she had done on the first day that they had locked eyes. The unmistakable glint of madness she had just seen in his reminding her of just how dangerous and unpredictable Law might still turn out to be.

 


	11. Face-to-chest

Leaning his elbows onto the counter behind him in the small, stuffy, ground floor office, Law observed the walls around him with mild interest. There were large, tattered pin-boards hung up on each, filled with equally tatty looking bounty posters. So many of them in fact that there were dozens leaking off of the boards and onto the faded, blue paint of the room, making him wonder why they bothered with the pretence of using them to begin with if they were just going to pin posters onto the walls directly anyway.

Some had been up for a considerable length of time, the edges yellowed and torn and he assumed that many of the people depicted in them had already been caught or killed, judging by the large black and red 'X' pen marks across the faces. Though why they simply wouldn't remove them instead he didn't know; it was obvious they needed the wall space. Maybe they were kept up in triumph, as reminders or trophies.

Some of the posters however were crisp, white and freshly printed, partially obscuring the older ones that lay beneath, his own bounty poster being one of them. He smiled smugly at his own printed photo hanging front and centre amongst the other supernovas that had recently visited Sabaody, confident that no one would be taking a marker to it anytime soon.

"Hey Captain, this guy is saying they have no 'Nayla' on record." His crewmate called his attention back, referring to the heavily sweating bounty hunter behind the counter.

Law looked over his shoulder at the records and papers practically exploding out of the cabinets lining the wall behind the man, then back to him. "I suggest you look a little harder, Bounty Hunter-ya. I'd also like any information you have on any known female mercenaries for hire, regardless of name, age or alias."

"B-But I'm telling you we don't deal with mercenaries and there's no entry in the-"

"Look. Harder." The man gulped at the stone-cold tone of Law's voice and hurriedly returned to the cabinets behind him, desperately hoping he could produce something that would allow him to keep his limbs where they were. Though he didn't want to give up information on any fellow hunters, he'd be damned if he'd throw himself at Trafalgar Law, a polar bear and three Heart Pirates by himself to protect some woman he didn't even know.

Although Law didn't doubt what she had said last night, he was still a little bit sceptical about her name. Either way, if it  _was_  an alias then it was still possible she had handed in at least some bounties with it over the past few years. Bounty hunters had a notoriously good network of communication amongst each other, mediated by information outposts like this one. They were set up across hunting hotspots throughout the Grand Line to fulfil their need to spread new bounty information and relay freshly caught targets so as not to have people wasting their time hunting prey that had already been taken care of.

Nayla had made it clear to him last night that she wasn't willing to give up some of the information he wanted and it had been an inappropriate time and place to press her for it, but he had every intention of doing so alone that evening. About her odd tattoo, her strange blood work and about her relationship to Joker. There wasn't much time left for this coy game. The war was starting today and he would need to refocus on his own plans, not chasing down his own personal curiosities. Hopefully he'd find her connections to Doflamingo worth exploiting for his own gain and then she, and her oddities, could simply tie in neatly to his own main objectives. Law couldn't help the small grin that spread on his face at the thought.

It hadn't actually been his intention to dig into any bounty hunting she may have done in the past, there were hundreds if not thousands of female hunters and the chances of finding anything significant about her here, when she had already described it as not being her main profession, were slim. They had simply happened across this outpost on their way and he decided they may as well drop by for a quick 'enquiry.'

It had been his intention to try to look into which countries were currently experiencing a civil war instead, ones that recently had mercenaries called in. It had been her most recent job and female mercenaries were a far rarer breed, he should be able to narrow down on helpful information more quickly taking that route.

Tuning out the nervous fumbling of the panicked man behind him as his crewmembers yelled at him to hurry up, Law rest his head back to look at the ceiling and closed his eyes tiredly, the lack of sleep he had gotten last night due to his mind racing endlessly with all the possibilities that could come of this if he played his cards right.

The lively sounds of the street outside had Law blink his eyes open again and look out of the building through its open doorway at the crowds of people walking past. He scanned through the happy faces of citizens and the cocky grins of lesser pirates as they passed by. There was nothing of interest to focus on until his eyes stopped on the slip of glossy, bronze skin on toned legs that appeared and reappeared as people passed them by. Dragging his gaze up them in disbelief, he confirmed the familiar red tartan mini skirt, the same black tank top he had first seen her in and the same weapons on her hip. Law watched Nayla across the street look at the hotel in front of her for a moment before deciding to move on, deducing that she was most likely considering a prompt relocation even after he had warned her not to do so last night.

He was right; she really  _did_ have bad luck at evading him it would seem. Chuckling to himself, he watched her walk out of view of the open doorway, though his laughter was stopped short as he watched the men who were trailing not far behind her, with unsavoury intentions no doubt.

It would seem that what the swordsman had said about her outside the auction house had also been right; she really  _did_  seem to attract trouble. Sighing heavily, he pushed off of the counter and made his way to the door. The crewmembers that had been keenly following his gaze out of the doorway to see what had caught their captain's humour watched him as he started to take his leave.

"Uh, Captain?" Bepo called after him.

"I'll meet you at the public square when you're done here." Was all he said as he stepped back outside into the sunshine, slinging his nodachi into place on his shoulder and leaving them to wonder what he was up to.

* * *

 

Nayla had been up and down every dock of the archipelago all day with no success; everything was at a standstill. No ships were moving except for the privately owned, emergency or naval ones. The admiral's visit coupled by the execution today had people on edge, too worried about the proximity of these waters to Marineford and the swarm of pirate ships said to be in the area for the upcoming war.

She had already intended on spending today searching for her means of transportation but there was now a sense of urgency built up behind it. The image of that sinister look on Trafalgar Law's face as he had bid his cryptic farewell to her last night replaying in her mind.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she trudged on in defeat. She had checked every district, even the lawless ones, even the marine ones - though she hadn't wanted to approach  _them_  in particular. What good was being on a marine ship in waters chock-full of Whitebeard-supporting pirates? But she had figured her chances of survival out there may be better than her chances with whatever it was Law seemed to have in mind for her. He had reacted strangely to the mention of her former employer  _and_  had asked about her tattoo last night, she needed to get out of there fast.

The marines had wanted to help her, they really did. She had sold the terrified-helpless-woman-being-stalked-by-a-psycho-pirate act beautifully. It hadn't really been difficult, it was pretty much true, but they simply had no ships to spare; full demand of their forces was required at Marineford today.

Refocusing on the road in front of her as she glimpsed the unusual, native architecture up ahead, Nayla gazed at the buildings in awe of the amazing bubble-structured hotels in the area. They were beautiful and very inviting, she'd never seen anything like them before. Although she had grown quite fond of Baez's treatment of her, if she was going to be stuck on Sabaody for a while then maybe it would be wise to pack up her things and try one of these hotels, find a new place to stay. 'Again,' she thought bitterly, pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation, not knowing whether to credit the oncoming headache to her pirate problem, travel situation or recovering head injury.

Freezing in horror as she felt an all too recognizable tug; she barely had a second to remove her hand from her face to glance down at her weapon for confirmation before she had made an abrupt and unintended turn to her right to slam into a warm, bare, chuckling mass of muscle.

"Well well, look who it is! We really  _should_  stop meeting like this." She craned her head up to look into the wild, amber eyes of Eustass Kid as he leant down, lecherous grin in place.

Wincing at the jolt of pain across her scalp she opened her mouth for a retort but was interrupted by the sight of a familiar, long, black sheath entering her vision and wedging itself between her chest and his before it literally pried her from him. She felt a hand tangle itself in her hair at the back of her head as she was turned around and pulled face first into an even more familiar hoodie, her annoyed frown at her manhandling meeting the sneering smiley.

"Agreed, you really  _should_  stop meeting like this, Eustass-ya." Law lifted her locks out of the way to reveal the metallic staples, silencing the angry comeback on the tip of the other captain's tongue as he looked at them and halted his magnetism immediately.

"Whoa, what happened to the chick? That's a nasty gash." He leant forward to look at it more closely before Law abruptly allowed her hair to fall back into place over it.

"Nothing that concerns you." He curtly replied, smirking at the other man's perturbed scowl at his action.

Having given up trying to push her face away from Law's chest against the grip he had on the back of her head, Nayla sighed into the fabric of his hoodie and let her arms fall limply to her sides. 'Cannot. Believe. I'm being used as a prop. In a territoral pissing match. Between fucking. Pirates.'

"Oi, Trafalgar, don't make the mistake of thinking we're on good terms just because we fought together a few ti-" Seeing that this would soon become an unproductive and prolonged squabble, Killer tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"Captain, we need to get going, it'll start soon." Reluctantly nodding in understanding at him, Kid levelled a glare at Law one last time before continuing his way down the street.

"Watch that attitude of yours, Trafalgar. I'm guessing I'll see you where I'm headed." Taking his leave, he tossed a hand back in a lazy gesture of dismissal over his shoulder.

"Most likely...Gropey Goth Pirate-ya." Kid looked back over his shoulder in confusion before narrowing his eyes at Law only turning his attention back to the road in front of him when Killer placed a hand on his shoulder to settle him down.

"Mou meammy  _mare_  mm maphffer." The quiet, muffled speech against his chest brought Law's focus back to the woman he was currently smothering against it, releasing the hand on the back of her head to allow her to pull away.

Taking a deep breath of relief, she shot him a venomous death glare...which would have been difficult for him to take seriously on any given day but considering her pout, tussled hair and flushed cheeks it had made it even less possible.

"What was that Nayla-ya?" The laughter evident in his voice.

"You really  _are_ a fucking stalker!" She bit back angrily, trying to smooth out the hair he had just thoroughly messed up and ignoring the people on the street that had turned to look at them as she yelled.

"Now now, there was no need to add in the potty mouth." Stopping the hand in her hair, she narrowed her eyes at him as she realised he had understood her perfectly well the first time if he was mock-scolding her for her language the second.

Chuckling at her expression, he replaced his nodachi to his shoulder, inwardly confirming that her hair  _was_ as soft as it looked and needing to put a conscious effort into halting thoughts of what other circumstances he might enjoy grabbing a handful of it from behind from crossing his mind.

"Actually Nayla-ya, had you been paying more attention to your surroundings, as an injured young woman by herself in a dangerous area  _should_ -" He raised a brow pointedly at her. "-then you would have noticed that every pirate on the archipelago is going this way." Looking around at his prompt, she belatedly realised that he was right; the streets were full of shady, strong-looking pirates all heading in the same direction Eustass had gone in. She'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn't been paying enough attention to notice.

"Careful, that almost sounded like you cared." She bitterly remarked, more annoyed at her own obliviousness than at him, as he placed his hand back into his pocket, smiling at her lazily as she spoke again. "...Why is everyone headed that way?"

"They're going to broadcast the execution today in the public square of the district next to this one." He tilted his head back slightly to assess the look of disgust on her face from under the brim of his hat more closely. "I take it you're not going?"

"Of course not. Why would anyone purposely broadcast someone's death like that, sick...and why would  _you_  want to watch it?"

"I don't. I'm more interested in watching the war. Its participants, its survivors and its outcome will be important for me and my crew."

Reluctantly admitting his sensibility and admirable diligence in keeping his crew one step ahead and safe, she took in his neutral, relaxed posture. She had always thought pirates to be more carefree and reckless overall but Law appeared to be a smart, calculating man under the guise of a laid-back, arrogant one.

Her quiet admiration of him was soon halted as Law closed the space between them in a short step. He had expected her to back away and having to hold her in place but was mildly impressed when she didn't. Although his proximity obviously made her a little anxious she stood her ground, clearly wary of his intentions but maintaining his eye contact with defiance.

Law leant his face in closely to hers with a small smile, speaking lowly in his dulcet tone. "Were you planning on going somewhere, Nayla-ya?"

"None of your damn business." She hissed, refusing to allow his intimidation. Wondering how long he had been watching her, she immediately crossed off the possibility of staying at the hotel she had just looked at a few minutes ago in her head and wondered how else she could find a way off of Sabaody.

Seeming to enjoy the flare in her temper, his smile grew a little, ignoring what she said as he responded to what she had really been thinking in that moment instead. "It'll be difficult to do, the waters around here will be dangerous for some time. Unless you can find a private vessel with a strong crew on board you'll be enjoying this archipelago for a while yet."

Law knew she would see his unsubtle hint but it didn't matter, the idea being planted in her head of him being able to provide her a way off the island was all he needed for now. If things unravelled as he wanted them, she would come to him willingly and he would by then have the option to accept or decline based on the information he found out about her.

Satisfied with the look of deliberation on her face, he turned to leave. "I'll be sure to give my crew your regards." He gave her one last sly grin over his shoulder before walking in the same direction Eustass had gone in not long ago.

Growing more and more irritated as she watched his casual saunter away, she peeled her annoyed glare from his back, deciding to return to the inn and practically stomping on her way. 'That guy really has some nerve...kinda glad I didn't get my staples embedded into my skull though.' Nayla found herself feeling reluctant gratefulness, yet again, towards the man as it dawned on her that he had just openly confronted Eustass and his crew alone on her behalf. Was he confident they wouldn't attack or confident that he could handle all of them?

Making sure to pay more attention as she should have been doing in her current condition to begin with, Nayla noticed that besides the peculiar looking pirate crews, excitedly chatting citizens and even their children were all heading towards the public square to watch people die. She could feel her face contorting into a look of revulsion as she took in their laughter and practical glee as they moved past her. Despite her occupation, she lamented the fact that people have viewed the death and suffering of others as entertainment for as long as humanity has even existed, the only thing that has ever changed about that was the format of it. 'Vile.'

Mind wandering back to the scent of detergent from Law's hoodie, she realised then that it was the same as the top she was currently wearing, so he  _had_  in fact had it washed for her. Although she wanted the thought to just stop at unwillingly acknowledging his considerate gesture, it easily sped straight past that and into how she could smell the faint scent of his body wash through the fibres of his top from that close and how firm and warm his chest underneath it had felt. She had been right in assuming he was nothing but lean physique under there, the edges of his defined muscles had been easy to feel against her cheeks when he had pressed her against him.

Finding herself rubbing her forehead in frustration at her own traitorous thoughts, she wondered if the action might massage the unwanted ones away. 'Dammit, why are all the hot ones crazy or gay?'

Nayla sighed tiredly, she had pushed herself a bit today. Having done so much walking, she was starting to feel her headache and fatigue return full force, especially under the relentless sunlight of the afternoon. Deciding that some more pain medication, fresh, fragrant sheets, warm, soft blankets, forgetting her troubles and napping to her heart's content to wake up refreshed and tranquil in time for a delicious dinner sounded like exactly what she needed right now to calm her irked nerves.

...

It really was a shame that no more than an hour later she was jolted out of a dead sleep by the heavy thumping on her bedroom door.

Groaning, she rolled over, trying to hold onto the soothing remnants of her sleepiness so that she could resume her peaceful nap. Knowing that none of the waitresses from downstairs had fists that could produce such a heavy sound, Nayla assumed that it was probably Baez making sure she was ok. Surprisingly, the guy was actually quite a big softy and had taken to checking in on her once in a while if things were quiet downstairs, concerned that she was staying alone in a room with no one else to do so when she had recently suffered a bad head injury.

"I'm still alive Baez, don't worry." She called, expecting to hear his usual chuckle as he walked back down the hallway to resume his duties downstairs. Instead she just heard another persistent knock on the door; sitting up slightly, she narrowed her eyes at it as if the wood might heed her warning to shut the fuck up.

"Um, Nayla-chan? It's me, Penguin...From last night?" Her irritation settled somewhat as she thought about how unnecessary it was for him to have felt the need to add the last part of that sentence - as if meeting a guy called 'Penguin' was easily forgotten or that she knew more than one man with that name.

Sighing and tossing her blanket aside, she quickly wiped the smudges of her eye make-up from the corner of her eyes as she passed the mirror to the front door. Too sleepy to spend the energy to contemplate what the man may want with her, she opened it, happy for him to do all the work and simply tell her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you asleep?" The pirate took in her dishevelled clothing and sleepy eyes, absent-mindedly wondering if she  _only_  owned miniskirts as he took in her attire.

"It's ok, Penguin." She yawned looking up at him. How far back she had to crane her neck to do so brought his attention to how she was even tinnier than usual without her boots on.

"Ah, well, Captain sent me." Nayla leant against the doorway, figuring as much already and crossing her arms patiently, waiting for him to continue. "We're leaving right now, he said you'd probably want to come. We're going to go see Straw Hat."

 


	12. Welcome aboard

"Seriously?! He's ok?!" Nayla suddenly felt beyond wide awake.

Penguin grinned at her evident excitement. "Yeah, we just saw him on that broadcast they're doing in the public square. He's at the war." Her face fell a bit at that. "Sorry to hurry you Nayla-chan but we're in a rush, we're going to Marineford immediately. Do you want to come with?"

Thinking about it seriously for a moment, she honestly didn't want to go. The war had nothing to do with her and she had no interest in it. She just wanted to speak to Luffy, see that he was alright and to ask about the others before leaving the Grand Line altogether at her nearest opportunity.

Getting on board a pirate ship with men she barely knew and heading into a violent battle was pretty low on her list of things she wanted to do right then. Nayla also couldn't help but be suspicious of the sudden offer because of Law's earlier hint about hitching a ride with them and because of his behaviour last night...Was this just a trick of some kind? Why would Luffy even really be there?...No, Law would have dropped his hint and let her squirm over it for longer than just over an hour, he seemed pretty sadistic, so he probably wasn't making the Luffy part up...

"Wait, why are _you_ guys going to the war?"

"Uh actually, we don't know. Captain hasn't filled us in on that yet." He said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Wondering if he really didn't know or if he was just lying to cover up whatever reason Law had to go there, Nayla began to think that maybe this really _was_ just some kind of ploy...These men had saved her life though, were they really all that bad? Looking up at him she reached for and pushed back the brim of his hat a bit so that she could make clear eye contact.

"U-Um, Nayla-chan?" He asked unsurely, a little wide-eyed and flush-cheeked at the gesture.

"Penguin, if I come with you right now...will I be ok?"

He was completely taken aback by the question; he hadn't expected it at all. The truth was his captain had been sure she'd voluntarily accompany him back to the sub once she learnt they would be going to the same place Straw Hat was...but he had been ordered to physically subdue and drag her back if she refused. Though he'd been shocked by the latter part of the order, he wouldn't defy it if it came down to it...Which made him feel overwhelmingly guilty as he looked down at the small, worried-looking woman in front of him now who was basically asking him 'Can I trust you?'

It had become obvious to him last night that Law had a guarded interest in her. That was reaffirmed earlier when some of the other crewmembers had caught up to them in the public square, telling them that they had been delayed by their impromptu search for information on her at a bounty hunters' outpost on their way. Penguin didn't really know if she would be ok, he didn't really know what his captain wanted from her.

Looking away, he scratched the back of his neck again as he spoke. "Uh, well, it _is_ a battlefield right now...We'll do our best though, we don't intend to get involved in the fight and turns out Jean Bart-he's our newest by the way, is pretty awesome at manoeuvring the ship around so I'm-"

Stopping his nervous babbling by pinching each of his cheeks, Nayla demanded his eye contact again by tilting his head back down. "Penguin, that's not what I'm asking and you know it. If I come with you right now, will I be ok?"

Gripping her wrists, he pulled her hands away from his face hesitantly. "Listen, Nayla-chan...I don't know what Captain wants with you but-" What was he thinking? He had complete faith in his captain. Although he may not know _why_ he wanted Nayla on board he did know one thing for certain. "...Captain...isn't a bad man." Feeling reassurance in his own words as he spoke them aloud, he smiled sincerely at her, able to maintain eye contact easily as he spoke this time. "I wouldn't follow him otherwise."

Smiling slowly too, she felt a lot of her uncertainty eased by his honesty and confidence. "...Ok. Then yes, please, let me come along."

Grinning widely, Penguin was more than thankful she'd agreed to come willingly. "Alright! Grab your stuff, I'm guessing you won't be coming back here afterwards right?" He asked, looking around her room at her personal belongings and readjusting his hat.

"Ah yeah, I guess not. I've only been here a day and a half so I didn't unpack much, give me five seconds." Hurriedly making her way around the room, she stuffed the few items that'd had time to make it out of her suitcase back into it, opting to exchange the boots she had discarded near her bed for a faster to slip on pair of black flats instead. Quickly zipping her case closed, she rolled it behind her on its wheels towards the doorway where Penguin was still waiting.

"You can't be serious." He deadpanned.

"What?" She looked back at it nonchalantly, refusing to acknowledge the problem.

Taking the handle from her, Penguin pulled it upright from its slanted position. "Nayla-chan...it's practically taller than you are." He said, staring at the giant black thing towering beside her.

"Pfft, like that's difficult. Come on, let's go." She grabbed the handle from him and quickly rolled it down the hallway to the top of the staircase. "I'll just pay Baez before we leave, think you could...?" Trailing off, she indicated to the heavy item, asking if he'd bring it down with him.

"Yeah sure, go ahead." He offered, closing her room door.

Smiling thankfully, she trotted down the stairs quickly to give the innkeeper the money she owed before leaving. Spotting him behind the bar as she made her way to the ground floor, she noticed that he seemed to have been looking up towards the staircase before she had even descended. Tilting her head, she silently questioned the cause of his wary expression, conveyed by the sternly knitted brows that crinkled his forehead and bald scalp.

"Saw that Heart-boy go up there, said he was a friend of yours. Was gonna go get my gun if either of you didn't come back down within the next five minutes."

Laughing at that and at his almost fatherly protectiveness, she reached for her money as she approached him, wondering if perhaps his behaviour stemmed from having a daughter of his own. "It seems like I'll be needing to leave a little sooner than I thought. I'm sorry it's so late in the afternoon, you probably won't have enough time to clean and re-rent my room today so I'll pay for tonight's stay as well." She offered, flicking through the wad of notes and handed him what she owed for her stay.

Taking them from her, he shook his head. "Nah, it's alright darling. Don't worry about that." He said, separating off the extra she had given and holding it out to her until she reluctantly took it back from him.

"Are you sure, Baez?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. You just worry about keeping that pretty little noggin of yours safe instead, alright?"

It had only been a day but she had already grown fond of the older man's kindly crow's feet and big bushy smile. "No pun intended?"

She smiled back at him as he chuckled, about to speak again before both turning towards the series of thumps coming from the staircase to their side, watching as Penguin stumbled nearly halfway down them before righting himself and clutching the runaway suitcase securely to his chest, panting heavily.

"Holy crap!"

Wincing, Nayla looked away guiltily. Seemed he had lifted it a little too close to the edge of the stairs not expecting the weight of it.

"Nayla-chan! What have you got in here?!" He asked, as he just about managed to get down the rest of the staircase without another stumble.

"Dead bodies." She deadpanned, watching as he slowly turned his head down to look at it with a slightly worried expression...The size was right. "I'm kidding Penguin, geez. Come on, your crew's waiting on us right?"

"Ah, yeah. You're right let's go."

Pursing her lips together in an attempt not to laugh, she watched in amusement as he wisely opted to wheel the suitcase towards the door instead of lifting it again. "Alright. Goodbye Baez, thank you so much for everything." She leaned over the bar to give the surprised man a big hug.

"That's ok darling, you take care. Come back to see me sometime, alright? I hope your next visit to Sabaody is a more pleasant one." He said giving her a brief hug back, ignoring the raised eyebrow his waitress gave him as she walked past to the kitchen door behind him.

"Yeah, I never did get to go to Sabaody Park...Maybe next time." She grinned, planting a big kiss on his cheek before scurrying away to catch up to Penguin waiting for her at the inn's entrance. "Come along, 'Heart-boy.'" She teased, grabbing his wrist.

Blushing beet red, Baez waved her off as she dragged a gaping Penguin out, chuckling to himself at the last look that had crossed the pirate's face as he got pulled away, the one that had said 'lucky bastard.'

Sighing, one of the other waitresses cleaning up a used table made her way over to the bar, offering him a clean rag and prompting him to look down at it in question. "What's this for?"

"For the big smooch mark you have on your cheek, you dolt." She said, still holding it out for him.

Laughing heartily he took and rubbed the cloth to his cheek, stopping momentarily to reach at the back of his collar to find the source of the odd scratching sensation on his neck. Furrowing his brows at the feel of the foreign object, he pulled his hand back to find he was clasping the full wad of cash Nayla had been holding before she left.

* * *

Wrapping his fingers impatiently on the white railing of the deck of his sub, Law looked through the trees in masked restlessness for signs of his last crewmember and Nayla's arrival.

"Captain, we're ready for submersion." Turning to glance at the man over his shoulder, he nodded his acknowledgement to him before he scurried back inside to return to his post.

Biting the inside of his cheek in thought, Law wondered if perhaps he had miscalculated something. Maybe Nayla hadn't been at the inn? Maybe Penguin had run into trouble on his way there by himself with all these rival crews still around? Maybe she was there but had refused to come? Had Penguin been unable to fulfil his orders if that were the case? No, Penguin would obey his orders...Maybe she had refused, he had attempted to subdue her and she was actually putting up a good fight? He hadn't been able to assess her full combat abilities yet but had sent Penguin in case things turned volatile because it was obvious she had a genuine sense of gratitude towards him. Law had seen that clearly on her face last night at the tavern...He hadn't chosen to send Shachi because he wasn't entirely sure she'd go easy on him for playing footsie with her, even though she had taken it with good-humour.

Frowning mildly at the latter as it reignited annoyance, it was soon quelled by the distant approach of one of the island's native, bubble-based taxis heading towards his vessel rapidly, the voices coming from atop it as they pulled up to the gangplank already audible.

"But...Nayla-chan, it's _your_ stuff."

"It was _your_ decision not to carry it, I was happy to come on foot."

"There was no way I could carry it all this way..."

"Well, I'm sorry, I didn't know we'd be taking a taxi. I handed all my cash to Baez on the way out. I have more but it's buried in my suitcase right now." She said as she hopped off the large bubble to the grass.

Sighing, the pirate unzipped the top of his boilersuit midway as he hopped down from the taxi too, reaching in and pulling out a brown, leather wallet.

"Aww come on Penguin...I'll make it up to you, don't worry." She said, openly inspecting the navy blue wife-beater exposed by his partially unzipped uniform.

Gulping quietly at the somewhat sultry tone the latter part of that sentence had taken, he nervously handed the driver a few notes before stuffing his wallet back where it came from and zipping his suit up hurriedly with flushed cheeks. Giggling at his bashfulness she wondered to herself how such an obvious pervert could be so shy at the same time.

"Nayla-ya." Looking up at him from the ground, she had almost forgotten Law would be there in all the hurry and excitement. "I take it you're responsible for holding us up?" He asked, eyeing Penguin as he pulled the heavy suitcase from within the taxi's bubble to the ground with a loud thud. The pallid-looking taxi driver taking off the second it hit the grass after recognising, in horror, who had spoken from atop the deck.

Raising a brow at the man's erratic, speedy driving as he pulled away, she looked back up at Law again. "What? No, I-god damn, this thing is cool!" She exclaimed, only now just taking in the full sight of the large sub he was standing on. It hadn't been her intention to say it out loud; she knew the man could really do without the ego stroke.

Saying nothing but sparing a smug look at the comment, Law stepped aside from the top of the gangplank for Penguin who had hurried up it in his desperation to get the suitcase back onto a surface he could roll it across. Letting it down onto the wooden floorboards with a satisfying thunk and a sigh of relief, he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"I'll roll this in for you Nayla-chan." He called, waving down at her from the deck.

"Get on board, we need to go." Law said, gesturing for her to start walking up the gangplank as well, not missing the look of reassurance she sought from Penguin before he disappeared into the sub with her suitcase trailing behind him.

Carefully and slowly, she began walking up the wood, watching her footing on the unfamiliar thing as she crossed the short expanse of ocean below her. She couldn't help the anxiety she suddenly felt nor the start of the heavy pounding of her heart, especially when she decided to give the 'DEATH' emblazoned onto the side of the sub a tentative side-glance from her position halfway up to the deck.

It almost felt like she was walking _the_ plank rather than walking a gangplank, though she imagined she'd have more of a chance in shark-infested water than with Law. She wondered if she really _was_ walking to her death, if she was making a terrible mistake by being there and if she should just turn around and run as fast as she could in the opposite direction...She stopped when she saw a tattooed hand reach down in front of her face.

Rarely, people have the overwhelming sense that they are in the middle of experiencing a moment that they can feel they are breathing in and recording every minute detail of, knowing that it will be a moment that they will remember vividly for the rest of their lives. It was right then that Nayla was experiencing just that as she looked up at Law.

From this angle, the soft, afternoon sunlight that was coming from behind him was giving his outline a surreal-looking glow and gently shadowed his features. A small breeze caressed the fabric of his hoodie and the finer fibres of his hat then, eliciting a soft clink of the glinting metal in his ears. The fragrance of fresh, sea air and foliage mixed with the pleasant scent of his aftershave as the breeze passed him and touched her. His smile was softer, lacking the usual edge of mockery as he reached out to grab the hand she had unconsciously started to lift up to meet his. The firmness and warmth of his grip relaying his reassurance to her silently as he helped her up the rest of the way to him.

The second her feet touched the deck of his sub for the first time, she knew intuitively that this would be a life-changing moment and wondered if he had felt it too as she looked from them back to his eyes. Just as he had the first time they'd made eye contact, he captured her gaze so fully, but this time there was no air of danger to him.

Of all of it, of all the picture perfect details she would remember about this moment, Nayla knew she would remember the tone of his voice and the words he said to her then the most.

"Welcome aboard, Nayla."


	13. The 500 berri bear

Watching the anxiety practically melt from her, Law took in her stunned silence and the small smile that appeared on her lips before turning to quickly move to the open door on the deck. Gently pulling Nayla along behind him by the hand he held, he ushered her inside ahead of him before releasing it.

Her apprehension to board had been painfully obvious from the way she'd looked at Penguin before even stepping onto gangplank and the glance at the word he knew was printed proudly onto the side of his vessel. Though he admitted she had every right to be nervous, even without his ulterior motives for having her on board, and if she hadn't felt that way then frankly, he'd be reassessing her as stupid again.

Walking straight past her and through the large, metallic, rounded door a few feet ahead, he waited patiently as Nayla trotted quickly after him to keep up, watching her cross the threshold to stand beside him before looking up at the two crewmembers approaching from down the hallway.

Law could try to convince himself that he had reached a hand out to her to offer reassurance simply to prevent her from running or to speed up her boarding, but convincing himself of things he knew weren't true was a waste of mental energy. She was putting her trust in him, she was all alone, she was still injured and her ridiculous, little build...She was just so small and seeing her on that gangplank with that look on her face, she had just suddenly seemed so very...vulnerable...even if he knew it wasn't really true. If Doflamingo or those who worked for him had taken enough interest in her to hire her, then by default, she had to be formidable. If anything, he'd try to explain his behaviour to himself as guilt or as pity, it didn't matter which it really was, he wasn't pleased that he had felt either.

"Captain." The crewmate that had informed him on deck that they were ready to submerge greeted him.

"Pull in the gangplank, seal the doors."

"Aye aye, Captain." Speeding past both Law and Nayla, the crewmember made his way out of the doors and back onto the deck to fulfill his orders.

Watching him hurry away, Nayla looked back into the small room between the sets of doors, wondering if it was some sort of airlock. She'd only seen one or two submarines before during her travels but had never been on one. Not that it would even compare, this one was wildly different in virtually every aspect.

She'd hadn't known Law travelled in this kind of vessel until she read about it within his bounty information. Something about how citizens or anyone travelling at sea should contact marines immediately if they spot a 'suspicious' looking submarine...which was understatement of the century. 'Suspicious' was just about the mildest definition possible of a bright yellow ship that openly flaunted Law's Jolly Roger and had 'DEATH' emblazoned on it's side.

As she thought about it, she looked at his hoodie as he turned to speak to the remaining crewmember in the hallway. Law boasted his Jolly Roger in plain view on his clothing too, so did his entire crew in those marked boilersuits. He didn't bother with attempting to conceal his presence at all on land or at sea - if you didn't count the times his ship was underwater. Everything about the man was so cocky and arrogant. From his demeanour to his appearance to his crew to his possessions, everything was proudly stating; 'I am Trafalgar Law, I'm right here. Come get me if you can.'

'Geez, what an ego,' she thought rolling her eyes at him as he quietly conversed with the other man out of ear shot of her. The crewmember that had been sent outside to retract the gangplank drew her attention from them by closing the outer door with a loud clang, soon hurrying back through the inner, rounded door and quickly sealing it shut; spinning the large, circular mechanism on it. The metal groaned and creaked as it compressed into an airtight seal, the bolts of the door driving into the walls and interlocking firmly with a series of loud, metallic clunks.

Turning away from the door, the crewmember ran past her and back down the hallway. If he offered her a small greeting or gesture of hello, she hadn't seen or heard it, too busy staring intently at the finality of the sealed exit. Biting her lip as her unease began to resurface, she was released from the start of her troubled thoughts when Law entered her vision and approached the small pipe embedded in the wall beside the airlock, giving a clear, firm command. "Depart for Marineford."

"Aye aye Captain!" The unmistakable voice of Bepo saluted back immediately, making her realise as she heard it that she was actually looking forward to seeing him again.

Looking at the peculiar fixture that she hadn't noticed initially, Nayla eyed it questioningly, recognising it to be a 'voicepipe,' if she remembered correctly. Something she had seen aboard other ships before, a fairly typical way to communicate, but this time it seemed out of place on what was obviously a technologically advanced vessel.

Glancing back at her, Law answered her unasked question, as if reading her thought from her expression. "We do have other systems but this one is reliable, requires no power and doesn't need technical expertise to repair."

"Why not just use Den Den Mushi?"

"They need to eat, sleep, be maintained and be physically well to work. I need absolutely dependent communication by main doors." He explained, humouring her intrigue with a small smirk as he beckoned for her to follow him back over to the crewmember he had shared an inaudible conversation with a moment ago.

Grabbing the handle of the suitcase Penguin had left for her against the wall near the door she followed him, taking in the crewmember's appearance. She recognised the long, wild tufts of chestnut brown sticking out from under his wine red, soft cap from the first time she had seen him; he was the guy that had been arguing with Shachi in the tavern last night.

"Nayla-ya, this is Jeff, he'll show you to the rec room. I don't need to tell you we're heading into a battlefield. I expect you to remain there until someone comes to find you and if we experience turbulence that is too great to remain seated, support yourself against the nearest wall."

Noting the seriousness of his tone, she nodded her agreement silently before looking at Jeff and shaking the hand he offered out to her as Law walked past them down the hallway.

"I'm needed in the cockpit." He called back over his shoulder, bringing her attention to how short the corridor was and how it ended abruptly into a large, circular room which appeared to house a descending staircase. "Try not to get into any trouble _or_ actually behave yourself whilst I'm gone. I'll settle for either." Chuckling at the annoyed 'tsk' she emitted, he began making his way down the staircase and out of sight.

Watching until the last of his fuzzy hat disappeared completely, she turned back to Jeff as he cleared his throat. "Alright lil lady, if you'd like to follow me." He grinned at her, standing to the side of the hallway and gesturing the same way Law and the crewmember from earlier had just gone with one hand.

"Ah, yeah sure. Nice to meet you Jeff." She greeted politely as she walked after him, admiring the bright daylight streaming in from the numerous portholes and the view of the sea through them as the sub began moving. Noticing the metal ladder installed against the wall of the hallway, she looked up through the small hole it lead to in the ceiling as she passed beneath it.

Jeff smiled at her curiosity. "The main mast is above this part of the ship, we use that to go access and maintain it. Some diving gear up there too."

"Oh, I see." She'd noticed the large mast atop the ship when she'd arrived outside. The ship-sub hybrid structure was undeniably genius, she wondered who came up with the idea and if Law had taken any part in its design. Although she really _was_ genuinely interested, she was also secretly trying to map the sub as they went, observing for possible escape routes should she need one.

"Lemme help you with that." He reached behind her to take the handle of her suitcase and roll it in her stead as he led the way into the circular room at the end of the hall. There was a wide descending staircase with a ramp running alongside it to the floor below them. She assumed the ramp to be for when they wheeled cargo in and out of the ship and was inwardly thankful Jeff would be able to use it instead of having to lift the suitcase down the stairs; embarrassed at the girly over-packing she was prone too. It was bad enough Penguin had nearly broken his neck carrying it earlier.

Opting for the stairs as Jeff rolled the suitcase down the accompanying slope, she eagerly took in the details of the vessel as they reached the floor below, analysing the lair of the infamous Trafalgar Law. This floor's hallway was lined with doors and lacked portholes as it ran through the centre of the ship. Although upstairs also had exposed metallic walls lined with pipes and vents, here the walls gave the hallway a blue-green hue without the supplement of natural lighting from outside. The ceiling was surprisingly high, though having remembered the size of Jean Bart, she should have expected as much. The floor was a simple, slightly dark, wooden decking, the rolling wheels of her suitcase drowning out the sound of the quiet tapping of her flats and of Jeff's booted footsteps against its surface.

Following him as he turned on the landing to use the next descending flight of stairs to the floor below the one they had just reached, Nayla peered down the stairwell, wondering how many floors the sub had.

"Sooo...you and the Cap-"

"No." She deadpanned immediately.

"Ok ok, just asking." Jeff held up his free hand in defence, allowing the amicable silence between them to resume as they reached the bottom of the second set of stairs and he led her into a hallway that looked identical to the one above them.

"...Little quick to deny it though, weren't cha?" He said with a cheeky side grin.

Huffing and crossing her arms, she decided not to dignify the accusation with a response, making him laugh. The sound echoed pleasantly off of the metal walls around them, the kind of laugh that was warmhearted and slightly contagious. Reluctantly, she found there was something immediately likable about the man as she looked at him from the corner of her eye with a slight smile. She had seen him before but this was the first time she had noticed his eyes, they were a brilliant emerald green, gone unappreciated in the dim lighting of the tavern and they practically shone with mischief.

"Doesn't hurt to ask ya know, does that mean you're available?" She couldn't help but laugh at his half-hearted flirtation and wink. He was probably a little younger than her, though taller (wasn't an impressive achievement) with typical, handsome, boyish charm.

"Aren't you guys on your way into a war zone? Shouldn't you be a little more worried?"

"I'm not hearing a noooo." He feigned deafness, cupping his ear and leaning in to her side earning a playful shove away and a laugh from her as he stood upright again. "And nah, I'm not worried. Captain's got this, we'll be fine, you'll see." He grinned widely at her.

Smiling at his apparently complete and unwavering faith in his captain's abilities, Nayla wondered if what she had seen on Sabaody was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Law's combat ability. Jeff's expression when he spoke about his captain was nearly identical to what Penguin's had been earlier, she couldn't help but be impressed at the admiration and respect his crew seemed to have for him.

"Alright lil lady, here we are." Pushing open the large door they arrived at, she looked through it in amazement. In contrast to the hallway, this room was brightly decorated and incredibly spacious; the scent of alcohol and rich upholstery met her through the open doorway.

Streams of golden afternoon sunlight filtered through the large, rounded portholes along the back and the walls themselves were a warm cream in colour; clean and bright except for the contrast of black, reflective, expensive-looking tiling behind the large bar like area in the furthest left corner. The walls were dotted with interesting and colourful decorative metal works and weapons.

The back, opposite the doorway had an enormous black flag hanging between the two most central portholes, a shine to it that denoted the high quality and thickness of the material chosen and it was proudly adorned with the Heart Pirates' Jolly Roger printed in yellow. The bottom of it hung gently to touch the top of a large, glass-protected display board suspended below which seemed to be full of newspaper articles and bounty posters that, even from this distance, she could spot the distinct fuzzy hat in.

There were several plush, vibrant, red sofas and beanbags around short, sleek, brown coffee tables creating large, social seating areas throughout the middle of the room and noticeably around a large flat screen attached to the wall on the right. There were a few snoozing Den Den Mushi sleeping on the black shelving below it which was chock-full of what she assumed to be an extensive collection of films to watch and music to listen to.

She counted four pool tables in the nearer left corner, two pinball machines and spotted a darts board not far from the bar. Though the scoring segments of it were obscured by newspaper photos of what looked to be a few world renowned marines.

There were some beautifully kept and displayed instruments in the nearer right corner. The polished woods and metals of the piano, guitars and violins shining invitingly with promise of joyous, sea-faring melodies.

Throughout the room were several rich mahogany cases and shelves, filled with books and what appeared to be game and card sets.

Overall, it gave off the feel of what the living room of a very rich young man's bachelor pad may look like. Modern, contemporary furnishings with bold colours and expensive taste.

"Nice huh?" Jeff grinned at her shocked expression.

"Wow yeah...I really wasn't expecting something like this." Though she shouldn't have been surprised, she'd seen the crazy features on board The Sunny.

"Well, this is one of the nicer rooms on the sub. It's where we come to relax when we're off duty so Captain spared no expense on it." His smile widening, in obvious pride of his captain's consideration.

"I can see that, wow...Are you sure it's ok for me to be in here?"

He wheeled her suitcase in past the doorframe and to the side of it, propping it against the wall as a short, loud alarm sound burst twice through the hallways. Nayla opened her mouth to ask what it meant but soon heard Bepo's voice over the communications system clearly state: "Diving! Diving!"

"Diving alarm." Jeff supplemented, unhelpfully at this point, she had figured that much out by then.

"D-Do we need to do anything?" She asked, bracing herself against the doorframe in anticipation of some sort of violent incoming movement from the ship.

"Nah, don't worry." He laughed, completely at ease. "You won't even feel it, this thing drives like a dream. Go take a look out the portholes if you like."

Not even thinking of that, she immediately made her way across the room and grinning, Jeff watched as she trotted over to the nearest one eagerly. Every new crewmate they got usually hadn't served on a submarine before and went through similar excitement and awe on their first trip...Though he decided it was much cuter on a young woman than on a grown man.

"I'll leave you to it lil lady, enjoy the view. I'll be just outside if you need me but I'll let you know if I get called away for something."

Peeling her face away from the rapidly rising water level ascending up the side of the thick, clear plastic she was peering out of, she turned back to him. "Wait, you're not staying in here?"

"Nope."

"Why not, if you're going to be standing outside the door anyway?" She furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Um...Well, I've been told not to." He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and placing his hand on the doorknob as he backed out of the room. "Yell if you need anything." Flicking the lights for the room on as he left, he gave her a quick wave and shut the door behind him.

'That's odd...I'm trusted enough to not damage any of the expensive stuff in here but not trusted enough to need to be kept an eye on...but my guard has to watch me from _outside_ the door?' She frowned in thought at the lighting fixture above her that had just been turned on before deciding the view outside was a much better spend of her attention as she spotted a distant school of colourful fish.

Jeff had been right; the descent was so smooth once they broke through the surface that she hadn't felt how deeply they had already gone. It wasn't long before the sunlight failed to pierce through the depths they reached. The black, lantern-styled exterior lights of the submarine that she had noticed outside gradually brightened as the sea around them gradually darkened. They seemed automatic, responding to the perceived amount of light outside the vessel and provided a moderate amount of illumination around the sub as it moved though the ocean at an impressive speed.

The murkiness outside, the unfamiliar room, the lack of company, the silence - apart from the engine hums, and the realisation that they were heading into an extremely dangerous battlefield had crept up on her and had begun to start making her feel anxious again. Looking around the room for something to take her mind off of things, she inwardly appreciated the soothing, calming amount of lighting coming from the dimmed, decorative, black metal wall fixtures around the room.

Settling her gaze back to the display board opposite the door she had just come in from, Nayla walked over to it, looking down as her feet crossed the soft, thick rugs peering out from around the seating areas. Muted, tasteful animal prints matching the cushions and throws on the sofas. A glance back at the curtains rolled to the sides of the portholes confirmed they matched them too. Wondering who had picked out all the furniture here, she reached the board and peered into the glass.

It seemed to be where the Heart Pirates pinned up their accomplishments as a crew as they made a name for themselves. The first articles pinned to the top left of the board dated back just under a year, coming from the North Blue's regional paper. "New North Blue Nemesis: Continuing Backlash of the Great Pirate Era." – "Heart Pirates; Newest Scourge of the North Blue."

From left to right, they were in chronological order, soon clipped from the international edition of the newspaper that the News Coos delivered. "Heart Pirates Demolish Marine Base: 84 Casualties!" – "4 Naval Battleships Lost: Trafalgar Law Erupts Onto The Grand Line." She glanced through all the headlines and photos in awe; there were so many for such a relatively young pirate crew. It was impressive how much trouble they had managed to cause already, though she guessed their rapid rise in infamy was why Law was considered one of the Supernovas.

Even though she knew it was a record of their criminal behaviour and that there was a sense of boastfulness in keeping these, she could tell by how carefully the articles had been clipped, how neatly they had been displayed, how they had protected the paper behind glass and the fact that it was exhibited within a room made for the crew to relax and spend time in together as friends, that it wasn't just a boasting right. It was a record of their memories together.

Smiling at the thought, she outright laughed when she spotted one of the article's photos appeared to have a cheeky-looking Shachi in it. Barely visible from the edge of the shot, just about recognisable from his hat and sunglasses, he was holding up both hands in peace signs towards the photographer, a marine ship set ablaze in the background and sporting a huge, devious grin on his face. She wondered who the boiler suit clad arm that was coming from off frame and grabbing his collar in an attempt to pull him away belonged to. Though if she had to guess, she'd bet money on Penguin. Those two seemed close.

Giggling to herself, she looked at the series of bounty posters lined up across the middle of the board, nestled within the frame of articles. They were mostly Law's; from his first bounty to his current one. She had to double-take his initial prize, it was ridiculously high. 'What does someone have to do to piss off the marines enough to _start_ at 75,000,000 berries?!' She gaped at his smug-looking face in the poster, making a mental note to read the older articles more closely to answer that question before looking through the series of them, watching as his amount rose in large increments up to his current 200,000,000 prize. 'I wonder what his new amount will be after his little stunt on Sabaody,' she thought looking at the space that had been left in anticipation of his subsequent bounties.

Inspecting the only poster on the board that _didn't_ belong to him, she couldn't help but snicker a little at Bepo's picture. It'd seem he'd been mistaken as a pet just as Chopper had been, though at least he was worth 500 berries - ten times the amount of poor Chopper, probably based on the sheer size of him alone.

Nayla's amusement at the image of the sweet navigator's bounty picture was soon interrupted by a sharp incline of the floor and another alarm; this one had a different sound to it. "Arrival, resurfacing! All hands to battle stations!" Said bear's voice rang out seriously over the communications system again.

Just as she was marvelling at how fast the vessel must be if they had already arrived at Marineford, Jeff knocked on the door and re-entered the room. "Sorry lil lady, looks like I need to go man my station. Stay here, ok?" Nodding quietly in response, she began to feel the turbulence of the waters around them as they started to resurface. "Don't look so worried, I'll be back soon!" He shot her one last grin before leaving.

Walking back over to the portholes, she peered out of one, noticing the gradual lightening of the water around them as they ascended at a slant towards...what appeared to be a vast, white sheet of ice on the surface above them, the daylight breaking through the few cracks and holes in its surface in streams. Unable to understand why the water was full of ice at this time of year in this area, she tried to spot the edge of it only to find none. It extended all the way to the underwater coastline of the relatively small span of land Marineford rest on.

She watched in shock as an array of cannonballs broke through the thick sheet of ice too close to the sub for comfort, an explosion of fierce, white bubbles trailing behind them as they sank into the depths below. The muffled booms of cannons and gunfire as the vessel approached a large break in the ice became thunderous as they breached the surface of the waves into the dim, overcast afternoon hanging above the marine headquarters. The pandemonium on the surface was staggering; marines, pirates, an array of battleships and wild displays of all kinds of peculiar Devil Fruit powers. The sounds of battle cries, yells of pain and the screams of the dying accompanied the visual display through the thick acrylic of the porthole she watched from. It was unfortunate that it wasn't an unfamiliar sight. Frowning at the memory of some of her previous jobs, she found herself deciding more and more often that she really was growing to dislike working in wars.

The noise outside was soon drowned out by the hurried sound of footsteps in the hallway behind the door and the yells of Heart Pirates as they went about their duties to maintain the ship safely in the chaotic warzone.

'How am I going to find Luffy in all of this?' She asked herself in dismay, scanning the endless disarray of people fighting. 'Maybe Law will spot him and tell him I'm here? What is that goof doing here to begin with anyway?' She wondered if the softie was sticking his nose into this on some kind-hearted whim to help a friend or something. That was just so him.

Pretty sure that they wouldn't notice her absence, Nayla eyed the door, knowing that Jeff was gone now and that the crew were probably too busy doing their jobs to pay her any mind if she were to maybe wander off a little bit. Just a little. She didn't really need a pissed-off Law all over her ass. Though after the way her heart had fluttered when he had taken her hand earlier, maybe...'Shut up.' She might not mind. 'Stop it. Filthy and inappropriate.' In another context. 'Useless brain, go back to sleep!'

Making her way over, she opened it and peaked out into the dim hallway cautiously, hearing the echoes of the crew's yells throughout and from the floor above but there seemed to be no one around. Stepping into the corridor, she closed the door behind her softly and decided to walk quietly back the way Jeff had led her there.

Peering up the stairwell, she looked for any crewmembers that may spot her and tattle on her to Law. Seeing none, she began climbing the steps, stopping halfway up when she heard hurried footsteps on the ramp above her.

About to climb back down to return to the rec room to pretend to have been obedient she halted her retreat when she recognised the man that had just reached the landing above to be Shachi and saw him pulling the end of what seemed to be a gurney behind him. An assortment of shouted orders to prepare for surgery and to prepare blood transfusions sounding out.

Her heart clenched painfully tightly in her chest. They'd only just gotten there, had someone in the crew already been injured? Was it someone she knew? The thought of one of the kind men that had saved her life or any of their comrades being killed today made her feel an unexpectedly strong wave of distress at the thought.

It was soon clear though that it was none of the crew when she saw the person lying on the bed being rolled past wasn't wearing a boiler suit. Suddenly unable to hear anymore of the shouted orders as she realised it was Luffy with a gaping, bloodied hole through his chest, she stared numbly as he was rolled past, stared in blank acknowledgement at the other crewmember pushing the opposite end of the gurney to help Shachi wheel him down the hallway.

She stood in shock as the seemingly invincible, happy young boy she had met was rushed away in a horrifyingly dire condition. Gripping the staircase railing for support she was sure she saw more sets of boots and another gurney pass into the hallway of the first floor above her but she hadn't really processed them. She wasn't sure how long she had stood there before someone called her name.

"Nayla-ya." Snapping her head up, she saw Law and Bepo running past. Though neither slowed down or paused, Law looked in her direction as he spoke again. "Go back to the room."

Nodding silently, she numbly complied, turning back the way she came to go sit down before her legs gave way on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever notice the lack of pockets on the Heart Pirates' boiler suits? I did, must be really inconvenient to carry stuff around. Maybe they have breast pockets on the inside like I gave Penguin last chapter or the crew wear clothing underneath that has pockets to carry their cash and stuff, hmm.
> 
> The voicepipe stuff is real and I noticed the Heart Pirates use them as well in the episode where Law was operating on Luffy and Jinbe.
> 
> I took a guess at the age of the crew and amount of Law's initial bounty by comparing to the Straw Hats. It took way less than a year for them to become a problem so I assumed it probably took a little longer for the Heart Pirates because it'd take time to gather a crew that size and build their sub.
> 
> Zoro's initial bounty was 60,000,000 berries, so if the East Blue is considered the weakest, Zoro doesn't have a devil fruit power and wasn't actually trying for a high bounty (but I assume that Law might have been, initially), then I'd guess that Law's first one would have been higher than his and settled on 75,000,000 berries.


	14. Out of reach of the Law

Nayla wasn't sure how long she had sat there. She'd heard some alarms and felt the diving of the sub. The violent, evasive movements of it, the sound of Jean Bart yelling something over the intercom...but hadn't really processed any of it and the turbulence hadn't really disturbed her from the soft, red bean bag she had sunk into when she had returned to the rec room. Although she was pretty sure the loud thump she had heard behind her at some point was her suitcase getting knocked to the floor during the bumpy ride but hadn't cared enough to turn around to verify it.

It wasn't as if she were particularly close to Luffy but knowing what a genuinely nice guy he was, knowing how kind and trusting he had been to allow her to travel with his crew briefly, knowing how much he meant to Zoro and seeing him in such a state had been upsetting and unexpected.

Law took him though. If anyone _could_ help him, then it was Law. She had faith in him. He had been the vision of calm and in control as he had run down the hallway the same direction Luffy had been wheeled; the ideal depiction of a level-headed doctor that intuitively gave you the utmost confidence in their ability.

Hearing a knock on the door, she tilted her head back over the edge of the beanbag to watch the upside down image of the man she had just been thinking of enter the room. They exchanged a quiet look for a moment before he spoke, already knowing what she'd want to hear first and foremost.

"He's stable for now." Was all he offered as he motioned for her to follow him.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, shestood from the beanbag with some effort, turning to face him as he switched off the lighting in the room. When they weren't plunged into darkness by the action she turned her attention to the portholes she'd been excitedly peering out of earlier, belatedly realising they were now letting in daylight again. When had they resurfaced? She had been completely lost in her own thoughts for a while it'd seem.

She walked towards Law who seemed to be holding a completely neutral affect as he watched her approach and as she disregarded her upturned suitcase to pass him into the hallway.

He shut the door behind them and led them back up to the first floor, hands in his pockets in a casual stride. It was only then that she noticed he wasn't carrying his nodachi as she gave his bare forearms a sideways glance on the staircase, looking at his tattoos. They reached the first floor hallway in silence and he walked in the direction she had seen him take Luffy earlier.

Law stopped at a door, motioning with his head for her to take a look through the small, rounded glass window at the top of it. Following his indication she walked to it and tiptoed to peer inside through the glass, she wasn't able to see a lot but could make out what looked to be an intensive care unit. Luffy was laying in a bed hooked up to double the amount of things she had woken up attached to not long ago and there were a few crewmembers inside, flitting between checking him and the machines, taking diligent notes of their observations as they cared for him.

Law watched her struggle to look through the glass, half tempted to lift her or allow her to go in so she could see but shrugged off the feeling as she set herself back down, releasing the rim of the glass window from her fingers. She turned to look at him, seemingly a bit more relieved now that she had seen Straw Hat being taken care of but she still looked so sad. Her quietness was uncharacteristic to him, the lack of temperamental comebacks, flirtatious behaviour and audaciousness, he decided, didn't suit her.

He closed the gap between them with a short step and looked down at her, matching her silent gaze before gently threading his hand through her hair at the back of her head for the second time that day. She seemed to snap out of her muted daze when she felt his fingers massage across her scalp softly, a small smirk beginning on his lips as he watched the indignation of his invasion of her personal space spread across her features gradually.

Law watched with amusement as her gaze hardened and as her mouth opened to question his overly intimate gesture when he beat her to it. "Let's remove these staples for you shall we, Nayla-ya?"

"Stop touching me." She bat his hand away from her in irritation.

"Merely assessing the injury for tenderness." He chuckled and turned to open the second door down the hallway from the one she was stood at.

"My ass that's what you were assessing." She muttered, loud enough for him to still hear. Law thought the annoyed pout she had on now suited her much better as he leant against the door looking at her expectantly until she huffed at him and walked inside. Taking her suggestion of assessing her behind as she walked into the room ahead of him.

Nayla tried her best to ignore the annoying smirk on his face as he followed her, closing the door behind him. She looked around briefly to inspect the extremely big, well equipped infirmary he had brought her to. It had large, green tiled floors and although the walls of this room still remained as exposed steel, they were smooth and flat here, spotless. The infirmary gave off a similar blue-green atmosphere as the hallways but it was somehow a more soothing tone in this room. She took in the distinct smell of disinfectant, antiseptic, latex and clean sheets. A typical hospital smell though she had never minded it, she found any smells related to cleanliness to be calming.

He patted the surface of one of the examination tables as he walked past it to retrieve the equipment he needed, indicating where he wanted her. She walked to it, turned her back to the edge and hoisted herself to sit on the edge of its light green, plastic surface as she watched him move to the corner of the room near the doorway.

It was lined with a long, spotless, white counter on either side, filled with drawers and cupboards. A few stainless steel trolleys stored neatly at one of the counter ends. Overhead cabinets accompanied the counters; shelving filled with boxes of gloves and examination equipment, locked glass cases filled with assorted vials and medications.

Law went to one of the several large, steel sinks breaching the smooth confluence of the white counter top and began washing his hands, back turned, giving her the opportunity to visually roam freely about the room without his watchful gaze on her.

There were several more examination tables like the one she was resting on behind her, lined up by their heads against the wall. Rows of undrawn, fresh white curtains to separate them for privacy. The opposite side of the room had a similar layout but with hospital beds lined with light green sheets and white bedding. Identical copies of monitoring and treatment equipment framing the heads of each.

There was a large set of double doors at the distant, right corner of the infirmary, next to the last hospital bed on that side. It lead to the room in between this one and the one Luffy was resting in. The sign above it read, 'Theatre 1,' which looked like it would be illuminated when the room was in use. She wondered briefly if that had been the room Law had performed surgery on herself in, only now realising that this was in fact the second time she had been on his submarine.

At the back wall of the room were similar rounded portholes as in the rec room, only smaller, framed by plain white blinds that were currently drawn upwards, allowing streams of late afternoon sunlight in and onto the large desk that sat beneath them.

It was a plain dark shade of wood, surprisingly simple with a clean, shiny surface, marred only by a single stack of papers and thin cardboard files, a simple desk lamp, a filled pen holder and a small snoozing Den Den Mushi. A forebodingly large, high-back, black leather chair sat behind it.

Nayla's attention was drawn to the sudden stop of the running water in front of her, turning to Law as he dried his hands with paper towels. His sly grin, she assumed was due to her being obviously impressed by his medicinal domain. It was actually because she had just unknowingly spotted her own patient files on his desk in plain view. Both his own and the stolen copy from Sabaody General.

Law tossed the used towels into a nearby trash can and walked over to one of the trolleys at the end of the counter, picking up a white plastic tray from atop its stainless steel surface. He turned his back on her again to rummage through the overhead cabinets, quickly and expertly plucking the needed items out and placing them onto the tray.

She peered back over her shoulder at what was obviously his own desk, looking at the large bookshelves of the same style of wood behind it. They were filled with thick texts, spanning the entire width of that side of the room from corner to corner, interrupted only by the portholes at which, short filing cabinets lay beneath them instead, fitting snugly between the bookshelves on either side of them. It was only then that she wondered if he had kept any records of the treatment he had done for her in them.

Nayla went back to watching Law as she heard him place a small, metallic, clipper-like tool into the tray before walking back over to her and setting it down on the edge of the examination bed she sat on. She eyed them in the tray next to her, wondering if this would hurt, she had never had to have staples removed before.

He moved around the foot of the bed to the other side of it to stand behind her. "Move back to the edge."

She shuffled back towards him but apparently to an unsatisfying degree as he sighed and placed a hand on each of her hips, pulling her backwards effortlessly in one swift movement with enough strength that her back bumped into his chest. Though he immediately let her go, pulling away to reach over and drag the tray he had placed on the bed within closer reach.

"Stop being so handsy, Law!" She was honestly more irritated about her body's responses to his physical contact then about his actual contact.

Law stopped reaching for the pair of gloves on the tray and let them drop back down to its surface with a soft plop before immediately resting his hands on either of her hips again, leaning in close to her ear, agonisingly slowly.

"Why Nayla-ya? Does it bother you?" She could practically feel his smirk against the piercings of her upper ear as he spoke.

"Yes. A lot. Stop it."

His smirk grew wider as he released her, resuming his reach for the gloves and pulling them on. "Oh, is that so? In what way?" Nayla knew he knew. His voice was practically oozing conceit; he knew she found him attractive.

"In the way...that we're not that close, you aren't my friend and you can't touch me."

He chuckled, parting the hair over her healed wound and holding it forward, the length of it partially obscuring her face as it fell forward. She heard him lift the small metallic tool she had seen on the tray.

"Liar." She felt him apply it the first staple and pull it swiftly out. To her surprise it didn't hurt much at all, just felt strangely uncomfortable.

"No, I'm not lying. We _aren't_ friends." She knew it wasn't what he was referring to but she'd rather play dumb then admit the type of discomfort his contact caused her.

He leant in more closely than necessary to her ear to speak again this time bringing his chest into contact with her back once more. "That wasn't what I was accusing you of lying about." He said in a low, somewhat husky tone.

Nayla bit her tongue, she didn't trust herself to reply to the infuriating man anymore. Law chuckled again, satisfied with his teasing for now and gave her a more professional personal space as he continued to work diligently to remove the staples he had placed for her.

She couldn't help but suddenly notice her lightening in mood due to him and found her irritated frown slowly morphing into a small smile under the veil of her hair, wondering if it had been his intention all along or if his teasing had just come at a welcome time to distract her. A peaceful silence fell on them interrupted only by the small, metallic clacks of his tool and of the staples falling into the tray.

"Hey Law...he'll be ok, right?"

"There's nothing more that can be done for him, physically. It's up to him now." She hummed in thought, thinking of how ridiculously robust the kid was. Between her faith in Luffy's ability to stubbornly survive just about anything and her faith in Law's medical abilities, she felt much more settled about Luffy's condition.

"Were you aware that the man they executed today was his brother?" He halted his approach to the next staple as her head moved in her tension.

"He was?...No...no I didn't know." She processed that quietly, she'd had no clue and he hadn't mentioned being related to that famous pirate during her short time travelling with him.

Law hummed in thought, inwardly assessing her connections to the Straw Hats and to the man currently in his intensive care unit. "We're approaching an island called Amazon Lilly, to hide him there during his recovery."

"The island of women? It's a real place?" Her inward sympathy for Luffy temporarily interrupted by the news of their next destination. She hadn't actually thought of where they would go after their trip to Marineford, it didn't matter really as long as it was any island that she could grab a new ride from to get her out of the Grand Line.

"Yeah, it's real. The crew are in an uproar about it." He muttered the last part tiredly earning a small giggle from her.

"I'll bet they are." She could practically see the perverted looks on Penguin and Shachi's faces in her mind, she wouldn't want to be in charge of a bunch of rowdy, male pirates approaching an island full of women either, he'd have his hands full.

"Why Amazon Lily if men aren't allowed there?"

"It would seem Straw Hat-ya has an admirer there, the ruler of the island and the captain of the Kuja pirates."

"Luffy does?" She raised an eyebrow at that, silently contemplating how a man like Luffy who had shown little to no interest in women or relationships, ever, even slightly, had managed to score an admirer who liked him enough to harbour him from the government and on an island he'd be forbidden on.

Law left her to her contemplation as he let his own thoughts wander. He hadn't anticipated today's turn of events, they'd thrown his carefully laid out plans completely. However, today had been productive, he would have an even further bounty increase for his involvement at Marineford, he had earned the gratitude of many powerful people and Nayla was on board his submarine.

He placed the last staple into the tray and picked up the damp piece of gauze he had set on it to give the wound one last wipe. "All done."

She reached her hand back and ran her fingers through her hair over where he had finished working. "Ugh, thank god the Frankenstaples are out, that feels soooo much better!" She hopped off the table and thread her fingers through her hair, pushing it back to cover her newly freed scalp.

"Frankenstaples?" Law raised a brow at her as he removed his gloves and tossed them on top of the tray.

She paused midway through combing her hair back with her fingers. "Ah, I'd been calling them that in my mind for so long that I said it out loud." She admitted with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of her head with delight. "Damn, those were a pain in the ass. Washing my hair, trying to brush over them, sleeping with them...and they were starting to itch like crazy, ugh."

He chuckled as he walked past her to place the tray onto the counter, knowing one of the other medics would take care of it later. "Would you prefer the gaping head wound instead?"

"Ah...well no." She hadn't meant to sound ungrateful but the thought of it made her think of something. Did she owe Law another thanks for helping Luffy?

"Hey, Law?" He turned to look at her from the counter, resting his back against it and his hands on the edge. "Why did you help Luffy?" Law assessed her neutrally, wondering where her distinct shift of guiltiness was coming from but remained silent.

"I mean you don't seem to know each other too well...it...wasn't because of me...was it?"

He laughed at her then, at her misplaced guilt and wild overestimation of how nice a guy she may have perceived him to be. She frowned at his response as she watched him stand from the counter and lean towards her, looming over her with his height. "No, Nayla-ya, my reasons are my own. It wasn't for your sake. We aren't friends, remember?" He mocked; a slight but distinct trace of harshness to his tone and his smirk that she hadn't expected.

Thinking of how to respond to his nasty throw-back of her earlier comment she heard the deck above them erupting in cheers and excited calls before she heard Jean Bart's voice announcing their approach to land over the communications system.

Law's eyes left hers to look out the portholes of the far wall of the infirmary, confirming the approach of the large island of Amazon Lily up ahead. He gave Nayla one last look before turning to leave the infirmary, leaving the door open for her.

Was that the same guy that she had felt her heart flutter for when he held her hand today? 'God, what a jerk.' She angrily followed after him towards the hallway but as she turned the corner out of the room she was practically bowled over by the sudden appearance and rush of excited Heart Pirates stampeding up to the deck to get a glimpse of the legendary land of women.

She steadied herself against a wall before she got knocked over, raising an eyebrow at the rush of white boiler suits that sped past her. 'Holy crap...' She stared in shock after them before slowly making her own way up the stairs with caution, as if another stampede of horny, young male pirates might emerge any second.

Nayla reached the top of the staircase but decided not to go outside, Law was there and for some reason she was feeling a bit unsettled at how their conversation had just ended. She watched from a porthole a little way down from the main door to the deck as the ship was led through large gates and into the kingdom.

She had only been half-joking when she had said he wasn't her friend but he had taken the first opportunity he got to throw it back in her face. He didn't really seem like the kind of guy to get his feelings hurt easily though, if it all, he seemed more the emotionally muted type but she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty...but she was right wasn't she? They weren't friends?

Her reflection on the nature of their relationship was cut short by her awe of the city and the scandalously clad women. 'Wow, I thought _my_ wardrobe was a little risqué,' she thought, whistling lowly to herself. The loud cheers of the men were soon drowned out by the rain of arrows they got fired at them; she couldn't help but laugh quietly but listened intently to the conversation between Law and the women outside.

She smiled to herself as realisation dawned on her and quickly ran back down the stairs towards the rec room. It would seem she had been lucky enough to stumble across the one place that could solve all her pirate problems.

* * *

Law stood on the deck, lazily leaning against the railing, watching his sub manoeuvring gently to settle into the Eastern gulf of the island, as close to the steep cliffside as possible, taking the peaceful moment alone to order his thoughts.

As far as his future plans were concerned, he'd have time to sift through his possibilities and watch the fall out of the war's result as Straw Hat recovered.

As far as Straw Hat's recovery was concerned, he'd have to be patient and wait for the boy to wake or die then leave Amazon Lily as soon as he was able to.

As far as his plans for finding out about and utilising Nayla to his benefit was concerned, that was going to be the most imminent problem he'd need to deal with. Law's gaze shifted to the open door of his vessel.

He hadn't planned for her to be boarding with them today, he hadn't had the chance to find out if she was worth including into his objectives and if she were, he hadn't decided what pretence to use to keep her with them to fulfil them...he hadn't even set aside a place for her to sleep yet.

For now, she would be unlikely to want to leave until Straw Hat had recovered. He had until then to find out if he wanted to keep or discard her. In the meantime he would try to be civil with her, minus his slightly temperamental behaviour earlier, if he could manage that much then perhaps she would be willing to simply give him the information he wanted, even remain with them voluntarily...she was a mercenary, perhaps he could simply hire her?

He wasn't sure what had irked him earlier. A mixture of tiredness, a long stressful day, annoyance at his own softness with her earlier, annoyance at how she thought he was soft enough to help someone else on _her_ behalf...the way she immediately doted over the men that had been there to save her life except for him, not that he minded...the way she had hugged and kissed all of them affectionately at the tavern except for him, not that he wanted that overly affectionate interaction...the way she had disregarded him as even being a friend after all he had done for her, not that he cared...

Law frowned at his thoughts, it really wasn't that he particularly cared about all of those things but he _did_ notice them. Sometimes it didn't pay to be overly observant, it made over-thinking small things too easy.

Sighing, he stood from the railing and decided to go find the annoying, little woman and see what he could put into place for her sleeping arrangements on such short notice. He walked back inside and back downstairs wondering if she was feeling mischievous enough to have gone exploring on his sub or not. He hadn't given her clear instructions to remain in the infirmary where he had left her earlier nor to go back to the rec room. Law didn't doubt she was _exactly_ the type of person to take that as a green light to snoop around but he decided it wouldn't hurt to check the infirmary first as it was closer.

Finding the door to the infirmary still open as he had left it, he peered inside to find it empty, the tray he had left on the counter still where he had placed it. He hadn't expected any different and closed the door as he made his way to the rec room.

He opened the door and stepped inside, finding it empty. He rolled his eyes, mentally preparing himself for a prolonged and immature game of hide-and-seek but as he began closing the door he noticed something odd about the room...or more, the lack of something odd about the room.

Law tentatively let his gaze slip to the floor to the left of the doorway, a feeling of deep unease washing over him as he realised the suitcase that had been thrown onto its side in that spot, was no longer there.

He furrowed his brows and immediately turned to go back upstairs to the deck, taking hurried, long strides. He went outside, scanning the deck rapidly, looking for a flash of bronze, bare skin or of red tartan or of long dark hair fluttering in the breeze around them. Law walked to the other side of the main deck to check the lower deck below, listening out for the soft tones of her feminine speech or the telltale chime of her giggle.

Finally, realising where he probably should have began his search once he got outside, Law clenched his jaw and walked back to the front of the main deck, scanning the line of trees atop the cliffside of the gulf. The women of Amazon Lily were putting up a white, material partition to section off the land they were permitted to go ashore on during their stay and there, with her suitcase, talking animatedly with one of the natives, was Nayla.

As if able to sense his rising fury, she turned her head in his direction, her eyes soon finding his as he approached the railing of his deck, placing his hands on its surface, gripping it tightly with his fingers.

She grinned widely at him. "Law! Thank you so much for the lift! I'll come to visit Luffy when he's all better, in the meantime, be sure to give your crew my regards would ya?" Law felt his jaw clench more tightly at the mocking way she threw back his comment from earlier today in Sabaody much the same way he had just thrown hers back at her in the infirmary.

She waved to him as she began following the native woman, who eyed him in distrust before leading the way towards the city. As soon as the Amazonian's back was turned, Nayla dropped the warm, cheery smile and gave him a smirk that could easily rival his own before she turned away fully to follow the woman...as soon as _Nayla's_ back was turned...Law found himself unable to hold back the small grin that made its way onto his features.

He wasn't sure whether to be angry or impressed as he watched Nayla walk leisurely away to the one place she knew he couldn't follow her, grudgingly admitting to himself that she may have just won this round.


	15. When all else fails

It had become crystal clear to Nayla from day one that she would not be fitting in on Amazon Lily in any of her current clothing. Not that standing out on a style basis was ever a bother to her but standing out on Amazon Lily was now something she was trying to avoid.

Once news of the woman from the 'world of men' that had arrived with the Heart Pirates was staying within city walls had spread, sticking out like a sore thumb pretty much identified who she was. Gaggles of excited women with questions about their more rugged counterparts would swarm her whenever she went outside. Nayla had found it much more peaceful to explore the city to her heart's content if she quietly wandered around in a native outfit that made her blend in... _that_ would absolutely be her excuse for indulging her guilty pleasure of buying one...or a couple...or maybe a few...'Ugh, my poor suitcase,' she winced thinking of the pitiable thing that was bursting at the seams back in her room.

She sighed as she walked along the edge of the lengthy canal that ran through the city, scanning in vain for any small, private ships she hadn't already spoken to the owner of; even a fishing boat would do at this point.

Although it had been an amazing opportunity to enjoy the sights, the new culture and to browse the market stalls full of beautiful crafts for sale, Nayla was also experiencing a frustrating sense of déjà vu; she was stuck on the island due to transport issues. She'd heard the island was isolated and required special ships to cross the calm belt but she hadn't realised that literally only the Kuja pirate ship left the island for other destinations. They would go nowhere without their captain and their captain would go nowhere until Luffy recovered. Not that it mattered, Nayla wouldn't be permitted to board it anyway, she wasn't a Kuja pirate or even a native and apparently trying to appeal to the captain for permission on the basis that she was a friend of Luffy's might get her turned to stone in a fit of jealousy...which Nayla could probably do without.

Even though she found herself in a similar situation to the one she had on the Archipelago, this was still markedly better. It was a beautiful and interesting city, it was free of the hundreds of shady characters Sabaody had been rife with and her pirate-stalker couldn't harass her here. She glanced at the large Eastern city gate embedded into the distant mountainside as she walked alongside the gleaming but unfortunately empty canal.

If Law wanted to be able to keep his sub docked to tend to Luffy and not get his ass handed to him by the warlord that ruled over this island then he had to behave himself. Though she almost wished he _would_ misbehave and come barging into the city for her, Nayla would love to see him get his ass kicked. The thought made her laugh half-heartedly, she knew deep down he'd probably do a pretty good job of holding his own against a warlord, seemed he may have already done so on Sabaody if what the papers said was true.

At least the lack of foreseeable transport meant Nayla could stay until Luffy woke. It had been easy to catch news of his condition from the other women on the island, he was apparently already very popular here...and would most likely be why she kept being asked how far men could stretch.

Once he was awake she'd be able to get off the island with him, Luffy wouldn't stay here and he wouldn't leave her behind...maybe if she left the island with him they could meet up with the rest of his crew, maybe she'd get the chance to travel with them for a little while longer and spend more time with Zoro. The thought brought a smile to her face.

She reached the point of the canal where she could see all the way to the end, to the closed Kuja gates that blocked off the entrance to the open sea. The gates that the Heart Pirates' sub had come through when they arrived initially. Sighing in defeat Nayla glanced back at the large Eastern gate of the city, slowing to a stop and wondering if perhaps Law had cooled off from her stunt a few days ago...she really didn't have any reason to fear him, he couldn't follow her past the partition the Kuja's had put in place and whatever he wanted from her well, he needed her alive for that or he might have already killed her out of annoyance by now.

She wouldn't mind seeing Penguin and Shachi again...and Bepo...it would be nice to say hi to Jean Bart and even Jeff again too. They had all been enjoyable company and she was beginning to get bored with her futile search for ships and waiting for Luffy to recover.

There was no guarantee Law would be outside of the sub, if he were inside then maybe she could pay the crew a visit without him being aware of it until after she was gone.

Nayla glanced back at the streets one more time at the women going about their business before making up her mind and taking firm steps towards the gate. 'I always did prefer the company of men.'

* * *

It was getting tedious, very very tedious. Law couldn't wait to leave. Two weeks here had been more than enough; he and his crew had been getting restless being cooped up between such a small area of land and the sub.

He leant back against the tree he had sat under, resting his right arm over his bent knee, Nodachi snugly tucked between it and the crook of his neck and settled comfortably to wait. He chose to observe the ocean over the cliffside in the meantime, watching the far off splashes of the sea kings that dwelled in the calm waters around Amazon Lily.

Nayla would be here soon, she had come to visit them nearly every day around this time after dinner. Though she had, very wisely, refrained from showing up here the first few days after her brazen disappearing act. Law had known from the second that she had left that it would only be a matter of time before she eventually came back for one reason or another.

He smiled a little at the memory of her first return to this gulf. He had spotted a tentative-looking Nayla approaching the gap in the partition quietly but had pretended not to notice her, curious to see what she would do and what she had come back for. She had tried to attract Penguin's attention quietly but Shachi had been the first to spot her and immediately yelled out her name in greeting. The lack of tact his crew sometimes had in their honest and open excitement, it was...endearing he supposed. He chucked remembering the look on her face as Shachi blew her 'cover' and practically tackled the poor woman in a bear hug, scolding her for leaving without even saying hello or goodbye to him the day she had been on their sub.

Breaking from his reverie, Law looked back over his shoulder at the cheerful calling of the name of the woman he had just been thinking of. Nayla approached his crew, waving and smiling. They had become quite fond of her over the two weeks they had been here. No doubt many of them were pleased to interact with her seeing as she was the only woman on an entire island of women, permitted to freely do so.

However, she would never stay too long although it looked like she wanted to. She seemed to enjoy his crew's company and would indulge their questions of what it was like within the city but a fleeting glance his way and she'd soon retreat back to it, where he couldn't follow. They had exchanged a few false pleasantries here and there, mostly about Straw Hat's condition.

It was only a matter of time though, she must have realised by now as Law had, that without his help she was stuck on this island. He hadn't been sure if she might be able to slip away on a small ship to a local island but he had not seen a single one come into or leave these waters since their arrival. It would seem only the Kuja's main pirate ship had that privilege.

If Nayla wanted off this island she would need to approach him sooner or later to ask and it would finally be an interesting exchange with her again, no neutral pleasantries. He had every intention of making her grovel and squirm for it this time, thinking about that sly grin she gave him the day she hopped his ship made one of his own pull at his lips. She was going to need to pay for it.

"Really?! Where is he?" Her high-pitched reaction to the news of Straw Hat having woken up some time ago drifted over to him but she was soon quietened down when she was filled in by his crew at the state he had woken up in, glancing over at the freshly patched roof of his sub in surprise.

Law had had plenty of time to go through the few files from the bounty hunter outpost on Sabaody. There was nothing note-worthy in them. Only four bounties claimed by her over the last five years, the highest of which had been 45,000,000 berries. There was no personal information about her, her origin, her fighting style, nothing.

He had communicated anonymously with some underground contacts via Den Den Mushi over the last two weeks, including some that were part of Joker's network, seeking information about mercenaries for hire and recent or current wars on the Grand Line. Law had never had to enquire about mercenaries before, they were mostly used to fill numbers in large battles and had very little to do with the pirating world. They hadn't gotten back to him with anything significant just vague information that there were at least five female mercenaries currently working in this area of the Grand Line but three of them worked within a group, not solo as Nayla seemed to and the other two, simply didn't seem to fit her profile.

How difficult could it really be to find information about a person who was standing no more than 50 feet behind him? How did people even hire her if they couldn't find out about her? It had been a frustrating and unrewarding search. It would seem the only way to find out what he wanted, was to ask her. He was back to square one.

Law looked over curiously at the chorus of disappointed sounding noises his crew was making, expecting to see Nayla making a faster retreat from them (him) than usual but found to his surprise that she was walking towards him.

It was the first time he had seen her visit them not wearing a full version of one of the native outfits. Although she was still sporting a top she had bought here that resembled a bikini made of fine, colourful fur, she was wearing a plain black, short jacket and matching mini skirt with it today. She had been foregoing visiting them with her weapon, which he had found interesting considering the tenuous relationship between them but he had overheard her saying it was something to do with trying to blend in with the other women whilst she walked through the city. Today it was back in place, bumping against her hip gently from her belt as she walked. He observed her boots were back on and her thigh holster was poking out from under the hem of her skirt but it would seem she had opted not to wear her 'necklace.'

Realising he was probably taking a little longer than necessary to observe her new top and lack of breast-related weaponry, he craned his neck upwards to meet her face with a raised brow as she approached. Perhaps she would be coming to grovel for his help sooner than he had anticipated. Law had predicted she would do so some time after Straw Hat woke but he had only woken about 20 minutes ago...

She smiled but said nothing, opting to sit herself down next to him instead, making herself comfortable on the grass, a few inches to his left under the tree.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company today, Nayla-ya?" Completely neutral, mock politeness.

"Hmm, nice to see you too Law." She leant back on her palms and lay her legs out in front of her. He couldn't help but notice her feet only reached down to the mid-calf of his own extended leg, even though they were sat level to each other.

There was a moment of peaceful quietness as they both looked at the sea, glistening vividly under the late-afternoon sunlight before she spoke again. "It took a really long time but I finally managed to convince the Kuja pirates to let me on board their ship. Some of the pirates are heading to some local islands for brief information exchanges and returning by tomorrow morning. They'll depart in a few hours."

She looked at him from a side glance in quiet triumph as she took in the brief look of surprise that crossed his face as he turned to look at her. She was leaving, that would explain her change in attire today.

"Now how did you manage that I wonder. Last time I checked, the Kuja were not straight men that you could shamelessly manipulate into doing your bidding."

She raised a brow at him, although it was true, she absolutely _would_ have used that method had the Kuja been men, Law hadn't actually seen her display any such behaviour before. She had even considered trying that method back on the Archipelago but hadn't found a private ship that looked like it and its crew could withstand a trip through pirate-infested waters.

"Wow, now what would make you say something like that?"

"It's not difficult to tell how you operate, Nayla-ya." He glanced pointedly down at the generous amount of chest her new top was displaying.

She couldn't help the small smile that spread on her face; it was hard to take offence to something that was true. "Well, I guess this time I just had to relentlessly appeal to their sense of sisterhood." He spared her a sceptical side glance. "That or maybe some of them swing the other way." She purred suggestively, giggling at the small slip of his carefully neutral expression before he promptly redirected the conversation.

"So, you were going to leave before Straw Hat had woken?" He chose to shove the images she had unknowingly or well, perhaps knowingly, conjured into his head away. He wouldn't put it past her.

"Its been two weeks, we all knew if he survived this long that it was only a matter of time until he woke. Considering how difficult its been to find reliable, safe, transport-" She looked at him in unsubtle indication, earning the smallest of smirks. "-I know he'd understand if I had to leave to secure my ride, I didn't know how much longer he'd be out of it...I was going to leave behind a letter for him, to give him my condolences and to pass my love onto the rest of the Straw Hats once he sees them."

Nayla looked off into the jungle behind them where she had been told Luffy had run to, inconsolably. Now that he was awake, perhaps she _should_ stay on the island, he'd need all the friends he could get if he had woken up in such extreme grief. Once he was ok and well enough, they could leave Amazon Lily together, maybe she really would get the chance to travel with him and the Straw Hats again for just a little while.

Law watched her as she smiled in thought looking through the trees, guessing what she was probably thinking. "Change of plans?"

"Maybe...maybe I'll stay if Luffy is awake now." She caught herself before she could continue thinking aloud to him.

"So if you _were_ leaving, did you simply come here to gloat your victory?" Law adjusted his Nodachi more comfortably, choosing to look back out at the ocean again.

"No, I came to say goodbye actually, to you and your crew...Even if I choose to stay now that Luffy is awake, I guess I'm _still_ here to say goodbye if you guys are the ones leaving now. When do you plan to set sail?" When she didn't receive a reply she turned from peering into the jungle to look at him and waited patiently for him to speak, sensing he was in deep thought about something.

Law was tired of beating around the bush; he had been tired of it two weeks ago. He'd had plenty of time to think through his future plans and he had a good idea of how he wanted this woman to fit into them.

"Nayla-ya, what is that moving tattoo on your back?" He turned to look her in the eyes, wanting to gauge the honesty of her responses.

"...I'd rather not say." Her eyes shifted guiltily away from his own.

"And why is that?"

"Lots of reasons, all of which are just simply none of your business, Law." She hadn't said it nastily, just matter-of-factly. She wasn't there to satisfy his curiosities, it really did have nothing to do with him...but if he was going to bluntly ask her what he wanted then perhaps she'd take the opportunity to do the same.

She looked back at him to resume eye contact. "...What do you want from me?"

Law thought for a moment, carefully choosing how to word the accumulation of his previous two weeks of generated possibilities into a response for her. "I have a goal that I'm working towards that I think you would be useful for."

"Finding One Piece?" She raised a brow, peering over her shoulder at his crew. 'Isn't that what _they_ are here for?'

"No. This is a personal goal, one that does not involve my crew." He corrected, following her gaze.

She looked back at him furrowing her brows in thought at how firmly he had said that. "What is the goal?"

"I want to take down a certain person."

She was even more confused as she processed that. If Law had a problem with this person, why wouldn't he just confront them? She reasoned he would if he could...this person must be stronger than Law...maybe that was why he didn't want his crew involved? Was he protecting them or was it that he didn't want them involved because it was a personal matter...

"Who is it?"

"That, I can't tell you."

"Why do you want to take them down?"

"That would be none of _your_ business, Nayla-ya." He smirked.

She deadpanned him. "So you want me to help you take down a person, but you won't say who, as your goal, but you won't say why?"

His smirk widened. "What is the going rate for a female mercenary these days? Perhaps we can come to an arrangement."

"I already said back in the tavern that I don't take jobs I can't agree with. How can I agree to a job you won't even give me the details of? What if this mystery person you're hiring me to help you take down is some kind old lady that adopts and nurses stray kittens in her own time and your reason is because she cut you off on a sidewalk in a town you docked at or something?" She scrunched up her face in disgust.

He chuckled at her expression and at the fleeting image of an elderly, female Doflamingo cooing over a room full of kittens. No, the person he had in mind was far from a kindly, animal-loving old woman and his reasons were far more serious than a simple act of social rudeness.

Thinking back to that night in the tavern she continued. "Besides, I already know that in one way or another, this is going to involve Joker. And that is all sorts of no in my book, for personal reasons of not wanting to work for or near him again _and_ because I hear he isn't one to toy with."

"Then why did you take a job with him to begin with? Was it really your first job with him?" He tried to remain neutral as she unknowingly brought up the main objective of the goal they were discussing, wondering why she would agree to work for a notorious underworld broker at all if she had enough morals to reject distasteful jobs.

"Well, yeah it was...I mean I'd heard of the guy and knew enough to know he's scum but the actual job he hired me for was fine by me. I had no problem with helping even out two sides of a war, I was going to help reduce the number of casualties, the pay was going to be decent...besides, if the notorious Joker hired me, even once, that's a pretty big résumé boost. The demand for my services and the rates I could charge would easily double."

"So much for that moral compass." Law said, taking in the devious, greedy little smile that had appeared on Nayla's face.

"It wasn't about the money, it was about the rep! It's about acknowledgement, ya know?" His face told her he didn't believe her. "Anyway, I'm curious, how would this job involve Joker?"

"I would ask you to take the jobs he offered you."

"What? Why?"

"For information."

She tilted her head slightly in thought. "Information from Joker's network would help you take down this mystery person of yours?"

Law nodded in response, satisfied that she was unaware that Joker _was_ the person he planned to take down. He didn't blame her for not connecting those dots; it was a possibility that most people would disregard as soon as it entered their minds, believing that no one was 'stupid' enough to try to take down someone as infamous as Joker.

She mulled over what he had said to her for a moment, trying to piece together this goal of his before deciding that actually, it didn't matter. She wouldn't be taking part in it anyway. "Well, good luck with taking down that mystery person of yours." She sat up to leave, rubbing her hands together to free them of stray blades of grass before starting to stand.

"If you won't accept it as a job then maybe you could accept it as an opportunity to pay off your debt to me."

She stopped halfway to fully standing to look at him incredulously. "My _debt_ to you?"

"Did you think doctors or pirates worked for free? Besides, you owe me your life don't you?" She stood looking at him in shock, assessing his entirely neutral expression and tone of voice and thinking over what he had just said.

"...You bastard. You don't believe a word of that." He raised a brow at her, not expecting that response. "You didn't even want me to know it was you that helped me, you shoved the credit for it onto your crew at every opportunity, you didn't even want my thanks but _now_ I owe you? You're just trying to guilt me into working for you!"

He smirked up at her. 'Nope, not stupid at all.' He got up to stand, enjoying the angry pout of her lips and the heated glare she was sending him. "It would seem I can't convince you, hire you or guilt you."

She huffed at the confirmation of her accusation and turned on her heel to walk back towards his crew. He chuckled, resting his Nodachi onto his shoulder as he followed her at a leisurely pace.

"You really are an asshole you know." She called back to him.

"So I hear. Where are you going, Nayla-ya?" He taunted.

"Away, from you. To say goodbye to your crew."

"Oh is that right, so you _have_ decided to stick to your plans of leaving today?" He quickly scanned the trees in the area that he had noticed the native women had been keeping an eye on him and his crew from, confirming that they were currently empty.

"Yes, I think I'm done her-"

"Nayla-chan!"

"Nayla!"

"Captain?!"

Ignoring the shocked cries of his crew as they ran towards them, Law sighed, resettling his Nodachi to his shoulder as he watched Nayla fall forwards to the ground, her long hair splaying in fine, shiny, dark waves over the grass as she landed.

"I really didn't want to have to do that...head injuries with loss of consciousness really _are_ serious." He muttered to himself as some of his crew ran to crouch around Nayla to check on her. "We're setting sail." He spoke loudly over their surprised exclamations.

"N-now Captain?" Bepo asked from his hunched position over the woman.

"Prepare the sub, we're leaving." The crew looked at him in silence for a moment before he spoke again to startle them out of their shock. "Now!"

"Aye aye Captain!" Chorused as they went about their duties, packing up the items that had made it outside with them and running back to the sub to prepare it for cast off.

The only two that hadn't moved immediately at Law's order were still huddled over the woman at his feet. He took a side glance towards the suitcase she travelled with leant against one of the poles of the partition; it would seem she had stopped by on her way to board the Kuja's ship.

"Penguin, bring her suitcase onboard, leave it in my quarters."

"A-aye aye Captain." Penguin pulled his eyes away from the peaceful looking face of the prone woman on the grass to look towards it, already feeling the backache.

"Shachi, take her to the brig."

"The...the brig, Captain?" Shachi questioned up from his crouched position in disbelief.

"Yeah and be quick about it." Law watched as Shachi gently placed her arm over his neck so that he could lift her from the grass. "I'm sure she won't be out for long." Law said, eyeing the still tattoo that had peered out from under the hem of her jacket as Shachi hoisted her over his shoulder to carry her back to the sub.


	16. Sharing is caring

Penguin trudged down the staircase into the dimly lit, cold room. He felt awful, he really did. He was feeling more than a little torn between his adoration of the sweet young woman he and his crew had befriended over the last two weeks and his unwavering loyalty to his Captain. She had always been so cheerful with them when she came to visit each day. Kind, funny, likeable...he knew his captain would do nothing without good reason, he trusted that, the whole crew did...but did he really have to go this far?

Penguin reached the bottom of the staircase and looked at the unconscious woman as he approached. She was still as Shachi had left her, laying on the small, uncomfortable cot attached to the back wall of the cell of the brig.

Law had ordered she be checked on every 15 minutes until she woke, then hourly after that to make sure she was behaving herself. This had been her third check, Penguin was starting to get worried, his captain had given her a decent hit and it had only been three weeks since her last head injury.

He checked her as thoroughly as he could through the bars for any sign of wakefulness and called her name but there was no response, just the steady, rhythmic movements of her peaceful breathing.

Penguin took one last apprehensive look at her before turning to leave, wondering if he should ask his captain to come see her and make sure she was ok if she still wasn't awake at her next check.

A small rustle of clothing made Penguin turn back to her, relief flooding him as he watched her come to. Nayla moaned softly, scrunching her face in pain and reaching a hand up to feel the back of her head, rubbing it gingerly. She opened her eyes as she slowly sat up, pulling her hand back to inspect it. Penguin winced in guilt as he realised she was checking for blood.

She spotted him then from her sat up position on the cot and blinked in surprise. He watched her face as she seemed to slowly piece things together and stood up, approaching the bars.

Penguin walked back to the cell quietly, standing in front of her. He was sure he had pity written all over his face, hers was currently unreadable. He didn't know what to say.

They stood in silence for what seemed like a long time before she finally spoke. He had expected her tone to be groggy for her to be sad, worried, scared, all of the above but it soon became apparent she felt none of those.

"...Penguin."

"...Nayla-chan."

"Penguin."

"Nayla-chan, I-"

"What the FUCK Penguin?!"

"I-"

"How could you?!"

"I wasn-"

"You promised me I'd be ok if I boarded with you guys!"

"Well, I didn't _promise_ I-"

"And look where that got me!"

"I'm sor-"

"You said I could trust you!"

"I-I never sa-"

"You said your captain was a good man!"

"I said he wasn't a _bad_ man, I-"

"He hit me when my back was turned!"

"Well, he-"

"He kidnapped me!"

"K-kidnap is a strong wor-"

"IT'S THE RIGHT WORD PENGUIN! YOUR CAPTAIN FUCKING KIDNAPPED ME!"

Penguin winced at the volume of Nayla's yelling. He had to admit, she had every right to be a little - "GET THAT BASTARD DOWN HERE NOW!" – well, a lot, upset.

"Nayla-chan, c-calm down, Captain is-"

"I don't care! Get him down here NOW!" She reached through the bars and gripped the collar of Penguin's boiler suit, pulling him down to eye level. He paled at the sheer fury that was radiating off her in waves right now.

"Get. Your Fucking. Captain. Down. Here. Now." She hissed out quietly from between gritted teeth before releasing him.

He stumbled back in shock, he'd never seen her like this before and for someone so small, she could actually be quite terrifying. "Th-that's what I'm trying to explain to you Nayla-chan, Cap-" Oh god she wouldn't like this. "Captain is taking a n-nap right now."

She stopped her furious pacing in her cell and turned her head slowly toward him, there was a moment of silence as he waited for her inevitable, imminent explosion.

"Are you being serious?" She asked deadly quietly. He opened his mouth to respond but she continued. "Are you _actually_ being serious?" Penguin gave her a hesitant, affirmative nod instead.

"The asshole knocks me out when my back is turned, kidnaps me, has my unconscious body dragged on board his ship, stuffs me into a cell and then decides to go and take a FUCKING BEAUTY NAP?!"

"Nay-" He was cut off by the sudden grab of the bars she made as she approached them again.

"So help me god...So help me _god_ , Penguin...go and get him. Go get your captain down here now. GO GET CAPTAIN FUCK–FACE DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"'Captain Fuck-Face?' That's a little crude, don't you think, Nayla-ya?"

Nayla looked up at the staircase of the brig to find Law standing at the top of it, looking down at her through the bars, his eyes alight with amusement and judging by the look on his face, he had been listening to her tantrum for quite some time.

She looked back at Penguin as if to ask if he knew Law had been standing there but he immediately lifted his hands in his defence. "I didn't, C-Captain just has a habit of doing that." He said smiling meekly.

"Penguin, you're dismissed."

"Aye aye Captain." Penguin practically ran to the stairs and out of the room, relieved to not be on the receiving end of Nayla's wrath anymore.

Law watched Penguin pass by on the stairs and shut the door behind him as he left the room before slowly turning his gaze back to the very, very angry looking little woman in his cell. He slowly descended the rest of the stairs, a satisfied smirk on his lips, Nodachi in place, free hand in his pocket. The dimly lit brig accentuated the shadows under the brim of his hat but Nayla could clearly see he was looking right at her with complete indulgence at her predicament. That glint in his eyes that had a subtle edge of madness to it, the one that had warned her that he was a dangerous man, was in place. It was mocking her for not heeding its warning, for her stupidity at becoming complacent around him, for assuming he meant her no harm, for letting her guard down.

There was no sound in the room except for the background hums of the vessel they were both aboard and the soft creaking of the floor under Law's steps as he deliberately, slowly, approached her cell, standing just out of her arm's length.

Law assessed her at his leisure in the tense silence. Her jaw was taught, she was clenching it, gritting her teeth, barely controlling her urge to scream at him. Her hair and clothing were slightly askew; she'd only regained consciousness a few minutes ago at best. Her cheeks were flushed red from her anger. Her chest was heaving, from yelling at top volume, barely restrained in her slightly moved top. Her knuckles wrapped around the bars she was gripping were white with the strength she was exerting on them. Her eyes...the phrase 'if looks could kill' stemmed from eyes like that. She was angry, so far beyond angry, she was looking at him like she wanted to hit him, maybe even kill him. They gleamed dangerously in this lighting, reminding him that despite her petite packaging and her thus far relatively harmless demeanour, by occupational definition alone; she was a seasoned and veteran killer in her own right. The passion in her eyes right now as she looked at him with such utter fury...He decided, she was incredibly attractive when she was angry.

"Well? Nayla-ya? You wanted me down here so badly, what was it that you wanted to say?" He made no effort to hide his amusement, the laughter in his voice clear for them both to hear.

She seemed to take a deep breath, willing herself to address him more calmly before she spoke. "How nice of you to bother to come see me, I was told you were busy having your afternoon snooze." Well, calm, but scathing.

"I _was_ taking my 'beauty nap' but it's difficult to do when you have a woman screaming bloody murder in the brig. Considering how far this room is from my own, it really is quite remarkable that you managed to wake me. The whole ship must have heard you." He chuckled.

"Why did you take me? You know I'm not going to help you _now_ -why would I after this?!"

"Well, I had hoped you'd come along more willingly but we can work on that. If you'd like to get out of there then we'll have to come to some sort of agreement. I'm still quite willing to pay you for your 'services.'" He allowed the insinuation to hang in the air, knowing it would rile her up even more.

"Fuck you. Absolutely, utterly, fuck you." He chuckled again, not disappointed in how easily he riled her temper back out of her strained composure.

She released the bars and turned away from him, running her fingers through her hair, trying to think of a way out of this. Losing her temper and calling him every name under the sun, no matter how satisfying, wouldn't get her anywhere.

Law watched her pace; waiting to see which tactic he had thought of that she might choose to try to get out of this cell. Threats? Violence? Bargaining? Seduction? Tears?

She seemed to reach a selection as she returned to the bars to speak again. "You _do_ realise I'm not even close to Joker right?"

'Ah, so she'll try to devalue her worth.' It hadn't been the one he thought she'd go for; it was a surprisingly sensible and rational one considering she was currently completely enraged. She already knew him enough to understand it was the one he'd be most likely to respond to, though he wouldn't have minded seeing her attempt to seduce her way out of there.

"I only worked for him once, I've never even spoken to him directly! I was sub-contracted on his behalf you know. Your plan is flawed, even if I take up another job for him I won't find anything of value out for you. You may as well just let me go."

"It makes you an even better candidate, Nayla-ya. _They_ approached _you_ and they're the ones _still_ actively seeking you. It's far better than the opposite. Sending someone new into their network was something I had already considered but they'd be much more suspicious and untrusting of someone who sought _them_ out."

"Then find someone already on the inside!"

"Trying to turn someone who is already inside is too risky. The ones lower down in the hierarchy would sell me out to gain favour, the ones higher up already have too much loyalty to Joker to leak any information I may desire."

"What you're talking about, it takes too long, it'd take _waaaay_ too long to climb that ladder and earn enough trust to get information of any value to you."

"Months, maybe years." He shrugged indifferently, she looked at him agape. "My plan is long term, it doesn't bother me."

"It bothers ME. Why would I want to work for an asshole like you for that long?! One of the reasons I work alone is so I can have complete freedom of where I go, what I do and when. There's no way I'm gonna get tied down to a _fucker_ like you."

In a flash he had reached into the cell and grabbed a fistful of the hair at the back of her head. He used it to bring her face more closely to the bars, tilting it up to him to meet his gaze. Intending to make the threat of her continued disrespect and behaviour clear, he spoke in a dangerously calm and low tone. "You should really watch your language Nayla-ya, it's unbecoming of such a pretty young lady."

He half-expected it. She hadn't hesitated to do it, not even for a second. He tightened the hold he had on her hair in rage, to a degree he knew must have been painful, especially considering the bruise he left there for her earlier but she didn't even flinch. She defiantly kept eye contact with him, goading him, willing him to strike her, punish her for the act.

He did no such thing. If that was the response she was expecting of him, that she wanted from him, then it wouldn't be the one she would get. Law licked the corner of his mouth, his tongue touching the very edge of where her spit had landed on his cheek, tasting it before he leant his face down closely to hers through the bars.

He looked at her lips as he spoke "If you insist on sharing your spit with me Nayla then-" He leant closer, his lips barely touching hers through the bars, tickling hers as he spoke in a low, husky tone. "I would much prefer a more direct approach."

Nayla suddenly felt numb, she suddenly couldn't feel anything but the teasing brushes of his lips on hers as he spoke, the way his warm breath tickled her skin and the way his piercing eyes froze her as they moved back to her own. A mixture of restrained anger and lust.

He held her captive there with his hand and with his gaze for what felt like too long and not long enough simultaneously. He smiled against her lips and pulled away; releasing the hair he had in his hand. She started to breathe again, wondering when she had held her breath, her senses coming back to her as she watched his smirk grow.

"I'll have someone come check on you later, we'll talk again when you're in a more...agreeable mood." He wiped the remaining moisture from his cheek with his thumb as he turned away.

He ascended the stairs slowly, absorbing her shocked silence, her rapid breathing and holding her gaze until he walked out of sight. She heard him opening the door and closing the heavy metal with a loud clang that echoed throughout the empty room.

...

The universe was laughing at her right now, hard. Why was her heart beating so damn fast? Was this karma for all the men she had relentlessly teased for her own amusement? Was it karma for all the times she had abused someone's sexual attraction to her for her own means? She had never been on this end of teasing before and she damn well didn't like it.

'That fucking bastard!' Nayla rest her head against the bars between the ones her hands were still gripping and closed her eyes taking a deep soothing breath.

She was beginning to wish she hadn't screamed so much, her throat was feeling raw and her mouth had gone dry after Law's little...'interaction' with her. She looked around her cell half-heartedly, knowing there would be no thoughtful glass of water in here for her.

Sighing, she released the bars and went to sit back down on the cot, resting her back and head against the cold metal wall. The coolness was soothing on the skin Law had nearly pulled roots from and bruised earlier.

'Ok, relax, calm down, think. – Damn...that was sooo hot. – Not now, help me get out of this mess first. – You should have just kissed him you know. – Stop being attracted to psychopaths please. – It totally would have shut him up. – I'm asking you nicely to stop, why can't you like nice boys instead? – He may have let you out of the cell if you did. – Ugh, seriously? Now? You're going to do this now? – Maybe even back to his room. – Stupid, oversexed brain, shut up and be useful!'

Nayla smothered the unhelpful part of her brain forcefully and took in her surroundings. It was a relatively small brig; she figured the Heart Pirates didn't take prisoners often. That seemed to suit Law; he seemed like the kind of man that didn't bother taking prisoners at all.

The brig only consisted of three cells; she was in the central one. It had standard contents; the cot she sat on, a sink, a toilet, nothing else. She had no idea if the water from the sink was safe to drink, probably not.

Standard vertical metal bars, two horizontal ones; a couple of feet up from the floor and a couple feet down from the ceiling. One cell door with a normal-looking lock mechanism.

The walls of the brig were exposed metal but smooth as in the infirmary. There were no windows, surveillance Den Den Mushi or key racks on the walls. Unfortunately the floor was also exposed metal and most vessels tended to have their brigs in the bowels of the ship. 'It is going to be damn cold in here.'

At the thought, Nayla realised that she was already feeling a little bit chilled, her outfit wasn't helping. She glanced down at it, noting her missing weapon, thigh holster and boots. Her black knee-high socks staring back at her, her feet cold from having stood on the metal flooring all this time but being too angry to have even registered it. Sliding her gaze over to an inconsistency in the metal floor below her feet she spotted a small drain in the corner of her cell. The area of wall above it had wrist and ankle shackles installed...she really hoped the drain was for standard cleaning purposes and not what the sinister shackles above them may have implied.

There was a staircase to her left, against the wall of the room and it seemed to lead to the only door. The door was against the same metal wall her back was resting on, the view of it obscured because of how it tucked into the corner, it had been why she hadn't seen Law enter the room. She couldn't see it from here but it sounded like it was made of a thick metal but it didn't sound like it had closed or locked automatically when Penguin and Law had left the room, she hoped not anyway.

The only other thing of note was a small, brown desk against the wall opposite the cells, plain, nothing on its surface, a few drawers, two standard chairs. Assumingly for guards to sit at if they needed to watch any prisoners they kept down here.

There wasn't a lot to be utilised down here, unless the drawers held something of interest, the brig had been left sensibly but unhelpfully plain.

Deciding to see what she could determine was going on outside of the room she was in, Nayla focused on the sounds she could make out. She couldn't hear anyone outside of the door nor any footsteps in the hallway above her. She could hear the engines of the sub were on, they sounded louder than they had from the rec room, confirming that she was likely to be lower than the second floor. Law said this room was far away from his own, she didn't know where his was but it was good news that he wouldn't be nearby when she escaped. They were in motion but there wasn't even the gentlest turbulence, so either hell had frozen over and the sea of the Grand Line was being incredibly calm, or they were currently submerged.

She hummed in thought to herself, thinking of how best to go about escaping. She didn't doubt her ability to get out of her cell one way or another but she hadn't seen enough of the sub to know where to go if she did and even if she did, they were currently submerged.

Maybe she should escape the cell and take the time between her being discovered missing and being hauled back here to quickly map out where she was and where she would need to head when she made her final break? If she was lucky and could slip out and snoop around without being spotted she might be able to get back before anyone even noticed she was gone.

She wondered if there was a way for her to find out when they would be near enough to the next island so that she could plan when to escape. No sense escaping in the middle of the ocean, she'd be doomed.

Looking up at the bars again, Nayla decided her plan of action was set: Find an escape route. Find out when to use it. She got up from the cot and walked over to the bars, grimacing as she looked down at her feet as they contacted the cold metal. Finding shoes would also be nice.

Now was as good a time as any, Law had only just left and said someone would come to check on her later so she was fairly confident no one would be down here anytime soon.

She inspected the bars in front of her critically. She was a slim girl and these bars were built with large, burly men in mind; rival pirates or marines no doubt. It would be a tight squeeze but she was pretty sure she could slip through them with a good try.

She glanced at the empty guard chairs on the opposite side of them room. **'** Naïve of them to think they didn't need to watch me constantly,' she thought to herself with a small grin, but then it was _exactly_ this kind of situation that she thanked herself for keeping her own abilities quiet, especially when people like Law asked about them. Being underestimated was always a good advantage.

Nayla slid her right arm out through the bars to the shoulder; she found she was able to slip her right leg through with relative ease and only mild difficulty over her thigh. She started sliding her body through, her flat stomach would comply but she was bitterly anticipating her ass to be an issue. She wedged through carefully and felt her body stick; she blinked and looked down at the point of the problem in surprise. 'Oh, you are kidding me.'

Her breasts, were absolutely, not going to agree with this. She narrowed her eyes down at them as if they were deliberately defying her before attempting to squeeze them flatter to her chest to allow her upper body to get past the bars. 'Dammit! You stupid, gorgeous fun-bags! Not now! I'm supposed to resent you when I'm an old lady with crippling, chronic back pain, not now!' She groaned in annoyance, struggling to press them to herself more firmly and attempting to squeeze herself through the bars with more effort.

Nayla stopped when she heard what sounded like dripping water coming from somewhere inside the room. She caught the flash of movement of a drop hitting the floor ahead of her and looked at it. Watching in horror at what seemed to be a drop of blood, followed by another in quick succession, she looked up to find where it had come from. Instantly thinking of the shackles on the wall behind her, flashes of horrendous torture in the brig of Trafalgar Law's sub flooded her mind. Instead she found Shachi standing on the staircase, his left hand supporting his weight on the wall behind him, his right gripping his face firmly.

"Shachi! Are you ok?!" She wondered if he had hurt himself, if maybe there were enemies on the sub and he had come to get her or if maybe he had spoken out on her behalf to his captain and gotten a broken nose for it.

He nodded, his hand still covering his face, blood running from between and over the backs of his fingers onto the floor of the brig below from between the steps of the staircase he was standing on.

She looked at him confused, wondering why he wasn't saying anything. Sensing she couldn't see the problem, he spoke in a nasally tone, muffled by his own hand. "Mmm...Mehaa-mham." He supplemented his troubled speech by pointing at her.

She looked down at herself realising that with one leg in and out of her cell that she was all but straddling the bar in front of her, her miniskirt riding up to an even more indecent length than it had been without any intervention...and she was still very firmly gripping her breasts to herself.

"Oh...right..." She released her chest and slipped back into her cell, righting her clothing before looking back up at Shachi. A blush creeping up past the top edge of the hand he still had over his face. He seemed to be stunned in place. Nayla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Shachi."

"Moh..." He stopped staring at her to continue his way down the stairs into the brig, clamping his bloody nose shut with his hand. She sighed watching him before turning around to pluck the toilet roll off of the sink in her cell. She pulled off a generous amount and offered it to him through the bars.

"Mhankyuu." He gratefully took the wad of tissue she offered him and pressed it to his nose, tilting his head back.

She tutted at him. "Doesn't Law teach you guys anything? Here." She reached through the bars taking the tissue from him and pinching his nose shut, tilting his head back down towards her, she didn't miss the rise in his blush as she did so.

"If you tilt your head back, you'll swallow it." She watched in alarm as the bleeding seemed to worsen, soaking through the tissue under her fingers before realising his current train of thought and her last sentence.

She narrowed her eyes at him, earning a sheepish smile barely visible past the tissue and sunglasses. "You really are a perv..." She muttered, leaving him to hold onto the bloodied tissue before grabbing the roll and getting a clean wad, swatting his hand away from his nose in annoyance so that she could apply the clean tissue and re-pinch it for him.

They stood quietly for a moment as she held on to him firmly, waiting for the bleeding to stop and clot. All perversion aside and even without an exchange of words, an air of sadness at her situation began to settle on them in the prolonged silence.

After a few minutes she removed the tissue slowly to find the bleeding had stopped, she went to the sink and ran some water over it before reaching through the bars and wiping his face clean for him gently.

"Nayla-chan..."

She looked up at him; he seemed genuinely heart-broken for her. "It's not your fault."

"Still...I'm so sorry..."

She sighed heavily, releasing his cleaned face, quickly wiping the bloodied fingers of his right hand and tossing the tissues into the cell's toilet. "What did you come down here for? Is Law ordering me to be checked on already?"

"Uh, no...I...was passing by and was wondering if...maybe I could get you something?"

"...Won't you get in trouble?"

"Well, no I...heard...you were awake and I was due to be the next one to check on you in an hour anyway so...I figured why wait an hour to ask if you needed something...are you hungry?"

"Not really, kinda don't have an appetite at the moment." She muttered, looking at the floor and gripping the bars between them.

"Oh...yeah, I guess you wouldn't."

"But...um...do you think you could maybe get me a glass of water? I don't know if it's safe to drink from the sink in here..." 'A cute bite of the lips, hesitation to speak, a soft tone, a longing look back at the sink, a humble request for a vital necessity.'

He brightened immediately. "Of course! No problem! And, well it technically is...but I wouldn't recommend it. Just water?"

"Um...well..." 'A look of guilt, a hand up to rub the back of the head to punctuate the impending request.'

"It's ok Nayla-chan, ask me." He smiled warmly at her.

"I-it's no big deal if you can't, really, I don't want you to get into any trouble...but...um..." 'Stutter sweetly, show concern for his well-being over yours, down-play the importance of the request, avoid his eye contact cutely.'

"It's fine go on." He leant his face closer to her eye level, making sure she could see the reassuring smile he wore for her.

"Your captain...he hit me pretty hard...my head kinda hurts...it hurts a lot. I was wondering if...maybe you could bring me some headache tablets? Please?-But if not then it's ok, really, I imagine he's pretty tight on control on all the medical stuff on here being the doctor too and all..." 'Using ' _your_ captain' instead of 'Law' to make him feel a sense of responsibility and guilt, play the abused small, helpless female victim, show understanding if he can't fulfil the request.'

"Nayla-chan, it's fine, I'll be back in a few minutes with them and your water, ok?"

"Are you sure? Please don't get in trouble over it Shachi." 'Eye contact, big watery eyes, a small pout, look cute and small.'

"I'm sure, leave it to me. Be right back." He beamed at her before running up the stairs and out of the door, pleased to be able to do something to ease her situation.

Nayla watched the top of the staircase for a minute after he left before turning from the bars and settling herself back down to sit on the cot and sighing heavily, hoping that for at least the time being, Shachi had forgotten he had walked in on her trying to escape.

She had only had to use the mildest of hints of her 'sweet and innocent' behaviour to have gotten such a strongly compliant response from Shachi. She had only been testing the waters and unfortunately, it had been easier than she had thought. They both knew Law would not want him to be fetching her headache tablets like a sweet, obedient puppy and there he was, doing it anyway because of her behaviour...her headache wasn't even that bad.

'I really don't want to have to manipulate these nice guys to get out of here,' she thought sadly, looking up at the staircase before glancing down at her traitorous chest miserably. 'But it looks like it's going to be my most viable option.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter reminded me of the saying; "if violence doesn't solve all your problems then you simply aren't using enough of it," a lot. Shame it was far too long for a chapter title.
> 
> I think 'hold' is more correct for the area pirate ships would keep prisoners in but the word has other meanings too so I'll stick to 'brig.'


	17. Sexual deviant

Law made his way back up to his quarters maintaining a neutral façade as he walked past crewmembers in the halls. They were upset with his actions, he could feel it, it was practically palpable in the air and it had been another reason he hadn't wanted to go about things this way. He could feel their urge to speak out, to ask why but no one would question him, they had complete faith in him. He was confident he could convince Nayla to travel with them willingly and when she was doing so and his crew could enjoy her company again, they would be thankful that he had taken her along despite his method.

He took no issue with hitting a woman in battle, but outside of it was a different matter. Earlier had been an unfortunate necessity that he had hadn't taken pleasure in. The Kuja were expecting her to be at their ship to board soon and there could be natives back spying in the trees on them at any moment. He didn't know what their response to him taking her against her will would have been but whether they would stand idly by or fight him; he didn't need to find out. He didn't need to deal with a downpour of Haki-infused arrows if it could be helped. The other factor had been that Straw Hat was awake, if he came back from the jungle and saw her, he wouldn't stand for her being taken against her will and lastly...Nayla was actively leaving the gulf; Law had been left with little other choice than to take her quickly before anyone noticed her absence or his actions. He wouldn't be letting a rare opportunity like this slip away.

Striking her in her cell, he certainly wouldn't do. He was actually a little surprised that she seemed to be expecting it of him, did he really come across as that kind of guy?...Well, it was understandable he supposed, considering she took his Nodachi to the back of her head not more than an hour ago.

Law started ascending the stairs, thankful he had mastered the skill of wearing a mask of indifference as he passed by more crewmembers. If Law weren't able to hold a face of neutrality, he wasn't sure what emotion he'd be displaying right now. Internally he was experiencing a variety of completely conflicting emotions.

One of his strongest, he decided, was rage at her _daring_ to do what she did to him yet at the same time he was reluctantly impressed that she'd had the nerve to do it. The look on her face...she had been prepared to accept whatever punishment she was going to get for it, she was willing to pay whatever the price was for spitting in his face, literally.

Strangely, on some level, he found the intensity of her hatred for him in that moment somewhat funny. Was that how much he got under her skin? There was some satisfaction and an odd but small amount of disappointment in that...definitely a strong sense of amusement and an indescribable urge to go do it again. He would try not to though, it would be difficult to get her be more compliant if he irked her too much. She had just made it _very_ obvious that she was willing to be stubborn and combative if someone pushed her too far, even if that someone was as infamous for their sadism and cruelty as he was.

And then there was that rush of lust he had felt for her. He had meant to punish her, tease her, embarrass her, reduce the pride of such an openly flirtatious, little would-be temptress to nothing by making her quiver like a virginal schoolgirl at his mere presence...he hadn't expected the intensity of the backlash of his own actions. She was no doubt, an attractive woman but it was not his intention to go down that route with her, nothing past mild teases and flirtations. As far as he was concerned, she was a business partner...albeit a currently unwilling one. Mixing business with pleasure was never wise, it always complicated things. There were plenty of attractive women out there; he'd be a fool to bed the one that would come with too many strings attached. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Try inadvertently scorning the one you'll be deliberately pushing closer to your most mortal and lethal enemy, that would work out brilliantly...He should probably seek some female company at the next island to quell any unwanted attractions...

Law came to an abrupt halt in his thoughts and in his motion on the staircase to the top floor when he saw Penguin who was on his way down.

"Ah, Captain...um...how-"

"She's fine."

"A-are you sure? Things got so quiet...I was just coming down to check on you two."

Law felt his mouth pull into sly smile as he climbed the rest of the way up past Penguin to the first floor landing. "Oh? How nice of you, were you worried about, me or her?"

Law turned to watch him; Penguin awkwardly shifted on the staircase under his captain's gaze, the answer to that was obvious. He didn't want to admit his concern for Nayla, if he did, then the follow up question would be what would he have done about it if he found his captain doing something to her that he didn't agree with and _that_ was a question, he really didn't want to answer...choosing his loyalty to his captain over a woman's well-being or having his limbs rearranged.

Chuckling and deciding to let his crewmate off the hook he motioned for him to follow. "Don't worry, she's still alive, Penguin."

Penguin turned to follow him as requested but wasn't looking much more reassured by his captain's definition of 'alive.' Law watched him gaze back down the stairwell, unease on his face. As if contemplating what state she might be in if she were this silent and if she still had her body parts where he had last seen them.

"Alive and well." Law amended, chuckling again as he turned to walk to his quarters. Penguin sighed in relief and followed after Law down the hallway, entering the quarters his captain dwelled in behind him.

"I'll need a hand going through this stuff." Law motioned to the large suitcase on his floor that had been propped against the wall by his door as he walked inside.

"You're going to go through her things Captain?" Penguin closed the door behind him, eyeing the suitcase that he had come to know as his arch-nemesis.

"At some point, Nayla-ya will be more cooperative and will need access to her belongings, her clothing for example. However, I want no surprises. I had Shachi confiscate the weapons she had on when we took her but-" Law looked at the floor next to her suitcase. "-you've seen her boots."

Following Law's gaze to the spot on the floor, Penguin observed the falsely harmless-looking footwear in understanding. "Yeah...no telling where else she has weapons stashed I guess, huh." Penguin took the handle of the suitcase and turned back to him. "Where do you want this Captain?"

"Set it on the sofa." Law removed his hat, tossing it onto his desk alongside Nayla's confiscated weapons and leant his Nodachi against its edge before returning to Penguin who was laying the hefty thing across the cushions of the sofa in his quarters.

Penguin set it down with a grunt, standing upright and laying his hands on his lower back with a sigh as his captain walked back over. Law leant down and unzipped the stretched, tortured black fabric of Nayla's suitcase, lifting the top up to rest against the back of his sofa.

Penguin gaped at the sheer amount of tightly packed clothing within it. "Wow..."

Law leant down to pick up the first item of clothing laying on top, one of the fur skirts Nayla had picked up on Amazon Lily. He patted the lining of the fabric before re-folding it and setting it on the surface of the coffee table behind them. "Check the lining of every piece of clothing, the soles of all her footwear, any item in here for hidden blades, weapons or anything suspicious."

"Aye aye Captain." Penguin dutifully began checking each item of clothing, folding and placing the inspected ones behind them on the surface of the coffee table as his captain had done.

It only took a few moments to realise she preferred dark clothing, shades of black and crimson dominated the suitcase by far. To Law's mild surprise, despite her outrageously short miniskirts, she did in fact own a few more conservative items, it would appear she just chose not to wear them.

"Whoa!" Law looked up at the sound of metal hitting the mountain of clothing with a dull thud and Penguin retracting his hands to his chest. Following his shocked gaze Law saw a black fabric gauntlet laying on top of the pile, the metal accentuates around the wrist protruding blades that glistened dangerously in the lighting of his room.

He raised a brow and lifted it to inspect it. It was exceptionally well made; he never imagined he'd find himself wondering where a woman bought her clothing from. He carefully retracted the blades of it and tossed it to the pile of Nayla's confiscated weaponry sitting on his desk. "Find the other one."

Penguin hesitantly did as he was told; reaching his hand cautiously between the folds of clothing that he had found the first one in to find its matching other half. They both heard a set of swift footsteps coming down the hallway outside of Law's quarters, followed shortly by a knock at the door.

"Enter." Law permitted, not looking up from his task.

"Captain-, oh hey Pen."

"Shachi! What happened?"

"Wha?" He followed their gazes to the red drops staining the front of his boiler suit. "Oh this, ah nothing, really." The blush, guilty scratch of the back of his neck and nervous side glance to his captain said otherwise in volumes to Law. He already had a pretty good idea of the nature of what had happened, he narrowed his eyes at Shachi in silent warning making the man gulp.

"Oh, I got it." Penguin stated after a moment of epiphany. "She socked you, didn't she?"

"What? No!"

"She took me be surprise too, who knew such a sweet girl could get so pissed, right? Grabbed me at some point, thought she was gonna slam my face into the bars." Penguin laughed nervously at that.

"She didn't really-"

"It's ok Shach, your secret's safe with me. I won't tell the guys you got your ass kicked by cute lil Nayla-chan." Penguin said teasingly, grinning in amusement at the look on his friend's face at his false promise to keep it quiet.

Before Shachi could defend himself, Penguin continued, waving a hand in dismissal of the idea. "Nah I'm just kidding Shach, coulda happened to the best of us. You were just unlucky, she woke up mad as hell, then _Captain_ goes down there-uh, no offence Captain-" He sent Law a quick, apologetic side glance. "-then you got the brunt of it afterwards didn't ya?" He concluded laughing.

"That's not what happened! I-"

"You shoulda given her a lil time to cool off." Penguin leaned in to his friend's face, looking more closely at the man's bloodied nostrils. "Damn, she got you good, looks like she throws a mean punch."

"I'm telling you! That's not what happened!"

"If it isn't, then tell me, just how _did_ that blood get on your boiler suit, Shachi?" Law interjected his subordinates' squabbling without looking up; still examining the ridiculously expensive-looking formal gown he had in his hands.

Deciding to just accept the ribbing of his crew about getting his ass kicked by a girl instead of his captain's wrath, Shachi decided to promptly move the conversation along to why he had visited...It'd probably _still_ incur his captain's wrath anyway he thought glumly. "U-um, well, anyway. I came to let you know, Captain that um, Nayla turned down dinner, she's only had water and a...couple of headache tablets." Law looked back up at him from tossing some more cleared clothing onto the coffee table behind him.

"And why did you give her those?" He was in no mood to spare precious medical supplies on a woman that had spat on him.

"She said she had a bad headache from the...you know, a-anyway, I didn't think you'd mind cause we've treated her and all before but I just, wanted to let you know." Shachi knew he should have asked first and Law knew that he knew that. He stared at him quietly, making Shachi squirm under the pressure. Law had already anticipated his crew being soft on her so this came as no real surprise to him. In fact, he was hoping that deliberately sending crewmates that she got on so well with would put her at ease and be beneficial in convincing her to be more cooperative.

"Don't give medical supplies to _prisoners_ without running it by me first. It doesn't happen again." Law turned back to his task, releasing Shachi from his displeased glare.

"Aye aye Captain." Shachi breathed out relieved, he'd actually gotten off pretty lightly on both counts. He glanced at the open suitcase Penguin had resumed pawing through tenderly, in fear of losing his fingers to this woman's unbelievably dangerous wardrobe.

"What are you guys looking for in Nayla-chan's suitcase?" He asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway.

"Sharp, pointy things." Penguin winced, holding up the offending item he had succeeded in finding, pinching the very edge of the black fabric with his index finger and thumb at arm's length, before tossing the matching gauntlet to Law's desk alongside its counterpart.

Shachi's brows raised at the heavy thunk it made as it contacted the wood, he opened his mouth to ask his friend about it but stopped short at the expression on Penguin's face. Before he could convert the question on the tip of his tongue to ask him what the matter was he saw it for himself.

Looking up at the sudden silence, Law caught sight of what Penguin was holding up, a deep blush on his face and Shachi trying desperately to fight back the start of another nosebleed. Law glanced at Penguin's side of the suitcase to find the man had just managed to uncover a treasure trove of silky, lacy and obscene undergarments.

Law snatched the item out of Penguin's hands, breaking his crewmates' mesmerisation and tossing the flimsy, ridiculously tiny, thing onto the pile on the coffee table behind them.

"Avoid that area of the case, I'll check it later. Get back to work."

"A-ah, right." Penguin resumed sifting through the items in the suitcase, patting down the denim of a pair of jeans.

Shachi stared at the ridiculously scant pair of panties laying invitingly atop the pile behind the two men on the table. "Um, here lemme help you guys, there's a lot to go through." Shachi grinned, entering the room and shutting the door behind him. Law rolled his eyes inwardly, it was obvious why he had a sudden interest but there really _was_ a lot to go through, he wouldn't argue with another set of hands as long as they behaved themselves.

The three sifted through the items quietly, removing a few more items of clothing that had shadily hidden blades within them here and there plus a few more dangerous sets of footwear. Law's desk was becoming a small arsenal of concealed weaponry.

Law had found a few items of interest that he hadn't expected to see. Aside from her more revealing clothing she actually had an extensive collection of rather...'cute' items too, some sweet and innocent looking things that he would never have imagined a woman like her owned. He pulled out a fluffy looking hoodie by its...tail? His attention was drawn away from examining the odd item back to Shachi when he spoke.

"Ah, found another one." Shachi carefully peeled back an item of folded clothing to see what the cold metal that his finger had touched belonged too. His face scrunched up in confusion before he reached in and pulled it out.

"W-whoa..."

"...Wow."

Law sighed at the deep blushes on his crewmates faces. He felt like he was going to be spending a lot of time confiscating from the confiscators as he grabbed the pair of handcuffs Shachi had dangling from his finger and tossed it to the growing metal pile on his desk.

"Don't forget her line of work. If she's handed in bounties then she has to have means of restraining them." Law said uninterestedly, placing the fluffy...thing, he was still holding in his other hand on the coffee table behind him and digging back into the suitcase for the next item to check, pushing aside the cases of cosmetics and toiletries for later.

"Ah...yeah you're right." Penguin said, eyeing the pair of handcuffs on Law's desk.

"Holy shit..."

"Another set of cuffs?" Penguin enquired, looking back to find Shachi pulling something else out from the spot he had just found them in, holding up the items for him to see.

...

"...I swear I've never wanted a bounty more in my entire life." Shachi muttered as he stared at what appeared to be a leather whip and a riding crop.

Penguin gaped at the items, looking to his captain for a less lewd, rational explanation for what his perverted mind must clearly be misreading...only to find Law looking at the items in surprise too.

"Damn...these aren't even toys, these are too well made..." Muttered Shachi, handing Penguin the whip he reached out for and thumbing the fine, black leather weave of the riding crop's handle, blushing profusely.

Law abruptly seized the items from the blushing men, tossing them in annoyance at the much larger pile than he had anticipated on his desk. He sent them a stern look telling them to keep on track but it wasn't long before Penguin inadvertently gasped.

Law sighed in annoyance, bracing himself for whatever else it was they had found, fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and trying to decide if Nayla was a bigger pervert than both of his crewmates combined or if she was just a sexual deviant.

Penguin delicately pulled up an item by a black, silken string, the expensive fabric shimmering invitingly as he held it up. 'Both,' Law decided as he looked at it.

Shachi stared at it, he couldn't make heads or tails of it, it looked like a one-piece undergarment of some kind but it was made entirely of ridiculously indecent looking strings...it didn't even matter what part went where, they all knew they were looking at some seriously, seriously scandalous underwear.

"Penguin." Penguin blinked at the item dangling from his fingers quietly. "Penguin!"

"Y-yes Captain." He dropped it back into the case, turning to look at his captain.

"Go take Nayla-ya something to eat. Insist she eat it, don't leave until she's finished."

"Aye aye Captain." Penguin shot one last longing look at the treasure he had unearthed before leaving the room to fulfil his orders.

"And Penguin." He stopped in the doorway to turn back to his captain. "You will use proper protocol." He warned sternly.

"A-aye aye Captain." Penguin replied glumly before shutting the door behind him.

Law watched him leave, rolling his eyes, he probably should have anticipated this. Perhaps someone else would be better suited to help him sift through this stuff. "Shachi..." Law glanced at Shachi to find the man trying to stem a substantial nosebleed. Law closed his eyes, silently wondering if some merciful deities would grant him the patience for this today before speaking again.

"You're dismissed. Go take care of _that_." Law gestured to the man's nose, hoping he wasn't getting any drops on his carpet.

"Maye maye Mamemph." Shachi left the room, tilting his head down, pinching his nose and shutting the door with him.

Law looked back at the mountain of things he still needed to go through. 'Maybe Bepo would be better suited for this...' He had a feeling he'd be needing Bepo _a lot_ during Nayla's stay. It was fortunate they had just acquired Jean Bart who was excellent at filling in for the bear's duties.

Running a hand through his hair Law's eyes glanced back to the corner of the suitcase Penguin had been working on, the colourful assortment of fine fabrics catching his eye. He could easily spot a variety of garter belts, thigh highs, panties, French knickers, thongs...every type of female underwear he could think of-he looked back at the sinful looking set of strings-and some he couldn't even name. An array of expensive looking lace, shiny silks, satin ribbons, fine meshes...leather? Wow...

Law sat on the arm of the sofa, leaning his back against the wall and closing his eyes tiredly, wondering if he might need to put on a pot of coffee for this before something caught his eye. Beside him against the wall, peeking out from one of the fabric pockets on the inside of the suitcases' lid was a small glimmer of something colourful.

Reaching a hand in curiously, his fingers felt along the distinct texture of wrapping paper before pulling the item out. It was a wrapped book, A5 in size...it had Penguin's name on the tag attached to it. Law leant over and reached into the fabric pocket again to find a similar item with Shachi's name on it instead.

Raising an eyebrow he reached into the pocket next to the one he had just emptied and pulled out a small wrapped box with Jean Bart's name on its tag and a distinctly furry feeling item that had been a small, fluffy bear toy with Bepo's name on its tag.

It would seem Nayla had bought his crew some souvenirs from Amazon Lily and had left them in a convenient to reach place in her suitcase...she was most likely going to give these to them before she left this afternoon he concluded.

She had befriended a large majority of his crew during her visits to them on Amazon Lily but had only bought a few of them gifts. The ones that had been involved in saving her life. In that case...Law knew the thought shouldn't have even crossed his mind, he didn't care but he was genuinely curious whether the other pockets contained anymore gifts...had she thought to buy him one too? He eyed the decidedly flat looking remaining pockets on the inner side of the case's lid. Unsure whether to feel hopeful, disappointed or relieved.

He leant over and gently patted across the remaining pockets, annoyed at the small spike of hope he had felt when he pulled out another book and found it wasn't a gift. It was simply a personal item of hers, a notebook with a pen slipped inside the metal rings of its binding. He set it on his lap and patted across the remaining pockets, now annoyed at the small sense of growing disappointment as his hand reached the last one.

There _was_ one last item in this one. He felt the smooth texture of the same wrapping paper as on the others too, the name on the gift tag attached to it in clear view as he slid this last item out of its pocket. This one was for him. Law was honestly unsure of how to feel about it. The woman he had assaulted and kidnapped this afternoon had been there to say goodbye to him and leave him a gift.

He rubbed a hand to his face and closed his eyes, not really wanting to process the unpleasant thoughts and feelings that had just overrun him. Not right now. He set the gift aside on top of the ones meant for his crew. He moved his hand to the notebook still on his lap to do the same when he felt a piece of folded paper contact his palm from between the firm front and back covers of it. A glance down told him it was an old newspaper page that had been folded and tucked in between the pages of her notebook.

Quite happy for an idle distraction from the unpleasant twist in his gut and to settle his curiosity, he slipped the piece of slightly aged paper out and unfolded it.

...

To think that all it would have taken was to have reached into this woman's suitcase, just once, to find this unhidden piece of paper two weeks ago to have saved himself so much hassle. The irony, the discovery and the captivating photo on the piece of paper in front of him...he smiled to himself, made himself comfortable and started reading.


	18. All according to protocol

Nayla realised she wouldn't be able to get out of her cell alone, not without using her abilities and she wanted to keep them to herself. If Law found about them now then it would be no good to her later if she needed to use them, perhaps during her second escape but hopefully, she'd be leaving the Heart Pirates behind without having to reveal them at all.

If she was going to stick to her original plan of finding an escape route from wherever she was being held then she would need outside help getting out of her cell. Law's crew were completely loyal, no matter how close she got to these men or how much manipulation she applied, they would never help her out of her cell willingly if their captain didn't want them to. That much was obvious. What she would need would be an unwilling victim, one with the keys. She had to give someone a reason to come to her cell with intention to open the door of it.

It really was just Penguin's bad luck that he had come down to re-offer her the dinner she had declined from Shachi earlier. She wasn't hungry but this time, she didn't decline, he'd be back soon with her meal...and the keys to open the cell door to give it to her. She'd pulled a bit of the 'sweet and innocent' on him, asked him for an extra blanket because she was cold, he'd been happy to oblige, unknowing who she really intended it for right now.

She bit her lip, she was really, _really_ unhappy with having to do this to poor Penguin. The gist of this plan was simple, one way or another she was going to jump him, the second he opened the door. She would lock him in here and have to gag and restrain him whilst she snooped around the sub.

When Shachi had returned with her headache tablets and drink earlier she'd asked if they had left her suitcase on Amazon Lily, dreading either having to find a way back to retrieve it or having to replace _everything_. He'd let her know it was on board, probably being held in the same place as the weapons that were currently missing from her attire. If she could find where that was during her snoop too, that would be great. She was guessing maybe a storage room, she was hoping not in a certain pirate captain's room.

Once she was satisfied she knew the fastest, least guarded way to get outside from this brig, she'd come back, let poor Penguin go and return to her cell willingly, under the pretence of 'Oh oopsy, we're submerged, silly me, got nowhere to run,' hoping no one would be the wiser as to why she had wandered around.

Law would up her security after this. She glanced at the empty guard chairs across the room, expecting them to be filled by the end of the day. She'd have to assess how to get out of the brig the second time when she saw what her new security would be like.

If everything went as she wanted it, by the time she returned to this cell she'd be well mapped out enough to be making a clean break as soon as this sub was near land or docked at the next island. No getting lost, no scrambling about trying to find her stuff, no running head first into rooms full of kind pirates that she really didn't want to have to get into combat with. She'd be all set for just a quick, quiet, efficient escape without needing to fight or reveal her abilities at all.

Nayla looked back up towards the door when she heard Penguin start descending the stairs. She smiled up at him, hoping she was masking her pity and guilt well as she got up and walked to the bars.

He smiled back at her, setting the small tray with a plate of food and a fresh glass of water down on the desk. There was a distinct sound of metal dragging across wood that told her he was holding the keys to her cell in the hand holding the tray. Penguin walked up to her, folding the blanket he'd brought draped over his arm flatly so that he could slip it to her through the bars.

"Thank you Penguin, I'm so sorry to trouble you...it's just that..." She glanced down at her outfit in silent completion of her sentence.

"No, no it's ok Nayla-chan, don't worry." He turned to fetch the tray he had set on the desk for her, the keys clinking from the ring they were on around his finger as he moved. Nayla placed her new blanket down on the bed on top of her pillow and turned back to watch Penguin, observing his hesitation as he put the tray back down and instead bent to one of the desk's drawers and pulled it open.

She couldn't see what he lifted out of it past his back but it sounded metallic. She raised her eyebrows in surprise when he approached her dangling a set of handcuffs looking somewhat guilty and very embarrassed.

"Penguin?"

"I'm...I'm sorry Nayla-chan, Captain's orders. I have to use protocol to give you food, like we would for any other prisoner..."

She already understood what was going to happen; it wasn't the first time she had found herself in a cell. He would restrain her before opening the door so that she couldn't attack him or bolt. It was a minor glitch that she had thought might occur, she had an idea prepared for it but was surprised she would actually have to use it.

Deciding to play dumb would be wise, she wanted to be underestimated. She didn't want anyone to think she may have experience in this kind of situation before and it would only add to her little 'act' she was about to pull.

"U-um...what do you need those for?"

"I...uh...I need to...restrain you before I open the door...I'm really sorry." He looked away guiltily, wringing his hands, blushing furiously thinking of the pair of these he had just seen coming out of her own suitcase upstairs.

"Oh...i-it's ok Penguin...really." She reached through the bars and placed a reassuring hand on his wrist, giving him a gentle squeeze and a reassuring smile. "I know you have to follow orders, do what you need to do, ok? I trust you." He looked down at the gesture and then back at her, seemingly a little more relaxed at her understanding and smiled.

"So...how do you need to put these on?" She ran her fingers over his wrist, down the back of his hand and down to softly grip one of the cuffs in his hand.

"I...uh...need you to stick both wrists through the bars."

"Oh ok, I see." She reached through the bars with her other hand, bringing her wrists together in front of them and squeezing her cleavage together, drawing his attention to it. "You want me like this?" She asked innocently with a slight head tilt.

He seemed a little flustered but before he could find his tongue she retracted her hands back through the bars. "Or..." She turned around, pressing her back to the bars and slipping her wrists out through them towards him. "...would you prefer me from behind, Penguin?" She peered at him from over her shoulder.

It took an incredible amount of self-restraint not to laugh at the look on his face at her wording. She had already learnt from her first conversation with these pirates that it took only mild insinuation or phrasing issues to get their minds into the gutter. Right now this explicit innuendo, her positioning and the fact he was about to handcuff her might have just made his mind short-circuit.

"Penguin?" He snapped his head up from staring intently at her wrists, the handcuffs in his hands in a death grip. "Do you want me from behind?" She allowed a sultry tone to slip in and lowered her eyelashes, eliciting an impressive blush on the poor man's face.

"U-uh...uh no, no um...from the front is-is fine but I n-need to ask you too um..." Nayla pulled her wrists back and turned around to face him, glancing down subtly at the horizontal bar running along the vertical bars below her knees. This had happened in one of the last cells she had been kept in too but it would be ok, this would work out fine for her as well.

"What do you need me to do, Penguin?" She asked, false innocence in her tone again now.

"I-I...need you to um..." He had no idea how to ask a woman to do this without it sounding...bad, just bad.

Nayla reached through the bars to him, replacing her hand on the back of his again, trailing her fingers across his skin soothingly. "It's ok Penguin, just tell me how you want me."

"I-need-you-to-kneel." He blurted out hurriedly, closing his eyes and griping the handcuffs tightly. She allowed the tense pause to drag out, stopping the motion of her fingers on his hand for effect, to feign shock at his words.

"Kneel?" She'd make him say it; make him hear how lewd it sounded out loud.

He opened his eyes, looking at the floor guiltily. "Y-yes...I need you on your...you need to be o-on your knees." He gulped heavily; there really was no way to say that to a woman without it sounding sordid. Having seen her volatile temper in full swing earlier, he was anticipating all hell to break loose from her any second now.

She pulled her hand back, purposely gliding her fingers across his skin once more and made eye contact with him. "Ok."

Nayla lowered herself slowly to the floor in front of him, never breaking the contact she had with his wide, shocked eyes. She gripped the bars between herself and his legs and knelt in front of him, keeping her posture straight and her head at a visually suggestive level to his own body.

"You want me like this Penguin?" She blinked up at him innocently, thighs slightly parted to allow the hem of her miniskirt to rise up them further than necessary.

He licked his suddenly dry seeming lips. "Y-yeah, I mean no!...No uh, I need...I need you a little lower s-so that your wrists go through the bars under that horizontal one."

She looked at the horizontal bar at his prompt, feigning new realisation. "Oh I see, if you handcuff my wrists below this, then it keeps me on my knees for you?" She could have phrased it as 'stops me from standing up' ... _could_ have.

Nayla looked back up at him, sensing he may have misplaced his tongue for the moment. She leant forwards, sliding her wrists back through the bars and bringing them together for him, squeezing her cleavage together again tightly. His eyes flitted from her gaze to her chest. She allowed him a generous 30 seconds to stand and gawk at her before speaking again. "Is this how you want me, Penguin?"

Her voice seemed to startle him back into motion. "Uh, yeah, yeah, perfect. T-thank you Nayla-chan, I'm sorry about this." He lowered himself to kneel in front of her, hiding his eyes in the shadows under the brim of his cap, a deep blush across his cheeks, reaching the tips of his ears.

Penguin placed the cuffs around her wrists, closing them gently, leaving far too generous a space between the metal and her skin. "It's ok Penguin, I won't break, you can do it harder."

He paused all movements and bit his lip. She was sure if it had been Shachi's misfortune to bring her her food he may have bled out through the nose by now. Penguin seemed slightly more resilient to her relentless double entendres.

Penguin shakily clamped the metal to her skin more firmly and got up hastily to turn back to the desk to get her food. He ran a hand over his face as he walked away, seemingly trying to collect himself before he had to approach her again.

She smiled inwardly, trying to keep her face neutral as he grabbed the keys and tray from the desk and turned around. She looked up at him with innocent eyes and squeezed breasts, watching him as he fumbled the key into the lock and pushed the door open. He placed the tray on the cot before hurriedly walking back out of the door and shutting it. Trying to avoid looking at her but unable to stop stealing side glances down her top from her position on the floor.

Penguin returned to stand in front of her through the bars and knelt down to un-cuff her wrists, after he unlocked one; she halted him once the key had turned in the second one by using her hands to grip his wrists, making him look up at her.

She ran her hands up his sleeves, keeping her gaze on them and licking her lips slowly. He tensed under her touch, his mind was already overly heated from having seen the questionable contents of her suitcase not long ago and this situation was starting to fry it.

"N-Nayla-chan?"

She leant forwards to the bars, pressing her chest against them as her hands reached his shoulders, his gaze slid back to her breasts against his will. "Yes, Penguin?" Her voice was breathy and low.

"W-what...what are you doing?" He barely whispered, tensing even further as her hands started to run down the front of his suit over his chest.

She bit her lip before looking up at him seductively with lidded eyes, running her hands back up his chest to his collar. "Wondering if you're wearing another top under this again today or not." She began unzipping the top of his boiler suit, slowly, down to his waist before he gripped her wrists.

He bit his own lip, blushing; his breathing had become more rapid. His captain had warned him about this, his brain was absolutely telling him to stop her. Sensing his indecision, she slid her wrists from his grasp and placed her hands on either side of his face, gently urging him closer to hers, resting her forehead against the bars between them.

He hesitantly followed, one kiss wouldn't hurt right? As long as she remained in her cell, nothing could go wrong, right? He gulped as she looked him in the eyes, bedroom eyes, running her fingers along his jawline and down the sides of his neck, tucking her fingers between the skin of his bare shoulders and his boiler suit, pushing the sleeves down his impressively toned and muscled arms, all the way to the end, releasing him from the top half of his boiler suit completely.

"Nayla-chan...I-" He should definitely stop, definitely before she reached below his waist, this had already gone way too far. Just as he was steeling his resolve he noticed she had stopped reaching for him and had pulled back, her gaze towards the floor but her eyes closed.

"Penguin I...I'm really sorry." His eyebrows rose into his cap, here he was cuffing her to the cold metal floor to feed her like an unmanageable animal and being too much of a horny pervert to stop her advances and she was the one apologising? She lowered her head, her face partially obscured by her hair.

"What on earth for Nayla-chan? I'm the one that should be sorry."

"I...I'm so sorry about earlier. I... yelled at you, a lot, I'm sorry, I know it wasn't your fault I was just..." He got alarmed at the small sniffle sound that escaped her. "I was just, upset and scared. I took it out on you unfairly, I'm really sorry, please don't be mad at me, please don't hate me?" She hated acting like an emotional basket case, flitting from horny to whiny like that but the deed was done, his sleeves were off, she needed to move this along.

"N-Nayla-chan! Don't be ridiculous I could neve-don't even think like that, don't worry about earlier, really! I didn't give it a second thought, it's understandable you'd be upset, anyone would!"

She looked up at him, having managed to summon a few tears up. He was even more alarmed to see her crying. "R-really?"

"Of course! Nayla-chan, don't cry, please. Really, I'm not mad at you at all."

She sniffled a little and let a few tears fall. "G-good...cause, I...I really like you Penguin, I know you'll always be loyal to your captain but...I hope that you'll still be as kind to me as you always have been. I feel so scared and so alone right now, you're all I have, please don't stop being my friend." Her tears were in full swing, she really felt awful about doing this. She reached through the bars again to grip onto his wrists, falsely seeking his comfort.

"Nayla-chan..." Penguin reached his arms through to her and around her back, pulling her close to him against the bars, hugging her as best as he could through them and running a hand up and down her back soothingly.

She reached through the bars to hug him back, taking care not to move the loose cuffs on her wrist enough to make a sound and bring his attention back to them. Whilst she allowed her 'crying' and sniffling to settle down she slipped the unlocked cuff off of her wrist behind his back, concealing any small noises she made with well timed sobs and sniffs.

She quietened down and took a few shuddering breaths, her face concealed by her hair, her forehead in contact with the bars between them. "Thank you, Penguin." She pulled back from him to make eye contact, allowing her arms to slide down his, following them back into the cell where they were still around her.

"It's ok, Nayla-chan." He smiled down at her.

She returned it sadly. "I really am sorry."

His look of mild confusion turned to shock as he felt and heard the distinct sound of metal around his wrist. By the time he looked down at it through the bars she had brought his second one to it and slapped on the other half of the cuffs.

He blinked in shock at his wrists before looking up at her, finding her slipping a long white piece of material out from within her cleavage. "Naymmmph-!" She stuffed it swiftly into his mouth from between the bars, deeply, to make sure he wouldn't manage to spit it out and call for help before she had a chance to get out of the cell and gag him with it properly.

Nayla reached for the set of keys he had set down on the floor between them and got up, quickly unlocking her cell door. She trotted out of it and over to Penguin, reaching down to pick up the loose end of what had been her pillow case, dangling from his mouth. She wrapped it firmly around the back of his head, bringing it back to his mouth and pulling out a piece to tie it into a tight gag instead. She looked at him unhappily as he yelled muffled words to her that she was wasn't able to understand, struggling against the handcuffs.

She went back inside the cell and picked up the neatly folded blanket and bare pillow from her bed. She was thankful he hadn't noticed the lack of pillowcase on it earlier before she had managed to set her new blanket down on top of it.

Nayla walked back to Penguin and crouched down next to him, setting the items on the floor and reaching her hands up to either side of his face, effectively halting his struggling and muffled yells.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you Penguin but I promise I'll be back soon and don't worry, I won't ever harm anyone on this crew." She reached up to her hair and rolled it into a loose bun before plucking the hat off of his head and placing it on her own, tucking her hair inside and out of view. She had to reluctantly admit that the fact she couldn't slip out of her cell from between her bars and had no choice but to use a crewmember may have worked in her benefit. It would be far easier to slink around the sub unnoticed if she were dressed in their uniform.

"Do you believe me?" He looked at her confused before she leant in closely to him. "Do you believe I won't harm anyone on board?" He furrowed his brows but nodded to indicate he believed her. He looked at her confused, trying to understand why she had said that to him but it soon turned to alarm when she reached down to his boot and tugged it firmly and swiftly off.

"Good, I'm going for a little walk. Hopefully I won't get caught...for both our sakes." She looked up at him with a pointedly raised brow as she tugged his second boot off, making him gulp.

"Knowing Law, he would have warned you about how I 'operate' as he phrased it." She frowned in distaste. "If he finds out how I got loose, you'll be in big, big trouble am I right?" He nodded reluctantly, eyes closed, dreading what his captain would do to him when he found about this.

She smiled at him. "Then I'll do my best. When I get back here, I'll release you and go back to my cell. I promise I won't tell anyone about this if you won't."

He looked at her with raised brows before seemingly falling into quiet contemplation over the proposition. She promptly broke whatever train of thought he was on by leaning over him and placing her hands on either side of his waist between his navy blue wife beater and his unzipped boiler suit.

He started to try speaking around the gag again. She couldn't make it out but it definitely had a distinct questioning tone to it, probably something along the lines of; 'what the hell are you doing?!' if she had to hazard a guess.

She began tugging the suit off, down his hips and thighs. He struggled against her but made no attempt to kick her, which she had thought he might do. She was planning on going into the desk drawers to look for another set of cuffs for his ankles if she needed too. He really was too soft on her, even now but it had been part of the reason she had made it clear she meant no harm to anyone during her 'walk.' She was sure he'd attempt to kick her with everything he had if he thought for a second she would harm any of his crewmates.

With some effort she pulled the suit off of him completely, leaving him in just his top, boxers and socks. Setting the boiler suit over her lap, Nayla picked up and placed the pillow behind him, flat on the floor before picking up the blanket and draping it around his shoulders, wrapping him in it.

"This room is really cold, sit on the pillow, it'll be too uncomfortable for you to sit on the metal floor in just boxers." He reluctantly complied and allowed her to wrap the blanket around him securely before standing up.

She took off her black jacket, letting it drop to the floor next to him carelessly and giving him a full view of the fur bikini top she had bought on Amazon Lily. He inwardly decided that there really was no hope for him if even in this situation, even after what she had just done to him, he still couldn't help but ogle her.

Nayla stepped into the boiler suit and zipped it up. It was too big for her, by far, but if anyone were to catch a glimpse of her walking around the sub from a distance, a flash of white boiler suit wandering around would be a lot less suspicious than a miniskirt clad woman. The arms and legs over hung on her by miles; she rolled up the sleeves to suit her.

She slipped on his boots, they would be damn difficult to walk in, they were probably double her size. Fortunately she was able to tuck in the excess length of the pants into each one; there was enough extra fabric to secure the boots somewhat.

Satisfied she looked back at Penguin who had sat quietly, watching her, leaning his side against the bars with a look of complete resignation on his face. "Well? How do I look?" She twirled for him in mild humour. He responded by groaning and shutting his eyes.

Nayla smiled as she knelt down in front of him, pulling the blanket around him more securely where it had shifted when he had moved to grudgingly get more comfortable, causing his eyes to open and look at her again. She ran her fingers through his hair affectionately, giving him an apologetic look before leaning in and giving him a kiss on his cheek.

He blinked at her, stunned as she stood up to leave and made her way to the stairs. She looked back at him as she began climbing them. "You know, Penguin, you really are very handsome, you shouldn't hide that face of yours under your hat so often." She smiled at his wide eyes and rising blush. "The penguin boxers are cute too." She said quietly to him before opening the door to the brig and stepping out into the hallway.

After he heard the door shut behind her, Penguin looked around the room half-heartedly, wondering if maybe he could be resourceful and find a way out of here...but did he really want to escape at this point? Run out into the hallway in his boxers and admit she'd gotten the better of him and have to explain how?

Ugh, what the captain was going to do to him when he found out, he'd even _specifically_ warned him she could pull this kind of behaviour...he was going to blame the suitcase for this, the contents of it had chipped his resilience away considerably he decided. That suitcase had been the bane of his existence since he saw it. If she did get back here before she was discovered, should he take her up on her offer to collude and keep this quiet together? Could he really keep this a secret from the captain? He was like a hawk, nothing escaped Law's notice...and his own guilt at keeping something from his captain would probably get to him eventually.

Penguin sighed around his gag, closing his eyes in frustration when he gave up on looking around the room for a way out of this, surrendering and deciding to wait for her return...thinking of the soft kiss she had just given him, an unwilling smile spread onto his face around the gag in his mouth-damn, the one that she had hidden by tucking it into her...his blush increased tenfold. He shuffled to sit more comfortably, trying to shake off that last thought.

He hated to admit it but she'd had him wrapped around her little finger since he got there...he couldn't help but find a little humour in all of this. He laughed a little to himself around his gag at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

"I'm glad you find this amusing, Penguin." His head snapped up to the top of the staircase in horror to find Law staring right back at him, looking very, very unhappy.


	19. Of Vikings and cavemen

Law strode through the hallway gritting his teeth trying to understand what on Earth that woman was thinking. Surely she had to know they had only recently departed form Amazon Lily, they were nowhere near land and they were submerged, where exactly did she intend to go?

Law had been on his way down to the brig to confront Nayla with his findings from her suitcase -not the erotic ones- expecting to see her down there eating dinner and happily chatting with Penguin. He had _not_ expected to find Penguin cocooned in a blanket, gagged and handcuffed to an empty cell.

He could feel the corner of his mouth wanting to pull into a grin. He shouldn't find this funny. Not at all. He should be furious. Angry at her for her behaviour earlier, angry at himself for not doing more to prevent this, angry for underestimating her, angry at her for making a fool of the Heart Pirates, angry at Penguin for his incompetence even after he _specifically_ warned him to use protocol and about her tendency to behave indecently for what she wanted -oh he had seen that lipstick mark on the man's face and he could connect the dots on how _this_ happened-...but seeing Penguin in that state and deducing that she must be running around in his boiler suit right now because of her discarded jacket on the floor, Penguin's missing cap and new blanket attire...He should definitely not be finding this funny, maybe later when this was over, but not right now.

He opened the last door of the floor the brig was on, looking inside before deciding to move on to check the next floor of his ship. Law allowed himself to think over what he had just read as he made his way back down the hallway the way he had come. The page that he had found had been enlightening. Of the two female mercenaries he'd been told were supposedly working within this area of the Grand Line, he had dismissed them both as possibly being the woman who was currently AWOL somewhere on his vessel.

One had boasted '20 years' experience,' in her field. It was worth the boast, not many people in professions like their own would live long enough to do so unless they were substantially skilled...but Nayla was clearly barely that age herself. Unless she had been a very violent and talented toddler, this woman wasn't her.

The other had been a 'one-eyed' woman with an _incredibly_ gory track record who worked under several ominous sounding epithets. Nayla had both her eyes and he simply couldn't imagine the small woman he had seen nervously climbing his gang plank a couple of weeks ago that he had offered a reassuring hand to as...a mass decapitator...if you believed the rumours surrounding this one-eyed woman anyway. He had simply dismissed this result too, believing it was more likely Nayla had done a good job of concealing herself than for her to be this one-eyed woman.

Law passed by the open brig door again as he walked towards the stairwell, giving it an annoyed side glance as if it had done something to aid this situation.

The newspaper page he had slipped from her notebook had been an impressive full-page article covering a war in a country that wasn't even a member of the World Government. It was a country torn to shreds by simultaneous invasion of its neighbours. The photo published for this article, had been a scene of horror that was unfortunately a bit reminiscent for him. Corpses strewn haphazardly across a battlefield, soldiers of opposing sides fighting, smoke billowing through the sky of a late sunset. The highlight of this article however had been the woman in this photo. Featured prominently in its centre, seemingly gliding through the gore with muted affect. She didn't have one-eye; she had a decorative eye patch on. There was a distinct, difference. There was no guarantee she actually only had one eye. Her face was further obscured by a simple, black bandana, concealing it from her nose to her chin. With only one quarter of her face visible and one eye that, despite the black and white print, was still obviously too light in shade to have been Nayla's shade of blue he was beginning to think it had simply been an article of interest she had kept for herself.

The long, dark hair fluttering in the breeze from the woman in this photo, he had conceded, wasn't uncommon, certainly not distinct enough to identify her. He had reluctantly set the page aside and continued his search of her things until he reached the bottom of her suitcase where a carefully wrapped and concealed set of armour had lain.

A quick glance back to the article he had set aside confirmed that this was in fact the armour the woman had been wearing in the photo. Black leather gauntlets, black leather thigh-high boots, both adorned with elaborate metallic skull and rose accentuates at their ends and what appeared to be a one piece outfit. It was reminiscent of an extended black leather corset, the inside layered with fine, protective, metal plating and a thick rim of black fur that looped around the back and over the shoulders. It had been a beautifully crafted piece, no doubt unique and was incredibly heavy but surprisingly flexible when he had lifted and inspected it.

Law's last slither of scepticism was smothered when he retook the article between his fingers and looked at the photo more closely, the smallest hint of a distinctly curved blade protruding from behind this woman as she held her hand behind her back. A glance at the weapons Shachi had confiscated from her on his desk confirmed the similar, if not identical, shape and size.

He had no doubt. The woman in the photo, despite her attempts to conceal her face and give the misconception she was missing an eye, was Nayla. He was sure of it...the only thing that refuted it yet raised his suspicion even higher simultaneously was the fact that any exposed skin on this woman; the flesh between the top of her boots and her armour, the flesh between the top of her gauntlets and the fur, the flesh of her upper chest, her neck, even part of the skin of the small area of her face that had been exposed, was distinctly tattooed with tribal-style lines.

This really would be fun. Between deciding how to interrogate Nayla about it, what he was going to do to her when he found her and what he was going to do to Penguin once this search was over Law couldn't help the sinister chuckle that came from him, alarming the crewmates he was approaching at the end of the hallway. It was never good when their captain had that kind of aura around him.

"Uh, Captain?"

"Something we can help you with, Captain?" They asked nervously, hoping that his current expression and chuckle were not directed at them.

"No, but do let me know if you see a petite looking Penguin pass by, would you?" Law walked past them, leaving them to their confusion as he took the staircase behind them to search the next floor. No, he wouldn't need any help from the crew for this one. This one he would handle personally.

Law could only assume Nayla was looking for a way out even though it was obvious they were currently submerged. She would have noticed his vessel has two decks and two doors. He had just finished checking the floor containing the lower deck's exit, the third, same as the brig and was on his way back up to the first floor to check for her around the main deck's exit.

He had just reached the second floor landing and was turning to ascend to the first floor when he caught a glimpse of someone hurriedly deciding to go back the other way down the hallway, someone with a very familiar looking cap on.

Law stood and watched as this person swiftly ducked into the closest door to get out of his line of vision. He smirked to himself as he languidly strode down the hall towards it and stopped outside. Taking a moment to increase the anxiety of 'Penguin' on the other side before opening it at his leisure. He flicked on the lights and stepped in a few paces, scanning the messdeck's empty tables and chairs quickly. Law couldn't see 'Penguin' in this room even though he had just watched him enter it...which left only one place he could be. Without warning and without turning around Law thrust his Nodachi behind him, slamming the door he had left open, shut.

Law peered over his shoulder at 'Penguin' who had been hiding behind the open door, halting him in his attempt to sneak out. His smirk widened when he took in the startled expression just visible under the brim of the cap and the rapid breathing clearly evident even in the largely oversized and ill-fitting boiler suit.

"My my, that shade of red lipstick really does suit you, 'Penguin.'" Law taunted fluidly.

Nayla licked her lips, not taking her eyes off of the tip of the sheath that had been slammed with considerable force against the door not more than an inch from her face. She was caught, there was no way around this and nowhere to run...it didn't mean she'd not be stubborn about it and not make this as difficult as possible for him though.

She gave Law a side glance as he chuckled, retracting his weapon and turning to face her. He started to approach her and she immediately opened the door to leave only to have him slam it shut again with his hand above her head, leaning over her as she turned back to face him, his menacing presence was nearly as chilling as the cold amusement in his eyes as he looked down at her from underneath the rim of Penguin's cap.

"Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way, Nayla-ya?" He said lowly, his voice dripping with dark playfulness; he was daring her to try something.

She looked up at him, back pressed to the door. The lighting on the ceiling above him and his height as he towered over casting shadows over his handsome features, only adding to his sinister aura and the memory of what he had last done to her at this proximity was still fresh in her mind. It was an odd feeling; to be both hoping he did and hoping he didn't touch her again and to be unsure of whether she were slightly frightened or unwillingly aroused.

In the end it wasn't important, she was going to be taken back to the brig no matter how this played out. They both knew it. But she damn well wasn't going to go willingly. She glanced up at his free hand above her head on the door behind her, the other was back to holding his Nodachi to his shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at his cocky expression as he analysed her, seemingly unworried with whatever it was she was going to say or do. As if he had already figured everything out.

'Let's see if you expect this you arrogant bastard,' she thought scowling. She feigned a strike at him, aiming for where it would hurt him the most. She was really hoping she would manage to get in a solid punch but she knew that would be dreaming, he'd block it. His eyes widened and he instinctively moved his free hand off of the door to protect himself, in surprise that she would have the balls to aim at his. The second he pulled his hand off the door she whipped around, opened it and shot into the hallway.

Law blinked, stunned for a moment before feeling his aggravation peak in record time. He frowned, pulled the door open the rest of the way and stomped down the hallway in the direction he had just seen her flee in.

A few of his crew had heard the rough door slams and had peered out from the rec room across the hall wondering what had caused the noise. They watched as 'Penguin,' remarkably over a foot shorter than the last time they had seen him, ran down the hall with an angry-looking captain close behind.

"Damn, what do you think he did?"

"Doesn't he look off to you?"

"Like how?"

"Man, Penguin looks like someone put him in the dryer with the setting too high."

They turned from each other to look back down the hall when they heard an indignant shriek followed by angry yelling. "Put me down! I can walk you know! For fuck sake, Law!" The crew watched as their captain walked back towards them down the hallway carrying a kicking and oddly high-pitched Penguin over his shoulder.

"Um...Captain?"

"Nayla-chan?!"

Law wrapped his free arm more tightly around the back of Nayla's thighs to halt her kicking as he walked past the open doorway of the rec room and past his gawking crewmates. In her struggling against Law's back, Penguin's hat slipped off of her head as they passed by. "Ah!" She quickly reached out and grabbed it before it could fall to the floor, her hair cascading out and around her face.

"Nayla-chan!" She looked up at the doorway as Law passed it.

"Oh...hey, Shachi." She waved sheepishly from her position slung over Law's shoulder as he walked them back towards the staircase. Shachi meekly waved back as he watched his captain start descending the stairs with her and out of their sight.

Having lost sight of Shachi as they descended, Nayla pouted sourly at her manhandling, clutching Penguin's hat securely in her hand as Law silently continued down the stairs. "Law, seriously! Put me down, this is _really_ freaking unnecessary!" He ignored her, continuing his way silently past some staring crewmembers as they reached the third floor and started walking back towards the brig.

"Are you deaf? Or just a caveman? Part Viking? Put me down, dammit! What have I told you about being handsy?!" She tried in vain to push herself somewhat upright with her elbows on his back but found it even more uncomfortable.

"Don't flatter yourself, Vikings only stole the most beautiful women away. Now be quiet and stop squirming, 'Penguin.'" She swore she could feel Law's smirk growing against the part of her hip that was resting over his shoulder and against the side of his face.

Nayla huffed and settled for glaring at the floor below her, watching the backs of Law's legs moving in and out of her view across the wooden floorboards, framed by her hair gliding back and forth with the motion of his long gait. She hated herself for taking a visual detour to his ass, she really did.

Law entered the brig and descended a few stairs before stopping. "Close the door."

"Are you serious?"

"My hands are full."

"Because you won't put me down! Close the door yourself, you-whoa!" Nayla nearly teetered straight off of his shoulder as he abruptly let go of the backs of her legs to turn and close the door. She gripped onto the back of his hoodie tightly to stop herself falling face first onto the steps beneath them.

"Better?" He asked blandly as he began descending the staircase again, resuming his secure grip on her.

"You really are a complete jackas-ow!...Did you...did you just spank me?!"

"We really need to work on that foul language of yours and your obedience issues, Nayla-ya." She could _hear_ his smirk. How he managed to make a facial expression audible was beyond her but she could hear it.

"No! We really need to work on _your_ handsy issues, Law! Get your hand off my a-...Penguin?!" She spotted Penguin still sitting on the floor, gagged and watching them as they descended lower into the dimly lit room. "You knew I was gone and you didn't think to check on Penguin?"

"Of course I did, I came here first."

"You LEFT Penguin like that?!"

" _You_ left Penguin like that, Nayla-ya." Law reached the bottom of the staircase and walked towards him. She propped herself up on Law's back, peering around his side to look at poor Penguin, still as she had last seen him, watching them from the floor of the brig with his eyebrows raised.

"Aww Penguin, I-ouch!" She glared at Law from her unceremonious landing on her ass on the floor in front of him as he tossed her from his shoulder.

"Fix this." Law gestured between her and Penguin with his index finger, turning around before she answered and walking towards the desk in the room. She glared at him as he looked back around at her, leaning against the edge of the desk, crossing his arms and crossing his legs at his ankles expectantly.

Nayla gave up trying to visually burn holes into Law and opted to shuffle over to Penguin on the floor next to her to help him instead, untying the gag for him first. Penguin sighed in relief as it came off and licked his lips. She winced in guilt as she watched him flex his jaw to relieve the discomfort.

"I'm so sorry, Penguin." She felt the urge to give him an apologetic hug and a kiss on the cheek but thought it would probably land him in even more trouble with his captain if she did.

He said nothing to her as she leant back and unzipped the boiler suit she had on, reaching a hand into its inner breast pocket, pushing her fingers past the wallet he kept there and removing the keys for the handcuffs and her cell from it. She leant down and unlocked his handcuffs for him. He pulled his arms back through the bars, flexing his numbing fingers and rolling his aching shoulders under his blanket as he sat upright.

"Did you manage to find your way to an exit from here, Nayla-ya?" Law said smugly, having figured out why she would have left her cell.

"Yes, I did actually." She retorted snidely, not allowing him the ego stroke of seeming surprised or impressed he had deduced her reason for going for a wander. She had figured out she was being kept on the third floor when she had climbed one staircase and found herself on the same level as the rec room she had been shown to the last time she was here. She already knew the floor above that was the first one where the infirmary was and above that was where the exit to the main deck was. He had caught her looking through rooms for her belongings; she hadn't managed to find those yet.

She stood and slipped off the boots with ease, peeling off the unzipped boiler suit and stepping out of it, wondering what to do about retrieving her items when she broke out of here. She really didn't want to have to do a full sub search last minute, she was more of a fan of careful pre-planning.

She offered the boiler suit back to Penguin as she leant down and picked up her discarded jacket she had left on the floor and slipped it back on. Penguin took it from her silently and stood, tossing the blanket aside and stepping back into his clothing noticing the scent of Nayla's perfume on the fabric as he zipped it back up.

Law watched their interaction carefully. Penguin didn't seem to trust himself to speak right now and Nayla seemed genuinely remorseful about what she had done to him. Law couldn't help but wonder _exactly_ what had happened between these two for Penguin to have ended up the way he did.

"Get back in your cell."

Nayla took her guilty gaze from watching Penguin pull his boots back on to look at Law. It was actually the first time she had taken a clear look at him without his hat on. His hair was longer than she had imagined it would be and instead of the flattened hat-hair she expected under there he had a wild, bed-head of shiny, thick, black hair. Ironic for a man that looked like he barely slept at all. She had to mute the part of her brain that was unhelpfully expressing how hot he looked without his hat and wondering very, very loudly what it would feel like to run her fingers through it during indecent activities so that she could concentrate on what the man had actually said.

She knew what his command was about. He was currently testing her 'obedience' as he had put it, pushing her buttons by making her enter and lock herself in her own cell, daring her to defy him once more. She grit her teeth but did as she was told. There was no point getting into a brawl about it when she had nowhere to run to. She re-entered the cell and shut the door behind her, turning to hand the now fully-dressed Penguin the keys in her hand.

Law didn't miss the apologetic, gentle squeeze she had given his hand nor the lingering touch of her fingers on his palm as she pulled hers away.

"Penguin." Penguin stopped looking at the keys in his palm to look back at his captain. "We have some matters to discuss." He said ominously, heading towards the stairs and indicating with a curled index finger that he should follow.

Penguin gulped and followed with his head down, dreading whatever scolding or punishment he'd be getting for this. He reached the staircase where his captain was waiting for him and started to climb when Law inclined his head to indicate he go ahead of him.

Law looked back at Nayla, standing 'innocently' at the bars with her hands clasped behind her back. He walked back to her cell and stood in front of her, causing her to look up at him in question. He closely observed the rapid blinks, big, wide eyes, slight raise of her eyebrows and the slight incline of her head to the side. Recording all the fallacies to memory for future reference. There wasn't a damn thing innocent about this woman, no matter how much she tried to appear it.

He smirked at her, holding his hand out in front of the bars. "Give them to me."

She tutted and huffed, the innocent look wiped off of her face instantly as she grudgingly pulled a hand out from behind her back to slap the pair of handcuffs she had removed from Penguin into Law's palm. She had hoped they might come in handy for her final escape and that maybe, just maybe Law would have forgotten about them or bought her act. She knew better, but it was worth a try.

She watched Law's tattooed fingers close around the metal as he gripped them before returning to the desk, slinging them back into its still open drawer and shutting it. He walked back to the staircase, glancing her way with a sly, knowing smile. "I believe one set is already enough."

Law watched as her expression of confusion quickly turned into one of realisation and then anger. "You went through my things?!" She asked angrily, gripping the bars and glaring at him. He chuckled as he climbed the stairs. "That's an invasion of my privacy! You pervert!"

"No Nayla-ya, having gone through your suitcase, you and I both know that _I'm_ not the pervert here." He said lowly as he walked out of sight.

She blinked after him as the door to the brig shut before letting out a frustrated growl. She turned around, leaning her back on the bars and crossing her arms, glaring at the tray of food Penguin had set down on the cot for her earlier. 'Well, at least I know my stuff is in his room, wherever the hell that is. I'll just need to search for the most conceited, arrogant, and annoying looking place on the sub on my way out.' She thought in irritation.

Out of everything that had happened today, from starting her morning on the fabled island of woman, to being kidnapped by a pirate, to duping a poor guy down to his boxers, she decided that the weirdest part of her whole day had to be her current expression. She couldn't understand why, in the gravity of her current situation, she wasn't able to stop the small smile of amusement that was spreading across her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a common myth that the old-school pirates; Vikings, used to steal beautiful women away during their raids and invasions. 
> 
> Apparently the dining area on ships/subs is called a 'mess' or a 'messdeck,' don't like the sound of either but I'll stick to 'messdeck' because 'mess' has other meanings I guess.


	20. Verbal violation

It hadn't been more than ten minutes after Law had left before Nayla heard heavy footsteps in the hallway above her. It seemed he had wasted no time in upping her security; this would be her new guard she assumed. She was interested in who Law would send to keep an eye on her.

She slowed the chewing of the mouthful of her now-cold dinner and looked up from her cot towards the staircase expectantly, noticing that this was actually the first time she had managed to hear someone approach the brig. It was also the first time she had heard anyone open the door with enough force to actually notice it. It was an eerily silent door, if anyone had fixed a squeaky hinge on it, they over did it, you'd probably want your brig door to make a hell of a lot more noise.

The racket soon made sense as she saw Jean Bart climb down the stairs, his face as stoic as ever as he looked at her. He silently walked across to the desk opposite her cell and took a seat on one of the chairs, it groaned in well justified protest as it burdened the large man's weight.

Nayla looked up from it to Jean Bart as he crossed his arms and stared at her. She raised a brow at him as she slowly finished and swallowed her mouthful. "Hi, Jean." He blinked at her silently.

"...Ooookay...how have you been? Didn't see you too often on Amazon Lily, fitting in with the crew alright?" He stared back at her in sustained silence.

"Hmm." She looked at him thoughtfully whilst she took a sip of the water Penguin had left alongside her plate on the tray. 'Tough nut to crack, he was a wise choice,' she admitted to herself. She had half-expected Bepo to be the one to appear here to watch her. Bepo would be immune to her sexual advances but he was definitely a big softy, she could have still worked with that but this...this might be a challenge.

"Hey, Jean, why are you ignoring me?"

...

"Did Law tell you not to speak to me?"

...

"Are you mad at me for what I did to Penguin?"

...

"I like puppies you know."

...

"Kittens too."

...

"Your hair is cool, anyone ever tell you that?"

...

"Where did you get your tattoos done?"

...

"Where did you buy those clothes? I thought _I_ had a difficult time finding clothing that fit properly, must be a nightmare for you, huh."

...

"Shirt looks good on you though, you're owning that dark blue colour. Sets off the colour of your brow tats nicely...good contrast."

...

"By the way, I should probably ask for a new pillowcase." She glanced at the discarded one on the floor outside her cell.

...

"Last one kinda got soaked in Penguin-drool."

...

"Don't get me wrong, love Penguin and all but don't particularly wanna sleep on that."

...

"I still have make-up on, I'm guessing you guys won't bring down make-up remover for your prisoners so unless you want it all over the pillow in here I'd highly recommend a new pillowcase."

...

"Seriously, you ever try to get waterproof mascara out of _anything_? It's a bitch, believe me, Law won't be happy. He'd be much less annoyed if you just asked him for a new pillo-"

"Are you just going to keep on talking?" He finally asked exasperated. It was extremely difficult for her to suppress the smile that was threatening to spread across her face.

"Yes."

"Don't."

"But I'm boooooored."

"That's not my problem, be quiet and behave yourself."

She pouted at him, dangling her legs over the edge of her cot and leaning back against the wall with her tray and unfinished dinner on her lap.

"I finally have company and I can't even speak to you? Pfft...What about if we speak about something you're interested in?"

...

"I hear you're good at manoeuvring the sub, have you ever been on one before?"

...

"If you spend a lot of time in the cockpit then I'm guessing you're pretty up to speed on navigational stuff too."

...

"So, what's next for the Heart Pirates? New World?"

"I'm not going to tell you where we're going or when we'll get there." The look he gave her was a knowing one. One that said he was aware she was trying to decide when to escape. She wondered if Law passed on to him that she knew how to get out of the sub from here now.

She refrained from showing annoyance and played innocent. "Whoa whoa, that wasn't what I was gonna ask about, was just trying to make idle chit-chat."

...

"Um...so...the sub is pretty cool, huh? It's my first time being on one, the ship-sub fusion thing is really smart, did Law come up with that?"

...

"Hate to admit it but that smart ass is a bit of a smart ass...I wouldn't be surprised if it were his idea."

...

"I'm guessing they must have given you a rundown of how things work on it, I have no clue how subs work though. Like how do they submerge and surface? Where does the power come from? How is oxygen handled? I'm totally clueless on all that stuff but it seems pretty interesting."

...

"Always thought it was kinda scary though, being so deep underwater, if something ever went wrong."

...

"I bet they have to teach all new crewmembers how to handle that though, they must have taught you by now too right? Do they do emergency drills and stuff?"

"Pretending to be interested in how subs work won't make me tell you how to escape a submerged one or where our escape equipment is."

Nayla narrowed her eyes and scowled at him, deciding not to bother trying to pry anymore information from the man. She turned back to her dinner, stabbing at a piece with her fork with more force than necessary. "God dammit."

"Now that you know that's not going to work, be quiet."

"Fine, but can I make a request?" She asked around her new mouthful of food. He didn't respond. "Please?" She added, to which he reluctantly nodded.

She set her tray down onto the cot beside her and hopped off of it to walk to the bars. Jean Bart looked at her warily as she knelt down on the floor and reached her arm through the bars. "Do you think you could kick this over for me? I managed to grab the pillow back but can't reach this. It really is cold in here...and my arms are too short." She muttered the last part, looking longingly at the blanket that had been wrapped around Penguin on the floor.

Jean Bart sighed and got up, stooping over to lift the blanket from the floor and handed it to her through the bars.

Nayla got up and took it from him, smiling gratefully. "Thanks." She settled back down on the cot, wrapped the blanket around herself and resumed eating her cold dinner quietly, to reward him for his kindness. She had to admit, even cold, this lasagne wasn't bad at all. It wasn't in Sanji's realm, that guy's stuff was just phenomenal but this was damn good too.

As she was finishing the last of her meal and trying to remember if she had already met the crew's chef or not on Amazon Lily, she thought of something. It must be evening by now; it was hard to tell what with the brief loss of consciousness, lack of portholes and clocks in the brig and the state of submersion she had seen through the portholes upstairs during her 'walk.'

"Hey Jean, who is going to watch me overnight, is it you?" He nodded quietly to her in response. She was somewhat grateful she wasn't going to have a pervy crewmember watch her sleep. Although it must only be early evening by now it had been a long day, she was starting to feel tired from all the adrenaline rushes she'd had.

She tucked the tray with its empty plate and glass underneath her cot and lay down, pulling the blanket over her as she looked at Jean. "Sorry about keeping you awake Jean, I promise I won't cause any trouble whilst you're here." She said apologetically, yawning as she looked at him across the room. Nayla shut her eyes expecting no response from the man.

"Its fine, I was due for night duty anyway." He grumbled quietly. She smiled as she curled the blanket up near her face, assuming it was the man's way of saying goodnight. "Goodnight Jean."

* * *

"Nayla-ya."

'It's illegal.'

"Nayla-ya."

'Absolutely illegal. It's verbal violation.'

"Nayla-ya."

'What his voice does to my ears and the way it touches my name as he says it is nothing short of unwanted molestation.'

"Nayla-ya!"

"What?!" She snapped grumpily and pulled the blankets down from around her face to glare at him through the bars. 'If it isn't illegal, then it damn well should be,' she thought, glaring at him harder when he didn't respond.

"Dammit Law, what is it?" She pushed; annoyed at her disturbed rest and how indecently pleasing his voice was to listen to. 'God damn audio abuse is what it is.'

Nayla reluctantly sat up, realising she must have been extremely tired to have sunk into a deep enough sleep to not hear him come in or hear Jean Bart getting up to leave apparently, as she glanced behind Law at the large man making his way to the staircase.

Law looked at her quietly, as if assessing her before glancing at her pillow. She followed his gaze to the smudges and smears of red lipstick and eye make-up. "I did warn him." She said defensively. "I did ask for make-up remover or a new pillowcase, right Jean?" She yelled to the man behind Law who spared her a glance as he ascended the staircase out of sight but said nothing.

"Pfft." She pouted at Jean Bart's silent retreat. "Friendly crew ya got here, Law."

He smirked, turning back to her from watching Jean Bart leave the room. "I do have more 'friendly' crewmembers I could send to watch you but we saw how that turned out." She grimaced guiltily, wondering what punishment she had caused to befall poor Penguin.

She stole a glance at Law from her guilty fidgeting. His hat was still off; he hadn't brought his weapon with him and he was stood outside her cell with his hands in his pockets. He looked more tired than the last time she had seen him, making her wonder what time of night it was.

Nayla refused to acknowledge the small pang of sympathy she felt for him as she looked at the bags under his eyes. 'Absolutely not going to feel sorry for a man that kidnapped me and sexually harassed me today-twice!' She crossed her arms at the thought, waiting for him to speak again. Whatever long and tiring day he may have had, she was having it worse.

Law was quietly contemplating what to do with her. He wasn't entirely comfortable with how easily she had gotten away with her earlier behaviour. Had she been any other prisoner that had escaped their cell, they'd have lost their legs, with or without the use of his Ope Ope no Mi or at _least_ have been shackled to the wall by now. However, neither would be a wise move if he wanted her cooperation...he decided his leniency had absolutely nothing to do with how nicely she had treated Penguin despite what she did to him or how she hadn't caused anyone any harm and definitely had nothing to do with the gifts in her suitcase.

At this rate, Law was going to have to keep sending crewmembers down to watch her. He would definitely need to utilise Bepo at some point but he couldn't just keep assigning this duty between Jean Bart and Bepo for however long she decided to be stubborn. He'd need to resolve this issue before he had no choice but to send a more...susceptible, crewmember down here. He had no doubt that what happened to Penguin would not be enough of a deterrent to the remainder of his men to exercise the level of caution they, apparently, needed around her. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them had a soft spot for the fairer sex at the best of times and considering they had all just spent two weeks subjected to limited interaction with scantily clad women on Amazon Lily; their determination to resist female temptation was probably at an all time low right now.

After a brief, quiet exchange with Jean Bart it was obvious she'd had more sense than to try feminine charm on the older, wiser man but she was apparently still attempting to get what she could from him. Law was thankful the man was sharp and untalktative enough to not have spared her any useful information.

"I hear you have a sudden interest in navigation and the inner workings of submarines, Nayla-ya." Even despite his apparent tiredness, the amusement in his eyes was still obvious.

"...Tattletale." She muttered, cursing Jean Bart under her breath and looking away.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you'd stop attempting to manipulate my crew."

"I would greatly appreciate it if you'd stop holding me prisoner and let me go."

"It all goes away as soon as you simply agree to my proposition."

"It all goes away as soon as you simply agree to bite my ass."

The tiredness seemed to melt from his face entirely as a devilish grin spread across it instead. "Don't tempt me." The low tone he had said it in and the dark smirk that had taken to his lips as he looked at her had her pressing her back to the wall behind her in an unconscious, wary effort to keep all of him in her sight.

"You realise that Luffy and the Kuja will notice I'm gone right?"

He chuckled at her body language and defensive tone of voice. "Yes, I'm sure Straw Hat-ya knows by now. It was very kind of you to leave that letter behind for him so conveniently placed on top of your suitcase. The words were very heartfelt, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Her wariness was soon replaced with anger. "You _read_ it?!"

"Why would I leave it behind for him without doing so first?" He honestly wouldn't have put it past her to have hastily written in 'PS: If anything happens to me, that jerk Trafalgar Law is responsible for it,' at the bottom of it. Ignoring her annoyed huff he continued. "The Kuja will just assume you left with me when they notice my sub gone."

"They could talk to Luffy though. Luffy would find out I hadn't left with them."

"You mean when the Kuja return from their round trip of information exchange? That they'll care enough about you to bother seeking out and discussing you with Straw Hat-ya? That Straw Hat-ya is even still going to be there by the time they arrive back?" He looked at her sceptically. "Highly doubtful. Face it, no one knows your here and no one is coming for you. You'll have to deal with this on your own."

"I never said I needed to be rescued!" She snapped annoyed, earning a small chuckle from him as he enjoyed the flare in her temper that he had earned. "How long do you plan on keeping me here?"

"However long you plan on being stubborn." He replied easily.

She unfolded her arms and stared at him at a loss for words for a split second. "Me?! I'm the stubborn one?! You can't take 'no' for an answer to the extent you _kidnap_ someone and _I'm_ the stubborn one?" His grin only widened, irritating her more.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, realising he was only going to keep annoying her on purpose until she calmed down. Nayla allowed the silence between them to settle her down a little before opening her eyes and speaking. "Anyway, Law, I know you have my suitcase. Is there any chance I could get some stuff from it?" She didn't want to bring the subject of her suitcase up because she was worried about what else he may have found in it. There was a chance he hadn't been through her notebook...but she had a feeling it was probably what he had really come down here to discuss with her anyway.

"Like?" It had taken some time and some input from Bepo but he had sifted through the remainder of her things, he could offer her some belongings. Amicable behaviour on his part would be in his benefit now to make her more agreeable, depending on what she asked for.

"Make-up remover? A toothbrush? A fresh set of clothing?...What am I supposed to do about hygiene in here? And I am _not_ going to the bathroom in front of guards. Any chance someone can escort me up to use a bathroom? A shower?"

He laughed at her. "You really expect me to spare even more time and effort my crew could be using on their duties to _escort_ you upstairs to allow you to use our bathroom facilities?" Aside from the absurdity of it, he had no doubt he'd have a repeat of what was quickly becoming known amongst his crew as: 'the Penguin incident.'

She frowned at him as he laughed again before continuing. "You didn't start with guards, you should have thought about your bathroom needs before you broke out of your cell. As for washing, there's a sink Nayla-ya, feel free." He waved a hand at it dismissively.

"Soooo lemme get this straight...You'd rather I pulled my panties down in front of your men to go to the bathroom and rather I stripped down naked in front of them to bird-bath at the sink in here?" A mischievous smile pulled at her lips as she looked at it. If that was what he really wanted her to do then he'd only have himself to blame when he ended up with another crewmember cuffed to her cell and deprived of their clothing.

As if able to hear what she was thinking he cut it off abruptly. "If you want to do either then you'll have to let the guard on duty know. I'll make it a firm order that no one but Bepo is to be in this room with you when you do so."

She pouted and lay back down on the cot with a frustrated groan as that idea fell to pieces before it was fully fledged. "Laaaaaw!"

He smiled slyly at her frustration. "You know what I want from you, Nayla-ya. Just make this easier on both of us."

She opened her eyes and looked at the metal ceiling of the dimly lit brig, biting the inside of her cheek. "...Look, cant I just agree to work for you and be on my way? There's no need for me to travel with you, I can just contact you with whatever information I find out."

"And why should I trust you'll ever do so? Why should I take the risk of intercepted messages heading to me and my crew?"

"You can't seriously expect me to stay here for months to years"

"Why not? You seem to be wandering around aimlessly from job to job anyway."

"I don't even know you guys that well..."

"So, change that."

She turned her head back to look at him, neither expecting that response nor the sincerity in the tone of his voice as he said it. He had leant his shoulder against the bars, his hands still in his pockets, his face was neutral, betraying nothing but he was giving her steady and open eye contact.

Trying to read him was difficult. Trying to figure out what he was thinking behind those grey orbs was even harder. It was easier to turn away from him and try to figure him out logically than to try to interpret his body language and expressions. She furrowed her brows in thought as she sat back up and looked at her lap. What she knew about him was that he was a calm and collected man. A thoughtful one. He didn't do things that he didn't feel were necessary and wouldn't pursue difficult routes if there were an easier one to take...pursuing her was not an easy route. The time and effort he put into trying to get her to aid him, he wouldn't have done it if he didn't think it were necessary and he wouldn't have done it if he had some other, easier way to meet the same means.

She looked back up at him to speak after mulling it over in her mind. "This goal you want to achieve...is it that important to you?" He merely nodded in response.

'Why should I care if it is important to him? I barely know the man...but he saved my life when he knew me even less than I know him now...It's dangerous, that much is obvious, why should I risk my own safety to help him _especially_ after what he did to me today?'

"Important enough to you that you'd hit me from behind and take me against my will?" She asked, somewhat angrily.

"For this goal, I'll do what it takes." He locked eyes with her, the sincerity in his tone and in his gaze, absolute.

She hadn't expected the intensity of the words that he spoke or how he had spoken them. The furthest reaches of her mind acknowledged in shock that what he had just said would carry over to giving his own life to achieve his aim. "...Surely you can do it without my input."

"I can. But this won't be easy. I will need _every_ advantage I can possibly have. Every piece of information, every open connection, everything and anything that can be of use to accomplishing this. Except my crew."

Nayla allowed the gravity of what he said to sink in. He was willing to pursue this behind their backs, alone, rather than involve them. He didn't want to put them in danger but didn't mind risking her life along with his own. Made sense she supposed, she wasn't exactly close to him, nowhere near as dear to him as they were.

"If you're so worried about your crew's well-being, why not drop this goal altogether?"

"I can't do that."

"The person you're targeting...is this just some petty revenge?"

"No."

Nayla fell back into quiet contemplation, wondering why she was even considering it to begin with. She really shouldn't give a damn at all.

Law watched her as she fell into thought, allowing her the silence and the time to reach some sort of conclusion. Wondering if the little woman under that over sized blanket was really the same supposedly powerful one his adversary was currently seeking. Was this goofy, little, boiler suit-stealing woman that he had slung over his shoulder really the same fearsome woman he had read about in his own quarters? He had actually come here to ask her about that rather than re-discuss her involvement in his plans but he had welcomed the opportunity to give her more time to consider it.

"Ya know...I don't like the sea. I don't like the salty smell of it, or what it does to my hair, I don't have much interest in fish or sea creatures, I hate seafood, I don't like travelling on ships, I don't like being out in the middle of a vast, dangerous ocean as nothing more than an insignificant speck, I don't like pirating and I don't like the Grand Line. This was my first job here and I can't wait to get back to long stretches of dry land."

It was as if she were simply thinking out loud to him, it was a good sign, she was obviously thinking of what life would be like out here with him. Her thoughts were open for the moment; he considered it a good opportunity to divert them to where he wanted them for now.

"I'm surprised you took a job this far out to sea, the Grand Line no less. It's completely different to where you've usually chosen to work."

"Yeah, I-..." She quietened herself, piecing together what he was trying to get from her from this tangent in their conversation. She narrowed her eyes at him as a small smirk started to spread on his features.

"It's not mine."

"What isn't?"

She narrowed her eyes even more at his false innocence. "What you found in my suitcase."

"I found a lot of 'interesting' items in your suitcase, Nayla-ya. You'll need to be more specific." His grin widened at the look of annoyance on her face.

"I _meant_ in my notebook. It's not mine." She grit out.

Deciding to try to keep to his internal promise of not irking her too much, he dropped the act of innocence and indulged her. They both knew they were talking about the newspaper page he had found. "The woman in the photo looks an awful lot like you."

"Well it isn't."

"Apparently she's quite the reputable mercenary outside of World Government borders. Involved in quite a few wars on land but she doesn't seem to be much of a seafarer, not much news about her this far out."

"Is that right..." It'd seem he'd bothered running the name on the article through some information sources, she clenched her jaw in annoyance already knowing she had lost this back and forth before the conversation had even ended.

"She really does bare a resemblance to you, very similar hair and build."

"Plenty of short women with long, dark hair and I still have both my eyes." She didn't dare bring up the lack of tattoos she had in comparison to the woman in the photo, wouldn't be wise to open that topic of conversation, again.

"True, then I suppose you just so happen to own the exact set of armour as the woman in the photo?" He answered smugly, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

She hadn't remembered that, it had been a while since she had dug that deeply into her own suitcase; it wasn't as if she pranced around in war armour frequently. "...Maybe. I could have bought a set from the same craftsman. Or just bought the set from her. Maybe I know her but she isn't me?"

He raised a brow at her, her feeble attempt to convince him he was wrong hung in the silence in the air before he chuckled. "Did you really think that would convince me or were you just thinking it was a worth a shot?"

"Worth a shot." She quietly conceeded.

"That's an interesting epithet they gave you."

"It's really not."She mumbled again as she fidgeted with the edges of her blanket.

He enjoyed her unease. "Oh, I think it is."

"I never liked it. Thought it was so cliché and lame...and frankly insulting." She said in distaste. "They came up with way nicer ones, shame the sucky one stuck and that we can't pick our own, huh?"

"I think it has a nice ring to it, 'Bloody Bête Noire-ya.'"

"...I don't even like French." She sighed.

"It's fitting, literally a 'bloody black beast?' I take it they named you after the colour of your armour."

"More like it's meant as someone who is hated and avoided." She mumbled sourly.

"I suppose if I asked you why you bothered to keep your identity to yourself, you'd tell me it was none of my business."

"Yep." She fidgeted to herself under Law's gaze, awaiting further prying questions. When none came she finally looked back at him, agitated by the intense stare she could feel and sighed again. "Anything else I can do for you, Law?"

"No."

"Then why are you still here?"

"It's my ship, I can be where I please." It really was difficult not to irritate her on purpose he decided as he watched her trying to reign in the small spike in her temperament again.

"I was sleeping ya know." She ground out. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's early morning. Jean Bart is summoning your new guard down, I'll take my leave when he arrives."

"Hmm, lemme guess, Bepo?"

"Better." He smirked knowingly.

She eyed him suspiciously and was about to ask who it was when she heard the start of descending footsteps and decided to see for herself. Law didn't bother turning around, he was much more interested in watching her reaction instead.

"Penguin?!" He reached the brig floor silently; head ducked and made his way to the desk, avoiding looking at her. "Mornin' Captain." He greeted quietly.

Nayla looked at Law with her eyebrows raised in question. "I believe Penguin has learnt his lesson the hard way and would be a deserving candidate to take the unfavourable early morning shift." He smiled slyly, moving to the stairs to take his leave. "I trust you'll play nice this time, Nayla-ya. For Penguin's sake." He added ominously.

'That bastard...' she glared at the smug look he gave her as he made his way back up the stairs. She hated to admit how smart a move this was. Not only was he punishing Penguin but he was banking on her not daring to manipulate Penguin again out of guilt for already causing him trouble.

"Oh and Nayla-ya?" He spared her one last glance from the top of the staircase. "I'll have someone send down the items from your suitcase that you requested." He left the room before waiting for her response.

She was so surprised at Law's agreement to send her some things that she forgot about Penguin momentarily until she heard the rustle of his clothing after Law closed the brig door. She turned to look at him; he was sitting in one of the chairs at the desk, arms folded and face shadowed by the brim of his cap.

"Penguin..."

...

"Aww come on Penguin, not you too."

...

She stood from the cot and walked to the bars. "Look, I'm really sorry. I am...I hope you didn't get into too much trouble because of me..."

...

"Please talk to me, Penguin..." She bit her lip, wondering what awful, horrifying things Law must have done to him as punishment.

...

"I swear, I'll cry."

...

"Seriously, I'll really cry if you won't speak to me." She sniffled threateningly.

...

She looked at him sadly with big watery eyes, they weren't even fake tears, she really would cry if Penguin would never speak to her again. He looked at her with his stoic face a moment longer before it finally cracked. "Dammit, Nayla-chan. Don't do that." He sighed quietly.

"Penguin!" She brightened up immediately hearing him speak to her, griping the bars and smiling at him. "I really am sorry."

"Heard that before."

"I swear I'll make it up to you!"

"I heard that one before too!"

"That's good! Do that, yell at me, I deserve it." She said gleefully, grinning.

"...I'm not gonna yell at you Nayla-chan...It was as much my fault as it was yours anyway." He grumbled uncomfortably.

Her expression sobered as she contemplated him before speaking again. "How bad was it?" He tilted his head in confusion. "Your punishment, for what happened, how bad was it?"

"...You have...no idea." He sighed tiredly.

"Is Law really that cruel? To his own men? He seems like a strict captain...but he definitely adores you guys, that's easy to see..." She couldn't help but recall how firmly he didn't want their involvement in this goal that had her locked in that cell to begin with.

"Oh, Captain did nothing to me other than scold me in his quarters."

"...That's it?"

"Yeah I thought I got off light too...turns out, he knew nothing he could do to me would be worse than what was waiting for me outside his door." He said sourly.

"What was it?"

"For a start, Captain allowed me to leave his quarters without reminding me I still had lipstick on my cheek..." Nayla sucked her lips into her mouth and looked away guiltily, as if it could hide the evidence of her involvement in that. "He knew the crew were eavesdropping outside the door, let me walk right into them with it on my face after they heard everything...he made me tell him...every detail." He shifted uncomfortably.

"Every detail?"

"Everything. The whole crew heard me tell the Captain, everything." Even at this distance and in the shadows of his cap under the dim lighting of the brig, she could tell he was blushing profusely. "Anyway, the crew have been, on my case, _constantly_ since I left Cap's quarters because of what they heard...and also because apparently 'I' made an appearance around this ship." He said accusingly.

She cleared her throat and looked away. "So it would seem...sorry, it wasn't intentional...so you're just getting a good teasing from your friends as punishment? That's not too bad really."

"Te-teasing?" He uncrossed his arms and looked at her incredulously. "You have NO idea what I've been through! You know how many people have told me I should wear lipstick more often? How much 'hotter' I look with it?" Nayla bit her lip to stop the smile that was threatening to erupt.

"How many times they've told me how good I smell? Your perfume was all over that boiler suit-don't even get me started on how many times Shachi sniffed me it was damn creepy." He crossed his arms again and looked away in disgust.

"Oh and any excuse to offer me anything? They all keep quickly adding on 'or would you prefer it from behind, Penguin?' in a stupid high-pitched voice and bat their gross eyelashes at me...I don't wanna see grown men give me that look!" He shuddered as if remembering a particularly vile recount of it.

Nayla failed to halt the snort of laughter that left her at that. She couldn't help but see an image of Shachi offering him something only to turn around, bat his eyelashes at him with clasped hands and puckered lips and offer it from behind instead.

"I'm glad you're finding this funny too, I'm never gonna live this down." He groaned, sinking into his chair.

"I'm sorry, I really am." She laughed.

"Hard to seem sorry when you're _laughing,_ Nayla-chan." He grumbled into his collar.

"I really _really_ am, I swear. I promise I'm making this one up to you. What do you want me to do?" She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Nothing you do can fix this." He sighed, tilting his head back against the chair from his slumped position.

"This will blow over in time or...you can give them something fresher and more interesting to talk about." She said slyly, earning his attention as he looked back at her.

"Like?"

"Anyone on the crew being a particular pain in the ass to you about this?"

"Shachi." He said in a heartbeat. "Why, what are you gonna do to him?" He asked, sitting up in interest.

She grinned foxily. "Hmm well, I could do to him what I did to you but a dozen times worse. I cou-"

The sub suddenly lurched violently, throwing Nayla off her feet completely into the bars to her side. A loud alarm rang through the intercom system. "Sea king! Sea king!" Bepo's frantic voice sounded out across the intercom followed by another violent lurch.

She gripped the bars and started getting up, looking at Penguin on the floor who had been ejected from his seat as he stood as well. "You ok, Nayla-chan?"

"Yeah, fine. You?" She answered standing up, watching him rub the back of his head tenderly as she supported herself against the bars.

"Yeah." He answered tersely, looking up towards the brig door.

"Sea king? Are we gonna be ok?" She asked, following his gaze, noticing the sharp and sudden incline of the sub as it seemed to change its course into an upwards direction.

"Yeah, should be. Risky waters at the moment, still a little too close to the calm belt, lotta Sea kings around."

"What ar-" She was interrupted by another round of the alarm as the sub swerved violently, this time followed by Bepo's panicked command for everyone to man their stations.

Penguin immediately started running towards the stairs but called back to her. "Sorry Nayla-chan, I need to go, at least until we can resurface and Captain can use his Devil Fruit to fillet this thing. I'll be back as soon as I can, ok?"

"...Ok." He gave her one last reassuring smile as he climbed the stairs. "Don't sound so worried, Nayla-chan. It's not our first and won't be our last Sea king encounter!"

She smiled at him as he ran out of sight but it fell as soon as she was left alone in the unfamiliar room, in a violently shaking vessel, deafened by the sounds of the sub's alarms, artillery and distant shouts of the Heart Pirates as they went about their duties.

'It'll be fine, they've done this before...we'll be fine...they just need to hold it off 'til they can surface and let Dr. Psychotic Chop-Happy take it out.' She would have paced worriedly if the sub had been at a more level incline and she hadn't needed to grip the bars to keep steady.

She felt the harsh impact and heard the rough metallic creaks and scrapes of something hitting the side of the sub with tremendous force. She griped the bars tightly and closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing and relax. 'We'll be fine...we'll be fine...we-' She looked down in alarm at the shockingly cold and wet sensation that had swarmed around her feet, feeling bile rise to the back of her throat as she realised she was watching seawater swirl around her ankles. '...are completely fucked.'

Despite the incredible volume and intensity of the new alarm that rang out and the announcement of a hull breech and flood warning over the intercom system, the world suddenly seemed muted to her as she watched the cold, metallic floor vanish rapidly beneath the even colder water.


	21. Law's Room

An incredible wave of cold washed over Nayla, a combination of the icy depths that were invading the vessel at an alarming rate and the dread that felt like the water had also found a way to run through her veins. Willing herself to stifle the panic she felt, she looked up towards the brig door, hoping someone would remember she was down there, someone would come get her, tell her where to go, what to do, tell her everything was under control and that everything would be ok.

There was terrifying creak and groan of metal that thundered over the sounds of the alarms above her. Nayla hadn't been lying to Jean Bart when she said she didn't know a lot about how subs worked but she knew enough to know that there was a huge amount of water pressure against the walls of them when they were submerged and the sounds she was hearing right now...it sounded a lot like the metal walls were buckling and giving way.

A sudden and large influx of water followed the metallic noise, flooding into the room, pouring up to her knees in a matter of seconds. She looked one last time up at the brig door, barely hearing anything past the rushing water that was rapidly flooding the brig and the heavy groaning of metal giving way.

'Dammit, if I stay here any longer I'll drown.'

* * *

"How bad is the damage?"

"At least four compartments Captain, all on level 3, stern side. The compartment walls will trigger soon!"

"Have all men evacuate level 3 immediately."

"Aye aye Captain!" Bepo quickly turned from his tense Captain to announce evacuation for level 3 over the intercom systems of the sub.

"Jean Bart, how much longer until we resurface?" Law tried to maintain a calm demeanour as they attempted a rapid resurface to deal with the Sea king chasing the vessel. It had managed to swipe at them well enough to damage the hull at the rear.

Much to Bepo's dismay, they had been travelling submerged and at a significant depth since they left Amazon Lily to avoid this _exact_ situation as they left the Calm Belt. Sea kings didn't often dwell this deeply and were more likely to spot them if they had travelled by surface.

"A minute or two Captain, the water we're taking on is slowing us down." Law gripped the back of Bepo's chair tightly, watching the screens over his shoulder as the bear did his best to outmanoeuvre them from the sea creature until they could resurface.

"Is there still safe access through port side level 3 to the turrets?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Have Shachi and Jeff man them, we need to buy time to reduce our depth."

"Aye aye Captain!" Bepo quickly relayed the orders over the intercom.

It was a particularly large Sea King, the turrets, even the torpedoes wouldn't do enough damage to take it out but if they could at least keep it at bay until they could reduce their depth, the rate of water intake and the pressure on the damaged hull would decrease. If they stayed this deeply submerged, they'd be crushed and killed in no time.

"100 feet 'til surface, Captain!" Jean Bart yelled over the noise.

"Good, keep it steady." Law turned on his heel to leave, gripping his Nodachi and heading for the deck to deal with the nuisance that _dared_ attack his vessel and threaten the lives of his men. He pushed back worries of anyone injured or killed around the damaged areas of the ship. His crew knew what to do and they could handle themselves. Right now, he needed to focus on dismembering an overgrown fish.

* * *

Once they broke the surface and the turrets were no longer needed, Shachi and Jeff raced back up to the third floor from their stations, on their way to the main deck to offer their Captain support. The waves caused by the emerging Sea king as it broke surface alongside them were rocking the ship violently and the additional tilting caused by the intake of water was shifting them abnormally too. Their captain wouldn't need their help but it would be wise to ensure their only Devil Fruit user wasn't on an unstable deck in high waves alone.

"Shachi!" He looked up towards Penguin coming down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Pen? Where you goi-?"

"Nayla!"

"Na-? Oh crap!" Shachi did an abrupt about-face and joined Penguin running back the opposite direction towards the stern side of the ship. Jeff turned to them confused, in mid-step onto the stairwell.

"Nayla is still in the brig!" Shachi yelled back at him.

Jeff's eyes widened. "Oh, fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!" He turned to run after them, yelling at a crew member that had been above him on the stairwell to head to the deck with the captain in their stead.

They ran towards the brig down the hallway, the alarms still blaring out noisily and the ominous sound of metal grinding steadily against metal ahead told them the watertight compartment walls had been triggered to seal off the flooding areas of the ship. From the end of the hallway they watched as the brig door was flung open, Nayla tumbled to her knees from behind it, shoved roughly by the water gushing out behind her and into the hallway as she coughed.

"Nayla!"

"Nayla-chan!" They soon realised she couldn't hear them over the alarms, rushing water and the metallic grinding of the descending walls. They watched her stand shakily and turn to the brig door, trying to force it shut against the flow of water coming into the hallway.

"NAYLA!" She looked towards them, both hands on the door but soon shifted her gaze upwards in horror as she saw two rows of metal descending from the ceiling rapidly between where she stood and where they were. The one nearer to herself was significantly lower than the other, it had been triggered earlier.

"LEAVE THE BRIG! QUICK! RUN UNDER THE WALLS!" Jeff screamed at her.

She let go of the brig door and began running towards them, the weight of the water flooding around her legs and the coldness of it seeping into her muscles was making it difficult to move quickly.

"NAYLA!"

"Dammit, she's too far from them both, she won't make it!"

They watched in shock as the wall nearest to her fell to the floor of the hallway with a heavy thud as she reached it and watched in even greater shock as it nearly immediately dented and screeched heavily, being deformed until it finally gave way with a large hole erupting in its surface. Nayla fell through it fist first and to the partially flooded floor of the compartment in between the two walls.

She got up on all fours quickly, spluttering out the mouthful of seawater she had just taken in and looked back up at them. Water from the compartment she had just broken out of starting to follow her rapidly. The last wall in between her and the three Heart Pirates was still descending; there was no more than two feet between its lower edge and the wooden floorboards.

Shachi threw himself to the wet floor and extended his hand to her from underneath it. She stumbled towards him, running as quickly as she could to cross the gap between the two walls. She dove downwards to the floor, trying to reach for him to pull her through to their side but they both withdrew their arms as the thick metal clamped down heavily to the floorboards between them.

"Shit!" Shachi pushed back off the floorboards to stand, ignoring the now-soggy front of his boiler suit as he stared at the wall in worry.

"Nayla! Whatever you did, do it again, get through to our side! But once this compartment starts to flood the next wall will be triggered so be ready to run with us to it, ok?!" Penguin yelled through the metal to her.

"Idiot! Nayla, don't do it!" She paused her fist an inch from the wall between them as Jeff spoke up.

"What are you sayi-?!" Shachi rounded on him only to be cut off as Jeff spoke again.

"We're taking on a four compartment capacity! She just flooded another one, five is our max! We take a sixth we'll be too heavy! We'll sink and won't be able to resurface! We're barely afloat as it is!"

"What are you asking her to do!? Stand there and drown?!" Shachi yelled at him.

"You're not thinking straight! We need to speak to Bepo, he's still in the cockpit, there must be some way to override the walls! Then we can close it again as soon as she's crossed but putting a hole in it will doom us all!"

"There IS no override!"

"Alright, stop panicking! Go get Captain! He can get her out with his ability!" Penguin interjected between the two.

"He's dealing with the Sea king!" Shachi turned back to Penguin.

"We don't have any other choices! We have to wait for Captain to get her out! She breaks that we ALL die!" There was a brief, heavy pause after Jeff spoke before he quickly turned and began running back towards the stairwell. "I'll go get Captain, you two stay there and..."

Nayla's heart sank and her eyes closed as she leant her head and her hands against the cold, thick metal between them. 'Stay there and make sure she doesn't break the wall? Stay there and offer her sugar-coated words of reassurance? Stay there and listen to her drown? Stare there and keep her company as she dies?...'

"Just stay there, I'll bring Captain as soon as he's done! Hang in there lil lady!" She listened as Jeff's voice grew rapidly distant as he ran further away. There was silence on the other side of the wall; she wondered if Shachi and Penguin were still there or if she'd been left alone to die.

"Nayla-chan..."

"Hey, Shachi." She felt reluctant relief knowing that they hadn't left her and opened her eyes to glance down, visually confirming she was already up to her thighs in seawater again. "Been a while since I got to talk to you properly."

"We can have a catch-up after this is over, Nayla-chan. Captain is on his way, he can get you out no problem. You'll see." She could hear the worry in his voice already, even though he was trying to sound reassuring.

Penguin must have heard it too, he chimed in immediately. "Yeah, he's right Nayla-chan. It'll take Captain less than a second to get you outta there...and hey, with the brig flooded he won't be able to keep you in there anymore!" She smiled at the small attempt of humour, starting to shiver now that she was standing still in the icy water.

"Yeah! You're welcome to bunk with me when you get outta there Nayla-chan." She laughed at Shachi; she could practically see the devious grin he was wearing though she was sure it would be a little forced right now.

"Sure, sounds like a plan."

The sub swayed on a large wave caused by Sea king outside, sloshing the water back and forth in the compartment with its movements. The Sea king's roar was just audible over the sounds of the alarms and rushing water. 'It's still alive...there's no way Law will get here in time.' Nayla sighed heavily, looking down at the water level lapping vigorously at her chest and half-heartedly back at the wall she had broken, knowing already the hole she had made was far too big to plug effectively...she decided she'd rather be by this one instead of trying to stem the incoming water in futility, where she could hear the two goofballs on the other side that she had grown so fond of over the last two weeks.

"Hey...Nayla...how high is the water right now?" It sounded like Shachi had elbowed Penguin for asking, a pained grunt followed by some hushed, angry sounding whispers that she couldn't make out coming from the other side of the metal between them.

"It's around my knees." She lied. What was the point of making them panic when there was nothing they could do about it?

"Oh, that's great, it won't take Captain long to get here." The relief in Penguin's voice was evident, making her smile.

"Yeah, you should watch him slice up a Sea king sometime Nayla-chan, it's pretty awesome." Shachi said proudly.

"I bet it is, shame your Captain is such a jerk or I'd _really_ think it was cool." She watched some stray seaweed swirl past her in the torrential current against the wall, the cold water now high enough to begin soothing the burning knuckles she had used to break through the previous one. It was starting to splash against her chin even though she was now on tiptoes.

They laughed at her. "Ah come on Nayla-chan, don't say that, he isn't really all that bad." Shachi awkwardly defended.

...

"Nayla-chan?" Penguin asked worriedly.

She lifted her head up, trying to get her lips away from the salty surface of the water before replying. "I'm here, sorry, got a little spooked by a fish, didn't know what had slid past my leg." She laughed nervously.

"...Nayla where is the water level?" Shachi sounded incredibly tense and much closer to the wall than previously.

She started to tread water, thankful there were relatively high ceilings in the vessel. "It's at my stomach at the moment."

...

"Nayla, you can't stand, can you." Penguin stated. She bit her lip, knowing he must have heard the physical effort of treading water come out with her voice despite her attempts to keep it steady.

"Penguin its ok, I'm pretty short, I still have plenty of time before the water is up to the ceiling ya know."

"Idiot! Why are _you_ reassuring _us_?!"

"Shachi..." Penguin looked at his stressed friend, losing his composure.

All three were at a loss for words, the water level had risen past the hole Nayla had made in the previous wall, the roar of it pouring in was no longer heard as it filled the compartment silently from below the surface. There was just strained silence and the blaring of the flood alarm.

Nayla looked up at the ceiling as it slowly but surely came closer. This was not how she imagined she'd be dying. Stuck in a sealed compartment in a pirate's submarine as it flooded, having her slow drowning listened to by friends. She did consider them friends, she actually felt worse for them at this point. Living with painful memories was far more difficult than dying.

She wondered how long it'd take for them to dock somewhere to drain these flooded compartments and fish her body out. She hoped it wouldn't be long; she'd rather not be a decomposing heap, half-eaten by the few fish that had been unfortunate enough to get sucked into this flooding ship. She smiled to herself at her morbid thoughts, 'ridiculous, even in death I'm vain, hoping I'll be a pretty corpse when they scoop me out of here, dry their vessel off and continue on their merry way...I wonder if Law will just toss what's left of me or if he'll be nice enough to bother burying me...I wonder if he'll ever run into the Straw Hats again or let them know what happened.'

Nayla pulled her thoughts off of Law, wanting to peacefully think of the people she had grown attached to over her lifetime. She had no family left but she thought of Zoro and the friends she had made on her journeys as she placed her hand on the ceiling above her, stopping her head from hitting against the metal as she tiredly continued to tread water against the protests of her freezing muscles.

The last person she wanted to think of right then was Law. It wasn't looking likely he'd get there on time, she hated that she was relying on him, hoping he would save her. She wondered briefly if he had laughed in Jeff's face when he told him she was here drowning and needed help. He'd probably just be annoyed she'd flooded another compartment unnecessarily and that she wouldn't be around to help with that plan of his...maybe she should just break this last wall, whilst she still had enough air to pull her arm back and punch with full force, it'd be much harder to do when underwater...The worst that could happen is the sub would sink and they'd have to use lifeboats and stuff right?...They could still survive that...a crew of nearly 20 men, a Devil Fruit user amongst them...in the dangerous waters of the Grand Line, near the Calm Belt, with no rations...dying a slow, miserable death in life boats because of her selfishness...She lowered her readied arm back into the cold water, unable to go through with that idea.

'Dammit, this is all that bastard's fault...if he hadn't kidnapped me I wouldn't even be in this mess. I'd have been dropped off by the Kuja by now on an island getting a ship to a main continent, getting the hell off this crazy sea.' She couldn't hold in the cough and splutter as the seawater started lapping past her lips and to her nostrils.

"Nayla!" The two on the other side of the door yelled in alarm as they heard her start to struggle for breath. She wondered if they had pressed their ears against the metal at this point, how they'd heard her over the damn alarms she didn't know.

She couldn't think of any parting words for them. She'd love to have left them with a declaration of her love for them or to thank them for everything they had done. Or maybe an apology to Penguin for not being able to make up what she did to him or an apology to Shachi for what she _had_ been planning to do to him at her nearest opportunity...she would even have loved to have left them with parting words of; 'tell you Captain he's an asshole for me,' but nothing came out, the water was too high and breathing from the small pocket of air she had left whilst trying to stay afloat had become too difficult. She realised sadly that she had waited too long to leave them with anything.

She spluttered as more water rushed up her nose, the salt burning at her nostrils and painting the back of her palate with the flavour of her upcoming death. Their distressed shouts at the noises she was making was painful to listen to, she glanced back to the other side of the compartment, deciding now that she'd rather swim over there, away from this wall, maybe they wouldn't hear her there. She released her grip on the ceiling and was about to push off to swim to the other side when she heard them yelling.

"CAPTAIN!"

"CAPTAIN! OVER HERE!"

She could hear Law's dulcet tone through the metal as he approached but he spoke too lowly and the water was sloshing against her ears; she couldn't hear what he had said.

"Here, we last heard her here!" Shachi slapped the metal between them firmly, near where she was.

"Room!" Nayla never imagined she'd feel relief seeing the blue sphere of Law's ability engulf her. Terror, horror, shock, fear yes but never relief or gratefulness to see herself rapidly encased within this blue zone.

"Shambles!" In an instant Nayla felt as though she were dropped to the floor as she was moved across the wall, she landed on shaky legs, unable to hold her weight at the sudden movement, chilling numbness caused by the seawater and the emotional drain of her second near-death experience in the last two and a half weeks. She stumbled to the floor, landing on all fours, coughing and spluttering. She vaguely acknowledged the black boots and distinctly spotted denim a few inches from her face before she closed her eyes and panted for breath.

"NAYLA!"

"Nayla-chan!"

She felt two pairs of arms smother her from both sides and lift her to stand; she could barely process the excited and happy yells of Penguin and Shachi either side of her as they helped her up.

"Lil lady!" Jeff beamed at her from behind Law's shoulder "Told ya Cap'd get you out!"

She looked from Jeff back to Law in front of her, turning her head upwards to look at his face for the first time since his arrival but before she managed to meet his gaze she saw him reach out and felt a harsh slam against her back, knocking what little breath she had managed to catch, straight back out of her.

Nayla looked up at him in shock, he looked angry, his eyes were completely cold. If she had ever thought the look in his eyes was frightening before, she had been severely mistaken. Still unable to speak she panted heavily; she couldn't hear the shocked outcries of the other men in the hallway as she focused on Law, wondering if he really _was_ mad at her for causing another compartment to flood. It wasn't like she had known about their ship's buoyancy capacity or even thought about it, she had only acted on survival instinct...maybe Jeff got the numbers wrong, maybe she had already caused one too many compartments to flood, maybe she had already condemned them all.

"You could get out of that cell the entire time you were in it." He said levelly, his voice as cold as the look in his eyes and as the water she had just been immersed in.

Nayla lifted her hands up weakly to grip at the wrist of the hand he was using to clench the open ends of her jacket together to pin her to the wall.

Law glanced down at her hands on his wrist when the coldness of her skin touched his. He released his hold on her clothing in favour of pulling her right hand up closer to his face instead, examining the tribal tattoos decorating her pale, wet flesh from her fingertips to the cuff of her jacket. The knuckles of it were red, raw; she involuntarily winced in pain as he moved her wrist.

He looked back up at her. "I don't like being made a fool of, Nayla."

"What..." Her voice failed her, the small sprays of saltwater that had managed to pass to her vocal cords making them sound croaky and raspy. She swallowed, cleared her throat and tried again. "What is your problem, Law?"

"Why didn't you break out of your cell immediately? Why did you do what you did to Penguin if you could get out of there at any time? If you had this kind of power, why did you hide it?" She had been playing possum with him all along. He had been wasting his time having her in the brig, wasting his crew's time sending them down there-worse, sending crew down to a woman that could have broken out of her cell at any time and who may not have been able to handle her if she chose to attack them. What else was she capable of that she wasn't letting on?

Nayla felt her exhaustion overridden by her anger, she had just nearly _died_ and he was getting annoyed over this? Now? She pulled her hand out of his grasp, trying to hold off the shudders from the coldness she felt as her soaked hair and clothing clung to her skin. She didn't want him to think for a second that he was the cause of them, that he was frightening her.

"Break out immediately and do what? Go where? We've been submerged! Wanted me to break out and fight you? Risk damaging a submerged submarine in a battle? Piss off the entire crew by attacking you so that I have to try fighting them all? Defeat everyone then single-handedly drive a submarine my-fucking-self the rest of the way? Dumbas-"

Law promptly re-slammed her to the wall. If he were honest with himself, he was far more upset at his own underestimation of her than of her purposely concealing things from him. He had wrongly assumed from what he had seen of her fighting Kuma that she needed weapons to be an effective combatant, that by confiscating them she would be manageable and containable within a cell. This was his miscalculation and his error. He didn't like that he potentially put his men in danger for his selfish pursuit of his personal goal.

"Are you a threat to my crew?" He cut to the chase callously, she could see in her peripheral vision that he had his thumb on the hilt of his Nodachi in his other hand; he was ready to cut her down without hesitation depending on her answer.

The unsettling standoff as they locked gazes was interrupted only by her still-rapid breathing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reopening them to return his cold stare before she finally spoke again. "Are you fucking stupid?" His eyes widened a fraction; he couldn't believe she'd be temperamental and idiotic enough to say something like that to him in her current state and in her current position. He knew she had seen his weapon ready to be drawn.

"For such a smart man, you really are fucking stupid, Law. You realise I just NEARLY DROWNED TO _SAVE_ YOUR CREW, RIGHT?!" His grip on her clothing tightened but he said nothing, just bore into her eyes with his own. "You might think I was trying to keep it hidden so I could jump you or your crew or something later but I-" He released her abruptly, letting her slump against the wall.

She steadied herself against it and glared at him, watching as he stepped back and replaced his Nodachi to his shoulder. He seemed to critically assess her, looking her up and down, his posture slowly relaxing despite the strained silence. It was only then that Nayla realised that at some point the alarms had been switched off as she observed the quietness of the other three men in the hallway as they watched the interaction between her and their captain intently.

"Well?" Law asked expectantly after some time, crossing his arms.

Nayla blinked at him, the fury she had seen in him either dissipated or was now masked. "Well what?"

"This would be the part where you thank me for saving your life _again_ , Nayla-ya."

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him, the smallest of smirks started to appear at the corner of his mouth as he watched her rage build, watched her at a total loss for words at his behaviour. It was obvious she wanted to yell at him but couldn't seem to find the right place to start or the right words as her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally managed to find her voice again.

"YOU!...You...absolute...FUCKI-"

"Jeff, get her a towel from laundry." Law cut off her struggle to articulate her frustration with him to speak to his crewmember.

Jeff snapped out of staring at his captain in shock equal to that of Nayla's as he was addressed and ran down the hallway to do as he was told, calling back his affirmative. "Aye aye Captain."

"I cannot... even fucking _believe_ you, Law!" Nayla stared at him, clenching her jaw before gripping at her hair in fistfuls as she pushed off of the wall, pissed beyond words.

"That's a strange mispronunciation of 'thank you.'" Law couldn't help the widening of his smirk as she abruptly rounded on him and jabbed her finger into his chest.

"You DO realise that I wouldn't have even been in this situation to drown if you hadn't KIDNAPPED ME, RIGHT?!" Law took the opportunity to glance downwards at her right hand again, wondering just how powerful it might be at the moment if he were right in assuming it had been how she got out of her cell and through a wall made of several inches of solid steel.

As if sensing his diverted attention she retracted her ability, he watched with open interest as the tribal lines flowed across her skin; up her fingers, across the back of her hand and under the cuff of her jacket, out of sight. He was sorely tempted to take it off of her to see if it was receding all the way back up her arm to the tattoo on her lower back.

"It's irrelevant. I still saved your life, twice." He decided there would be time to look at it later, though he kept his gaze on her clothed arm where he imagined the lines would be on her skin by now, judging by the speed he had seen them regressing at.

"I saved YOURS by not breaking the second wall, Devil Fruit user! You'd have been fucked if I sunk your sub." He allowed the small shove against his chest as she pushed away from him in frustration and chuckled.

"So would you, Nayla-ya. You didn't save mine."

"You keeping score now? 2-0? That how you see this?"

"More or less."

"At best? 1-0, saving my life doesn't count if you're the one that endangered it to begin with!"

Jeff ran back down the hallway with a large white towel in his hands, draping it over the shivering woman's shoulders as he approached. She wasn't even sure if she were shaking from the coldness or from her fury at this point. "You ok, lil lady?"

"Jeff." Law interrupted before Nayla could respond.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Go to the cockpit. Tell Jean Bart we need to find any land large enough to dock at to repair damage to the sub and ask Bepo to escort Nayla-ya to the facilities upstairs. He is to keep the room empty until she has had a chance to shower and warm up. I will have dry clothing sent to her."

"Aye aye Captain." Jeff hurried back the way he had come to relay Law's orders.

"Shachi." The man stood to attention as his captain turned to address him. "Ensure all post-combat safety checks are being done, come to my quarters to report our damages when they're finished."

"Aye aye Captain." Shachi turned to leave; he looked at his captain hesitantly for a second before grabbing Nayla in a quick hug on his way past. "Glad you're ok Nayla-chan." He beamed at her, running off rapidly hoping his captain wouldn't be upset with him.

Law's expression didn't change as he watched Shachi scurry off. "Penguin, do a personnel check. Make sure everyone is accounted for and send anyone injured to me for treatment. I'll be in my quarters."

"Aye aye Captain." Penguin glanced nervously at Nayla then at Law, cursing Shachi for taking the element of surprise away from him, his captain probably wouldn't appreciate a second display of softness.

Law rolled his eyes at Penguin's hesitance. "Just do it and go." He muttered.

Penguin grinned, grabbing a surprised Nayla into a quick hug before running down the hall to carry out his orders. Law sighed and watched the man run past Bepo as the bear appeared heading their way. "Captain! Nayla-chan!" He called out as he jogged towards them.

"Bepo, you know what to do." Law said blandly as he began walking down the hallway in the direction his other crewmembers had just gone.

"Aye aye Captain! But where do I take her after her shower?"

Law paused briefly at the end of the hallway to look over his shoulder at Nayla, making eye contact with her as a devilish smirk appeared on his face. "Bring her to my room."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There actually does seem to be turrets on the underside of the Heart Pirates' submarine, one on either side of what looks like engine turbines. So I'm guessing they're pretty well decked out with weaponry. I'm stealing a couple of those turbines as torpedo chutes to use later on, not too farfetched for them to have I think, considering The Sunny has a freaking laser-cannon thing going on.


	22. Panda eyes

Nayla watched Law stride down the hallway and out of sight, ascending the staircase to the floor above them. She honestly had no idea what to think or feel about him or what she had just been through. She went from panic to peacefully accepting her death and from frightened of the man to enraged by him. She closed her eyes, the adrenaline leaving her system making her feel exhausted enough for another night's rest already.

"Are you ok, Nayla?" She opened her eyes to look at the bear she had forgotten for the moment.

"I'm fine, Bepo...it's nice to finally see you again." She hadn't had a chance to speak to him since her impromptu 'nap' at the Eastern gulf of Amazon Lily. She shoved the irritation at his captain aside as she moved to hug him, stopping short when she realised she was soaking wet. "Ah...sorry."

"It's ok." Bepo smiled happily and gave her a tight squeeze around the towel Jeff had draped over her. She sighed in content, wrapping her arms as far around the large, warm bear as she could and closing her eyes. He seemed to understand she needed that peaceful moment to process her morning and allowed her it, only speaking up when she began to shiver.

"Nayla, let's get you into a hot shower before you get sick, ok?" She nodded against his chest, pulling back and allowing him to lead the way down the hall.

Bepo was one of the crewmates she had grown particularly fond of too. Aside from looking like a giant, walking, talking teddy bear he had an interesting personality. Sweet to a fault but an apparently fierce fighter, she had yet to see him in action. Assertive enough to demand due respect of his position within the crew yet soft enough to fall into bouts of depression when they yelled at him. He also managed to somehow be cutely dense yet highly intelligent at the same time.

They soon reached the second floor landing. Some crewmembers were running down the hallway going about their duties, a few of them sparing her a glance as they reached the floor.

"Nayla-chan! Good, you're ok! Had us a lil worried." Connor ruffled her wet hair as he ran past with another crewmember. "I'll catch up with you as soon as I can sweetie, need to do some checks for Cap, take care of her Bepo!" He called back as they ran down the stairs her and Bepo had just come up.

She smiled meekly at them as they rushed past. Connor she had gotten to know fairly well on Amazon Lily, he was pretty close to Jeff but she wasn't too familiar with the other man she had just seen him run down the stairs with.

"Wait here a second." She turned back to Bepo to find him trotting on ahead of her down the hallway to a large door. He opened it and peered inside, calling for anyone who might be in there before pulling his head back out. "It's empty, come on in, Nayla." He beckoned her over with his paw and held the door open for her as she walked inside.

She had been expecting something akin to an unpleasant-smelling, messy, bland, white, male gym changing room set up but was blown away with how nice the extremely large room actually was. The smell of cleaning products and the faint lingering of an assortment of pleasant smelling male aftershaves, deodorants and body washes had been the first thing she had noticed as she had stuck her head through the door.

The room was far from the bland white Nayla had been anticipating. Although it _was_ largely tiled white as she had imagined, the floor and the wall in front of her was tiled entirely black. A few tiles randomly placed throughout the black back wall had been professionally emblazoned with a yellow Heart Pirates Jolly Roger. A row of gleaming, white sinks with golden taps were situated across the centre of it below a porthole, spotless mirrors with small illuminating lights framing the upper borders above each one.

There were white toilet stalls lining the back wall from the row of sinks to the furthest left corner of the room. A row of black enamel urinals from this corner to the nearest left corner stood in stark contrast to the white tiling of the left wall, every surface remarkably clean looking.

From the nearest left corner to the doorway stood shining, sliver lockers and some dark wooden benches bolted to the floor a couple of feet in front of them. This was repeated along the wall spanning from the doorway she stood at to the nearest right corner of the room as well. From there to the furthest right corner were two rows of dark wooden shelving against the white tiling of the right wall.

The lower shelf held neatly stacked, freshly laundered towels arranged by their size from face towels, to hand towels to full sized ones. The upper shelf held stacks of clean boiler suits ranging from smallest to largest standardised sizes. Though some of the stacks from both shelves had been knocked to the floor in the dramatic turbulence the sub had just experienced. There were some linen laundry trolleys parked against the wall underneath the lower shelf locked in place by their wheels. One was full of used towels, another with used boiler suits and the other two were filled with darkly and lightly coloured underclothing and socks, neatly separated.

To meet the row of sinks on the back wall from the furthest right corner of the room were generously sized, white shower stalls with frosted glass doors obscuring the view of their insides.

The black tiles, gold accentuates, the beautifully printed Jolly Roger, the dark woods and the incredible cleanliness in the room that reflected the natural lighting off of every shining surface gave the room an air of expense and style. It reminded her a lot of the kind of changing room or bathroom that you'd find at the spa of an extremely high-priced resort or hotel...She really was beginning to wonder who had been in charge of the interior design of this vessel. The Heart Pirates were beginning to seriously challenge her, perhaps unfair, views of how slovenly and messy young, single men-especially pirates, really were within their own living space.

"Help yourself to a fresh towel, Nayla." Bepo gestured to the wall on the right with the shelving before turning back to look at her surprised face with a smile. "I'll be outside the door making sure no one walks in on you so take your time. I'll knock when someone has brought you some dry clothing, ok?"

"Ok...thank you." She smiled back at him as she stepped inside and out of the doorway, allowing him to shut the door behind her.

She walked over to the shelving carefully, her wet socks much more slippery here on the tiling than they had been on the wooden flooring of the hallways. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at the messy prints and drops she was leaving on the immaculate floor behind her.

Nayla reached up and grabbed a full sized towel and a hand towel to wrap her hair in, thankful they kept them on the lower shelf and not the one above it, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to reach. She walked to the nearest stall and opened the frosted glass door, noting immediately that the cleanliness extended into their showering facilities too. The gold taps and shower head shone invitingly as she hung the towels up on the hooks against the side of the stall and began peeling off her soaked clothing. Wringing them out a bit before slinging them over the frosted glass door of the cubicle.

She glanced at the bottles on the small, golden, metal shelf in the corner of the stall. A standard 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner and a standard bottle of body wash, both distinctly male products with undoubtedly male scents too. She wouldn't have any other options for now, smelling like a guy for a day was the least of her worries anyhow.

Nayla peeled off the last of her clothing, glancing at the eye-level tile near the shelf that had the Heart Pirates' Jolly Roger boastfully embellished onto it. She narrowed her eyes at it as it made her think of Law, she had come face to face with that symbol far more times than she had ever intended because of him, quite literally at some point too.

She turned the tap of the shower on, adjusting it to a soothingly warm setting to thaw her cold flesh before stepping under it completely. The welcome heat melting her stress away gradually as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the nicely pressured spray.

Her thoughts were a garbled mess; they had been for some time which was part of the reason she wandered around so much, taking jobs all over the world. She was deeply unsettled. Having more interest taken in her then desired by a terrible man like Joker, a questionably worse man like Law, the stranding on the Grand Line, the stress of losing her friends on Sabaody, the near death experiences and the kidnapping hadn't exactly helped her feel any more settled as of late. At times like these she found shifting focus from emotions and thoughts she couldn't clearly sort through to ones that she could, helped.

She opened her eyes and reached for the 2 in 1, pouring a generous amount into her palms before working it through her salty hair, smiling as she recognised the masculine scent as being the same one that had been on the cap she had stolen from Penguin yesterday. The suds stung at her raw knuckles and her wrist ached as she massaged it through her scalp, making her wince and move it more carefully. Punching through steel was absolutely not what her abilities were for, it had hurt, a lot. She was frankly surprised she hadn't broken any bones doing it.

What she _did_ know was that she was seriously beginning to contemplate Law's proposal though she couldn't really understand why. He was right; she was just aimlessly wandering around taking jobs for money when she needed it. It wasn't as if she didn't already risk her life doing those so why not do the same thing but for someone that actually wanted her aid? Someone who had bothered to save her life no less and whilst travelling on board a ship full of new friends. Maybe it would offer her some temporary stability and happiness in her life, whilst it lasted.

Nayla worked through the tangles of her hair with her fingers as she rinsed it clean, grimacing guiltily as she watched a few small flecks of seaweed rinse free of her locks and wash down the drain. Hopefully it wouldn't cause any clogging.

She _did_ know she loved this crew but couldn't seem to understand how to feel about Law. He was an ass but had clear streaks of kindness and compassion. He was definitely attractive but it wasn't nearly enough to negate him being such a bastard to her. He was smart and level-headed most of the time but couldn't seem to refrain from immaturely annoying her for entertainment. Worst of all was that she wasn't sure whether to find him infuriating or whether she secretly enjoyed his relentless teasing. She was pretty sure she had been a mature and level-headed person herself before she met him, it hadn't taken him long to figure out exactly how to push her buttons. That was both equally impressive and irritating.

Nayla reached for the body wash and lathered herself up, noticing immediately, as much as she didn't want to, that it wasn't the same scent as what she had smelt on Law and that he must use something different.

Zoro used to mock her for this, tell her that her female intuition was broken but she felt Law probably carried an incredibly heavy and sad burden, no doubt attached to this goal of his. But that wasn't special. Everyone carried sadness around through life, herself included and in fact, probably everyone on board this ship. No one who'd had a happy childhood, a loving family, a peaceful home and a stable life chose to become a pirate or a bounty hunter or a mercenary or anything of the sort. Whatever his burden was, it was none of her business, she wanted no part in it, it didn't make him unique and it didn't make him more worthwhile helping than anyone else she had met so far and _those_ people didn't damn well knock her flat and kidnap her...though she couldn't help but wonder what kind of life one would need to lead to be shaped into a man like Trafalgar Law.

Zoro also used to tell her that not every dark, withdrawn, mysterious, broody man had a problem that could be fixed with the help of a compassionate woman. That some men were just assholes without rhyme or reason, without a crushingly devastating back-story and that her broken intuition was just misplaced maternalism. He also used to mockingly follow that up with some hint she should just go have a baby if she wanted to coddle something so badly, to which she would promptly smack him upside the head.

She could only attribute the weird desire to take this job for Law as wanting to help a man who had saved her life, no matter how much of an ass he had been since then because the sad fact was, she wouldn't have even been alive to be in a near-death experience this morning if it hadn't been for him.

What would life on board the same ship as Trafalgar Law for an extended period of time really be like? Maybe it would be fun...or maybe it would just lead to the word he had so proudly printed across the backs of his fingers.

As always, prolonged sifting through her own thoughts usually ended up with her feeling no clearer about where she stood than when she had began. She did as she always did and unhealthily shoved the garbled background noise of her brain's rapid firing of scrambled and confused thoughts aside, choosing to simply act on how she felt about things in the here and now.

Nayla rinsed the last of the lather off of her skin, turned the taps off and wrung out her hair. Without the water running she could hear voices outside of the bathroom door, a familiar voice with a distinct whining tone to it.

She furrowed her brows trying to listen in on the conversation going on outside as she pulled the large towel off of the hooks in the stall and pat her skin dry before encasing herself in it. It was definitely Shachi's voice, Bepo was responding to whatever it was he was saying.

She pulled the smaller towel off of the hook and wrapped it around her hair before pushing open the stall door. She enclosed her seawater-soaked clothing into the towel Jeff had first given to her and tossed the bundle onto the wooden bench in front of the lockers of the opposite wall. She'd have to ask Bepo where to put her dirty clothing on her way out.

"How would you feel if it were a female bear?!" Nayla halted her steps towards the sinks to turn and deadpan at the door, taking a good guess at what it was Shachi was whining about as she heard Penguin shush and scold him loudly.

Sighing she resumed her walk to the sinks to look at herself in the mirror. She had managed to scrub off the majority of her make-up but waterproof mascara...she had a decent set of panda eyes looking back at her right now.

'Geez, I look like I have terrible bags, I look like Law...' She blinked in realisation at herself before a small smile broke out across her face. She reached a couple of fingers under the wrapped towel on her head at her temples and pulled down a few wet strands on either side of her face, mimicking side burns. She snorted in amusement at her reflection.

"Captain said no! It doesn't matter how badly you have to pee!" She heard Bepo yelling from outside the door.

"What about me? I'm just here to drop off some clothing for Nayla-chan." Penguin's innocent sounding tone was almost believable.

"Ah, I'll hand those to her."

"Wha-oi! Damn bear!" She heard a knock and saw Bepo's furry face peak in from the slightly ajar door as he opened it. He spotted her near the sinks and held up a pile of clean clothing up for her through the gap between the door and the doorframe.

"Nayla, I brought you some clothes."

"What do you mean _you_ brought her some clothes?" Penguin yelled indignantly from behind him.

"Thank you, Bepo." She made her way over to him carefully across the tiled floor and took them before he swiftly closed the door as the two men on the other side continued to hassle him.

Nayla was pleasantly surprised to find she had been given a set of her own clothing. She walked over to the wooden bench that had her dirty clothing on it to set the pile down. She unwrapped and tossed her used body towel into the hamper against the wall before pulling the plain black hoodie on and zipping it up, not surprised she hadn't found a top to wear underneath it nor a bra tucked into the pile for her.

She raised a brow when she couldn't find a pair of panties though, pulling on the pair of tan colour shorts with black embroidered flowers along its pockets and seams. 'No under-top and no bra. I can kinda understand those being forgotten but no panties? Really?' She sighed slipping on the black flats she had worn the first (and only) time she had boarded this sub consciously and willingly.

Nayla tossed the towel around her hair into the correct hamper, securing her hair up in a loose bun and picked up her bundle of dirty clothing, heading to the door. She opened it slightly and peaked around the edge, halting Penguin and Shachi's protests at the now-apologetic looking bear.

"Oh, Nayla-chan! How you feeling?" Shachi asked looking her up and down in her new attire as she stepped out of the room.

"Much better, thank you. How is the ship?"

"Hmm? Oh, not bad actually. Small hull breech, it won't be too difficult to fix once we get to dry land, rest of the sub is fine!" He beamed.

Nayla looked at Penguin, silently asking how things were on his end. "Ah and everyone is fine too, aside from a few bruises from the rocky ride."

She smiled, thankful everyone else was alright. "Um so, where do I put my soggy clothes? I didn't want to just assume it was ok to toss them in the hamper in there..."

"Ah, lemme take care of that Nayla-chan, I'll take 'em down to laundry for you and put them straight into a washer." Shachi made a grab for the bundle she was holding before Penguin could and grinned triumphantly at his sour face as he crossed his arms.

"Nayla, Captain is waiting for you, I need to take you to his room."

Penguin and Shachi stopped their silent stare-argument to look back at Bepo in surprise. "Captain wants her in his room?" Shachi asked with a raised brow. Penguin lifted one hand from his crossed arms to stroke his chin in thought, recalling the peculiar back and forth between them he had seen as they came down the brig stairs yesterday.

"Ugh, do we have to? I'm in no mood to deal with Captain Cranky right now." She looked up at Bepo unenthusiastically; he simply nodded in response making her pout, though she suddenly brightened considerably as she continued to look at him. "Hey Bepo, I need something white and furry, can I borrow your paw a sec?"

"Um...sure..." He answered uncertainly, holding out one paw for her. She promptly set it on top of her head, adjusted her 'sideburns' and looked at Shachi and Penguin with half-lidded eyes and a face of indifference.

"Shachi-ya, Penguin-ya, who do I remind you of?" She mimicked Law's smooth, neutral tone fairly well though couldn't quite reach the lowness of his pitch.

Penguin slapped the hand he had been stroking his chin thoughtfully with over his mouth to smother the laugh that threatened to erupt. Shachi wasn't as able to contain his own as he doubled over laughing, holding his stomach.

"Nayla...you can't make fun of Captain like that." Bepo said timidly, though he made no attempt to remove his paw from her.

"Yeah, Cap-" Penguin was cut off by his own laughter as Nayla exchanged her neutral face for a smirk and a side glance in his direction as he spoke, mimicking Law's smug expression. He managed to settle down somewhat to continue speaking as Shachi broke out into another round of laughter. "C-Captain would be really mad if he saw you doing that." Penguin chuckled into his hand as Nayla adjusted her white fuzzy 'hat' more comfortably on her head.

"I believe I already give Nayla-ya a hard enough time when she _does_ behave herself. I'll hardly treat her any differently if I see her behaving like my prick-y self." She responded in a manner of neutral, mock-politeness to another round of laughter.

"Nayla-ya."

The two in front of her abruptly stopped their snickering and looked down the hallway in horror at Law, choking on their laughter.

"Um, I'll go do your laundry for you Nayla-chan, leave it to me." Shachi said seriously before sprinting down the hallway past his captain at top speed.

"Oi!" Penguin lowered the hand he had reached out to grab his escaping friend. He cleared his throat after sensing his captain's attention shift to him and decided now would be a good time for him to make his escape too. "See you later Nayla-chan...Good luck." He mouthed quietly as he took off down the hallway after this friend, skirting around his captain with an overly generous safety margin between them.

Nayla sighed after the two and looked at Law as he approached, stopping close enough to her to tower above her. She peeked up at him past the edges of Bepo's fur and blinked innocently.

Law glanced at the paw on her head then back at her eyes, noting with some amusement why she had requested make-up remover not once, but twice. He waited a moment to see if she would nervously try to offer up some sort of excuse or apology but she did neither.

"Would you like to at least attempt an explanation?" He prompted, getting the oddly distinct feeling of scolding a child as he crossed his arms and looked down at her.

"...Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?" She didn't even look remotely guilty at being caught openly making fun of him. Law honestly wasn't sure whether to find this annoying or funny though he found the corner of his mouth wanting to traitorously lean towards the latter.

"You were taking a long time, I was beginning to wonder if you were causing my crew unnecessary trouble."

"No, I was just cold is all. Between the day in that freezing brig and the seawater it took a long time to feel thawed out." She replied curtly, matching his crossed arms.

...

"Bepo."

"Ah, sorry Captain." The bear removed his paw from her head and retracted it somewhat guiltily, having been unwillingly aiding her mockery of his captain.

"I'll take her to my room from here, you're dismissed. Take over for Jean Bart, he's been up all night. Find us the nearest land you can."

"Aye aye Captain." He dashed off the same way Penguin and Shachi had fled.

They watched him run out of sight and down the staircase at the end of the hall. Law turned back to her, noticing her new sense unease and her avoidance of eye contact with him now that they were alone. Considering her behaviour up until a moment ago, her mood now was unlikely due to him catching her impersonation of him but due to his unnerving behaviour with her earlier.

Deciding even more firmly how much he didn't enjoy her uncharacteristically quiet behaviour, Law reached his hands to either side of her face, causing her to look up at him with raised brows. He used his fingers to return the loose, wet strands that clung to the skin of her temples up into her hair, weaving his fingers back through it until the loose bun unravelled and spilled her wet locks. She watched him in surprise at his gentle gesture but it didn't last long as he leant down and smirked at her. "Not everyone looks good in these, sideburns don't suit you."

He knocked the surprise at his tender ministrations clean off her face, watching her irritation with him ignite before he removed his hands from her and turned to start walking down the hallway towards the stairwell. He peered over his shoulder at her, inclining his head to indicate she stop standing there glaring and follow him.

She sighed in mild annoyance, deciding she should have known better than to believe for a second, even a second, that he was being openly affectionate or kind in any way, shape or form with her and jogged to catch up to his long strides.

"By the way, why are you taking me to your room?" He spared her a sideway glance with a raised brow at the suspicious tone in her voice but chose not to answer her. "Law! Why are you taking me to your room?" She asked again, refusing to be ignored.

He looked back at her once more, this time allowing a disconcerting, sinful smirk to spread across his face as he looked her up and down, making her halt in her steps in alarm. Law took a moment's pleasure in her discomfort before chuckling and halting his own forward motion to address her. "No Nayla-ya, not for that." She crossed her arms over her chest protectively in disbelief and narrowed her eyes.

"Would you prefer to go back to the flooded brig instead? Or perhaps you'd like to go sit in the crew's quarters, I'm sure they'd enjoy your company."

'Well...he has a point I suppose,' she thought reluctantly, uncrossing her arms hesitantly and moving to catch up to him as he resumed walking.

She bit her lip as they ascended in silence to the first floor landing. He appeared to be totally at ease, climbing the stairs with his hands in his pockets and seemingly enjoying her nervousness.

Nayla followed him down the hallway, recalling the doors that lead to the intensive care unit, the infirmary and theatre 1 that lay between them. He stopped at a door on the opposite side of the hallway to them and pushed it open, pulling back to allow her to enter the room before him.


	23. One-sided negotiations

Nayla hadn't put much thought into what Law's quarters may look like but suddenly realised she was actually quite curious to see them. What exactly did the den of the evil beast that had been plaguing her for over two weeks look like? Would it be a clash of glaringly loud colours as his sub and hoodie? Would it be dark and dank like the lair of a monster? His Jolly Roger printed on every surface? Would he be a neat-freak and a medicine-induced germaphobe? Or maybe the bed-head and extensive eye bags were a prelude to a scattered mess? Maybe he had a cute, frilly and very pink heart theme going on in there to match the name of his crew? She wanted that last one to be true so badly but knew it would be far more likely that he'd have a bunch of dismembered body parts strewn all over the place than pink, fuzzy hearts.

She took one last look down the hallway, noticing the distinct lack of doors beyond this point before she walked into the room; there was only one more door along this wall which made it clear that his quarters were large enough to take up the majority of the front of the first floor of the sub.

The first thing Nayla noticed aside from the distinct smell of polished woods, leather and books, was that his quarters were separated into two large rooms, the one she had just entered appeared to be an impressively sized study and work space, Law's actual bedroom seemed to be through the open archway through the right wall.

The current room was far from the traditional captain quarters she had seen aboard other ships in which the main decor centred around featuring the ship's wooden panelling. It made sense she supposed, considering they were not aboard a wooden ship. Law's quarters boasted a seemingly sleeker, more modern take on the idea. The lower half of the walls of this room did have wooden panelling but it was a rich, decorative mahogany, the upper half of the walls were painted a warm but clean shade cream.

She felt the change in texture beneath her feet as she stepped in from the wooden floorboards of the hallway and glanced down at the plush, beige carpeting.

The most prominently placed piece of furniture was a grand looking desk on the opposite side of the room. It displayed intricately carved designs along its sides and edges and was meticulously polished, the surfaces shining a strikingly darker colour than that of the panelling of the room, almost certainly made of ebony. In contrast to the simple and clean desk of the infirmary across the hall this one had many items on its surface though they were still arranged neatly. Several stacks of thick texts, papers and maps consumed one side of this desk.

There was another formidable looking high-back, black, leather chair sitting behind it, overlooked by a large porthole framed by matching black blinds. Beneath it was a single wooden shelf holding a few Den Den Mushi and Log Poses, situated between two tall bookshelves on either side, all made of the same gleaming ebony as the desk.

Although natural light was the current source of illumination there was an impressive-looking chandelier hanging from the ceiling above them in the centre of the room, the twisted curls of shining, black metal akin to the lamp resting on his desk. The dangling crystal glinted beautifully in the early morning sunshine that poured in; spots of reflected light danced across the walls with the gentle swaying of the ship in motion on the waves.

The right wall between the archway that led to his bedroom and the nearest right corner was lined with shelving and another large bookshelf. As opposed to the ones behind the desk that appeared to contain a large assortment of books, this one and the shelving seemed to be holding folders instead. Labelled and arranged in chronological order with some form of colour coding. At a quick glance she could see 'Expenses,' 'Inventory,' 'Maintenance' and similar across their spines in a neat and graceful script that she assumed to be Law's handwriting. It seemed to be where he kept all the records for running his vessel, organised and well-maintained. A far cry from what she had seen on board The Sunny but then this ship had a much larger crew and was probably more complicated to maintain efficiently.

Beside this bookshelf was a black, metal standing lamp of similar style to the other lighting fixtures of the room, it stood between it and a small, black, leather, two seater sofa against the wall to the right of the doorway. A small coffee table sat in front of it.

The last item against the wall to the right, between the doorway and the sofa was a standing coat rack, many long and a few short, dark coats hung from it. She could already spot the Jolly Roger printed on several of them and was seriously beginning to wonder where Law got all his stuff made. Who did you have to go ashore and bully to custom print a pirate's Jolly Roger onto everything you owned?

To the left of the door way, alongside her propped up suitcase was a much longer, black, leather sofa that matched the two seater. It held a few dark grey cushions with an overly familiar Jolly Roger embellished in repeating tiles across their cotton surfaces in black velvet. A sleek, ebony coffee table sat in front of it, the same style as the one in front of the two seater.

Beyond this seating area, she was surprised to see a tasteful, full-length dining table of similar wood and decor. It was long enough to take a total of eight chairs; one at each end and three on either side of its lengths. She had seen many ships that held private dining within the captain's quarters for their captains and senior crew members or for esteemed guests. Although this may have been its original intention, the table's surface was covered with laid out navigational maps and multiple stacks of papers and books. It seemed more like where he consulted his navigational team then where he took his meals.

Along the left wall behind it, there were cabinets installed. Thick, crystal drinking sets and bottles of strong, fine liquors visible through their closed glass doors.

The remainder of the left wall, nearer to his desk had a large pin-board attached to it. This was the only space of the room that appeared messy. The haphazard pinning of multiple papers, articles and images of different textures and colours littered the entirety of its surface.

Law disturbed her attempt to distantly decipher the contents of his board by closing the door behind him as he stepped inside. He walked ahead of her, across the room to his desk and sat in his chair, motioning to the significantly less grand-looking pair of wooden chairs on the other side of it. "Have a seat, Nayla-ya. We need to have a talk."

She felt a mild reminiscence of being in a principal's office after doing something wrong as she began walking towards the desk. She stopped abruptly as she looked back at her suitcase propped against the wall to the left of the door. "Do you think I could grab something from my suitcase first?"

He raised a brow at her as he reclined in his high-back seat, placing his hands behind his head. "Now? What is it that you need right now that's so important?"

"A pair of panties would be nice." She deadpanned at him, crossing her arms and causing a small grin in response. "Why on Earth would you send down clothing for me without underwear? You really are a perv."

"You're welcome and I take it you'd rather I went through your extensive collection of 'appropriate' underwear to select some for you instead of allowing you to do so yourself later? I suppose it wouldn't have bothered you in the slightest to send them down to you in the hands of my men?" 'Assuming they ever arrived at all,' he added on mentally to himself, inwardly rolling his eyes at the thought.

"...Fair point." She conceded, uncrossing her arms and looking back at the suitcase. "As comfortable as I feel going commando in a pair of short shorts on a sub full of men and around a handsy pervert like yourself, may I?" She asked him, matching his mock polite tone and indicating to it.

"You may." He chuckled watching carefully as Nayla turned and tugged the case to its side on the floor, noting that despite the fact she had broken through cell bars and a steel wall several inches thick not more than an hour ago that she seemed to struggle with the weight of it. "Just so you know Nayla-ya, it's difficult to take being called a pervert by someone who travels with a riding crop in her suitcase seriously."

She looked back at him in annoyance as she unzipped her case. "Did you ever think perhaps I just use it as an actual riding crop? That maybe I'm able to ride horses? That maybe it's _your_ dirty mind that's the problem here?"

"And I suppose you use that bullwhip to rear livestock?" He added slyly.

She narrowed her eyes at him, deciding trying to come up with an excuse for that one would be a waste of effort. "...Shut up, Law."

She turned back to her case, decidedly ignoring his chuckle and rummaged around inside. "Wow, you actually put stuff back in neatly after your snooping?" She had expected everything to have been tossed back in an unfolded mess but it was easier than she had anticipated to find some underwear and her toiletries. She slid a make-up remover wipe from its plastic sachet and grabbed her toothbrush thankfully.

Nayla tried to conceal her matching underwear choice in her hands but knew it was futile, 'not like he hasn't already seen everything,' she thought with a huff. She zipped the suitcase back up and stood with the items in her hand as she turned back to Law. "I'm guessing you have a bathroom I can use so that I can slip these on?"

He wordlessly indicated to the room next door through the archway with his hand, making no effort to look at the items she had tightly clenched into her own.

She walked through the archway into his bedroom, easily spotting the adjoining bathroom ahead of her through its open door. Nayla glanced around briefly at the room as she passed through it, noting the dark, simple, elegant décor flowed into this room from the other easily, though the colour scheme changed slightly to a more soothing one; tones of wood, creams, blues and black thread through here. She could feel him watching her so paid this room no mind for now, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of her interest or awe but internally promising to scrutinise the beast's inner lair to her heart's content later.

Nayla entered the bathroom and shut the door behind her locking it, quickly realizing how futile that was. As if a tiny bar of metal would stop someone like Trafalgar Law entering a room. She snorted in dry mirth at the useless habit and quickly unzipped her hoodie to pull on her bra as she took a quick glance around the room. It was larger than she had thought it would be and seemed to have a similar design though different colour scheme to the bathroom downstairs.

She quickly slipped on her panties and pulled her shorts back on before taking a quick look in the mirror over the sink, promptly using the make-up wipe to remove the stray mascara under her eyes. She was starting to regret associating it with Law's bags; she'd never be able to look at panda eyes without thinking of him now. Nayla sighed in annoyance at that, inwardly swearing to never have them again if that were the case and tossed the wipe into the waste basket on the floor.

She glanced at the toothpaste by the sink and bit her lip, deciding Law probably wouldn't mind if she used some and quickly brushed her teeth. She left her wet toothbrush aside, making a mental note of where it was for when she'd retrieve it later and re-pack it when it was dry.

Nayla left the bathroom and walked back through to his living quarters to find him reclined further into his seat, the hands behind his head tilting his hat forward, the brim of it nearly covering his closed eyes. He had placed his feet up onto his desk, legs crossed at the ankles. Considering he had come down to the brig fully dressed and so early in the morning it made her wonder if he had slept at all last night.

He opened one eye lazily to look at her as she re-entered the room and finally took the seat he had asked her to sometime ago but made no attempt to speak as he watched her poorly concealed curiosity.

Nayla took the opportunity to glance at the items on the desk between them, almost hopeful that there would be some personal affects like a family photo, maybe a photo of a girlfriend or wife he'd left behind (not that she cared, just curious) but there was nothing of the sort.

A stationary holder filled with expensive looking ink pens, a particularly eye-catching one lay across the top of the stack of papers that he was apparently currently working on.

There was an intercom built into the bottom right corner of the desk and a Den Den Mushi situated near it, proudly displaying Law's Jolly Roger on its chest and a design reminiscent of it painted along the lower rim of its blue shell in black. She was surprised to see her own Den Den Mushi snoozing alongside it; she had forgotten about the poor thing tucked snugly into her suitcase and was thankful for the first time that Law had been through her belongings. It looked comfortable as if it had been taken care of, it must have been hungry and thirsty.

The bottom left corner had three navigational devices resting snugly within the carved out grooves of the desk's surface. One was a simple compass, one was what she recognised to be a Log Pose that looked similar to what she had seen Nami wear on her wrist, the final one seemed to be an unfamiliar 3 in 1 type of Log Pose that she had not seen before. It was obvious even at a glance that Law spent a significant amount of his time at this desk.

Law watched her settle against the back of the chair analysing his belongings quietly and crossing her legs, the bare, smooth skin shining softly in the lighting was a tempting invitation. It made him regret not giving her that pair of jeans he'd found in her suitcase to wear instead. He forcibly pushed the thought away thinking that the next island where he and his men could enjoy frivolous female company couldn't come fast enough.

He didn't need to lean forward and glance down to know she was struggling to touch the foot of her uncrossed leg to the floor. The thought made him grin slightly as he looked at her, causing her to raise a brow at him as she waited for him to speak.

He decided to simply get to the point. "Have you decided to take me up on my offer yet, Nayla-ya?"

"Offer? You make it sound so optional, Law."

His smirk widened but he didn't address her bitter response and roll of her eyes. "Well?"

"I…want to say yes." She reluctantly admitted, trying to ignore the smug expression on Law's face, as if he had already known she would. "But there are just some things I'm not sure of…like, I don't know if I can agree to the length of time this is going to take."

"Then you'll simply have to work hard to climb up Joker's ranks faster for the information I want." She shot him a displeased look but he spoke again before she could retort. "What else aren't you sure of?"

'You,' her brain immediately supplied, though she didn't want to voice that uncertainty to him directly. "Where exactly am I going to be staying whilst I work for you?"

"With me." She gave him a look that said 'duh' prompting him to elaborate. "Here, Nayla-ya, with me, in my room."

Her eyes widened. "You can't be serious, you really thought I'd agree to living in your room the whole time I'd work for you?!"

"No. We have crew quarters capable of housing up to forty men but I've allowed my crewmembers to spread out amongst the rooms seeing as we currently have a crew half that size. It had been my original intention to clear one of the crew cabins on the second floor for you."

"...But?"

"The remainder of my crew would still live on the second floor with you. I had thought simply ordering _them_ to behave themselves would be sufficient during your stay. However, after Penguin gave me the graphic details of _your_ manipulative and sexual behaviour, I can't allow you that much proximity to my men in their living quarters overnight."

She sat forward in offense at his implication. "Wha-but I only did that bec-!"

"Furthermore and more importantly, Nayla-ya." He cut off. "You have been nothing but secretive about yourself and what you are capable of. I cannot _trust_ you to be that close to my crew at night when they're sleeping and I'm on a different floor."

"…I don't know how much clearer to be about meaning them no harm than _drowning_ for their sake, Law. You can't believe I'd ever attack them."

"I sincerely doubt it but I see no reason to take that chance, especially not for the sake of my own personal goal. When you have earned my trust, I'll allow you your own personal space. Until then, you will stay where I can see you. That goes for on and off-shore."

"So basically you're saying you're going to babysit me." She said in distaste, looking away from him, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms. "If your issue is me being too close to your crew at night then surely there's some kind of guest room somewhere else on the ship or something?"

He laughed at her naivety. "Nayla-ya, this is a pirate ship. We don't take guests. You were _in_ the 'guest room.'"

"What about clearing out a storage room or something that isn't on the second floor then?"

"Surprisingly, the storage rooms are for storage." She narrowed her eyes at his patronizing tone. "They're filled with cargo and most of them are not warmed as they hold food and ammunition, they aren't meant to be lived in."

"I'll put up with it, only need to push stuff aside enough to lay a mattress on the floor or something, right?"

"Most are lined with rows of shelving, heavy crates, weaponry…no amount of restraining cargo can ensure anyone's safety in those rooms during turbulence. Not to mention the occasional rat gets on board at port and tends to go straight for the storage rooms." He added with a smirk.

"…For fuck sake." She shuddered at the thought of being crushed by cargo or woken up by a rat scampering across her face whilst she slept on a mattress on the floor of a cold storage room. "Fine, if it's only temporary until you trust me then fine-but I want you to note the irony of _you_ wanting _my_ trust after _you_ kidnapped me." She said pointing a finger at him with a glare.

His grin only widened at that. "Duly noted."

She sighed heavily in exasperation, looking away from him and at his pin-board in curiosity. "So…how much are you paying me for this 'job?'"

He laughed again, causing her to look back at him. "That offer is long off the table, Nayla-ya."

Her jaw dropped. "You don't seriously expect me to work for you for free?!"

"You will be getting free room, board, travel and the finest medical care available." He added the last part conceitedly, making her roll her eyes at him. "You may keep anything Joker pays you as your own, I'm not interested in his money."

"I'm doing two jobs. One for Joker and another by relaying information to you. Both equally dangerous, I should be paid twice!" She glared at him from her seat, sitting forward and uncrossing her legs.

He eyed her annoyed posture before lowering his legs from the desk to the floor and speaking lowly. "Don't misunderstand the situation Nayla-ya, you're in no position to be making demands. Let me make this perfectly clear for you."

He leant forward as she did, pushing back his hat so that he could make clear eye contact with her and placing his elbows onto the desk between them. "As far as I'm concerned you're still a prisoner here. Not a guest, not a crewmember and not an employee of mine. Don't mistake your lack of cell for anything else other than there is simply no point in keeping you in one if you can break out of it. Until you have earned a level of trust from me, you won't be anything else."

She bit the inside of her cheek, realising that he was right; he had never released her from his brig willingly.

"It doesn't have to be an unpleasant experience, Nayla-ya. You'll be treated fairly as long as you behave yourself and are cooperative."

"I said I'd work for you willingly Law, what more do you want?" She snapped.

"I don't doubt that if an opportunity arose for you to escape that you'd take it. Am I wrong?" He smirked at her silence as she looked away from him. "Exactly, that doesn't really fit into the definition of 'willingly.'" He chuckled.

"…I swear I'm going to make your life a living hell, Law."

"If you choose to do so then that will work both ways." He took note of the way she looked back at him, an edge of similar threat to her glare as he had seen in her eyes yesterday during their first confrontation in his brig. He wondered if she were contemplating attacking him at her nearest opportunity. Secretly he was welcoming that, he'd love to see what she was capable of firsthand and prove to her that he could keep her under control by force if necessary.

"One more thing, although you're not my crewmember, I _am_ still the captain of this ship and I will expect you to follow similar, if not the same, rules as the rest of the crew on board and you will be expected to follow my orders."

Nayla narrowed her eyes at him, already wondering what ridiculous, difficult, stubborn, possibly indecent things he would demand she do just to prove his superiority to her and get under her skin. Sensing her current train of thought he abruptly cut it off and spoke again. "For no other reason other than to maintain order and for everyone's safety. I won't order anything unreasonable of you." She relaxed a bit at that though still maintained a wary, distrustful glare on him.

"However, you will need to keep better control of your temper and refrain from openly disrespecting me in front of my men. I won't tolerate it and you will be disciplined for it in future. As I would for anyone else on board my ship."

"It's a lot easier to do when you don't annoy me _on purpose_ and what do you mean by discipline?" She didn't like the glint of dark promise in his eyes as he had said it.

"Behave yourself and you need never find out." He said lowly.

She honestly felt a small chill at the idea of being punished by this man, especially because she had seen what his powers allowed him to do to other people.

'Maybe it's not that kind of punishment. – Not now. – Maybe it'll be all kinky and enjoyable. You should probably start misbehaving yourself immediately. – Not. Now. – …I bet he'll spank you, he already did it yesterday. – You're unbelievably unhelpful, I'm looking right at the man, why would you remember something like that _now_? How am I supposed to keep a straight face?! _–_ …You totally enjoyed it too. – Most useless brain on the face of the fucking planet!' She was grateful when he spoke again and interrupted her inappropriate train of thought before it got too sordid.

"If you play nice, I'll play nice. If you insist on being an uncooperative brat then I will deal with you accordingly. All I ask is that you do your job and we'll keep it civil. Do we have a deal, Nayla-ya?" He extended a hand to her across the surface of his desk.

She shifted her wary gaze to his tattooed hand. She felt like she was cutting a deal with the devil, that taking his hand would condemn and doom her. A complete contrast to how she had felt when he had extended his hand to her the day she boarded his sub two weeks ago… but he was still the same man, right? The same man that had made her feel reassured and safe with him? Or was he that dangerous, threatening one from this morning that had nearly pulled a Nodachi to her throat? The kind man that had saved her life and wanted no credit or the same guy that had callously knocked her unconscious and kidnapped her for his own selfish needs?...

Nayla closed her eyes, unsure of what to make of him at all, even after two and a half weeks…he was right though, if an opportunity presented itself, she could attempt an escape. If things looked bad, she'd find a way out as soon as his guard was down. She was nowhere near confident she could defeat him in an actual fight; his abilities were beyond anything she had ever seen before.

For now, she didn't really have many other options. She was stuck on his vessel until they reached land and it sounded like he'd be keeping a close eye on her…maybe it wouldn't be so bad, maybe she really would enjoy it here and decide to stay willingly until the job was over.

Sighing in resignation, she opened her eyes and reluctantly took his hand with her own; watching as his warm, tattooed fingers gripped hers firmly, watching as the morbid word closed shut around her flesh. "Deal." She said quietly.

Nayla looked up at him as he pulled his hand away from hers and leant back in his chair, the satisfied look on his features bringing her from her reverie as she realised something.

"…Wait a minute, if I'm staying here with you, do I still use the bathroom downstairs or the one up here?"

"I can't have you using the facilities at the same time as my men and I can't keep inconveniencing them on your behalf. You'll need to use mine."

She scrunched her face up in confusion. "…If you were planning on making me stay in your quarters and use your bathroom then why didn't you let me take my shower up here?"

"It gave me a chance to have your confiscated weapons removed and stored elsewhere without your knowledge." He admitted blandly.

"So I guess that answers my question of if I can have those back…" She mumbled in displeasure, mentally confirming that she had been right in guessing why he had been through her things. "Not even my necklace?"

He shook his head. "You're apparently quite capable of defending yourself without your weapons, I see no reason to return them to you for now."

She pouted in annoyance before realising something else. "Wait…if we're both going to be staying in these quarters…there is _no_ way I'm sharing a bed with you."

"Of course not. There are two large sofas, one in this room and one in the bedroom."

"Which one are you going to sleep on? The one in here or the one in the bedroom so you can watch me sleep like a creep?" She asked warily.

He laughed at her. "Now why would you assume _I'd_ be the one sleeping on a sofa, Nayla-ya?"

She looked at him in shock. "What? You can't expect _me_ to sleep on a sofa, Law!"

"Why not? I assure you they're both very comfortable, I've fallen asleep on them myself many times. However, you'll be sleeping on the one in the bedroom so that I can keep an eye on you overnight or 'watch you like a creep' as you so nicely put it." He mocked, grinning in open enjoyment of her outrage.

"The comfort isn't the point!"

"Then what is?" He asked with a knowing smile.

"It's incredibly ungentlemanly of you to make the lady take the sofa-especially if you insist on forcing me to be here in the first place!"

"I'm not a gentleman Nayla-ya, I'm a pirate. You think you're entitled to my bed because you're a woman?" He said the last part lowly, an air of sexual insinuation in his tone which she swiftly chose to ignore.

"Yes!" She exclaimed in disbelief, wondering how quickly Law would be taking a kick to the face if Sanji had been here to hear this outrage.

"I am the captain of this ship. I won't be giving up _my_ bed, in _my_ quarters to a _prisoner._ " He taunted, taking great pleasure in her misplaced expectation of chivalry.

She stood abruptly from her seat, placing her palms onto the surface of his desk, her temper peaking at his continuing patronisation and mocking of her. Everything from his body language, his facial expression, his choice of words and his tone was rubbing her the wrong way.

"You really expect me to put up with _working for free,_ whilst sleeping on a _sofa_ in a _shared bedroom_ with the likes of _you, indefinitely_?! You have a lot of fucking nerve, Law." She hissed between gritted teeth, leaning forward to his smugly grinning face as he observed her in unmasked amusement.

He stood slowly, maintaining eye contact as he did so and placed his own palms onto the surface of his desk, the warmth of his hands grazing her own as he leant his face down to hers. "If you insist on sleeping in a bed so badly Nayla-ya, I have no objections to sharing mine with you."

The proximity of his face to hers suddenly dawned on her through her irritation. She couldn't help the flitting glance to his lips as she remembered the last time they had been this close to her own between the bars of her cell. She bit the inside of her cheek and glared back at him, refusing to lose her composure as she had yesterday.

"…Don't make bluffs Law or you'll look a fool when I call you on it and you don't have the nerve to go through with it."

"Who's bluffing, Nayla?" The low, husky tone of his voice as he allowed his own gaze to fall to her lips sent a disproportionately strong wave of want through her. She released the lower lip she had unconsciously sucked in, his warm breath close enough to tingle against her moist skin.

She looked back at his lips, observing the lack of mocking smile on them now and questioning just how bad the consequences could possibly be if she were to just lean forward that last inch and taste him.

…

She wasn't sure if she should have been relieved or annoyed at the knock at the door that stopped her from closing the gap between them.

"Enter." Law's voice sounded completely unfazed, straight back to his neutral tone as if he hadn't just been speaking in a way that had oozed sexual intent to her.

"You wanted to see me Capt-uh." Connor looked between the two of them, still at close proximity to each other over the desk before awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck as they turned to look at him. "Um, s-sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No."

"Yes."

She looked back at Law to glare at him, narrowing her eyes at the lips she had just been staring at so intently when she saw them pulled back into that damn smirk.

Deciding she'd had her fill of looking at his arrogant face for today she began turning back to Connor as she spoke to him. "It isn't what it looks like."

"It's exactly what it looks like." Law hadn't missed a beat to contradict her, making her whip her head back around to him to resume her glare.

Law's smile grew as he watched her seethe, enjoying the show too much to bother looking back up at the man as he addressed him. "Connor, it would seem Nayla-ya will be travelling with us for a while. I'll make an official announcement about it at breakfast. In the meantime, show her around her new 'home.'"

"Uh, aye aye, Captain." He confirmed uncomfortably.

How she had ever, _ever_ considered kissing the smug bastard not more than a minute ago, she'd never know. Nayla bit her lip in poorly restrained annoyance as she turned to leave, fighting the urge to express her anger in any way lest she feed his personal entertainment at it any further.

She felt his eyes on her all the way out of the room and through the door; Connor closed it behind him as he followed her out of the doorway. She turned to look at him, prompting him to lead the way. He did so, looking uneasy at the practically palpable waves of fury she was radiating.

"Um...heya, sweetie. Nice to finally catch up with you, glad you're alright." He offered nervously.

"Hey Connor, thanks, nice to see you again too." She muttered, trying to simmer down; she didn't want to misdirect her current mood at the poor guy.

There was a quiet moment as they began walking together down the hallway before he cleared his throat and spoke up again. "Soooo...you and the Cap-"

"No!" She rounded on him fiercely, making him hold his hands up in defence with wide eyes.

"Ok ok, sorry!...Ya know, Jeff kinda called it."

"Just give me the damn tour." She ground out, watching him as he scurried past her, hands still up, to take her to the next door down the hallway.

Nayla could have sworn she could hear Law laughing in his quarters but she was pretty sure it was just her imagination mocking her. She'd choose to believe that so that she didn't go stomping back into them to attempt to assault him.


	24. The perils of interior design

Law took his seat, smiling to himself as he listened to Nayla's verbal battering of Connor grow quieter as they walked down the hall. She may think he had only been trying to irritate her, which he had been, but there was a slight ulterior motive for allowing Connor to believe that there was something going on between them.

A crew of men on prolonged travel between islands in an enclosed space bred boredom, anything akin to juicy gossip spread as quickly through them as it would through a gaggle of giggly teenage girls. It wouldn't take long for Connor to divulge what he had seen to the crew and if the crew felt their captain had some interest in Nayla then they would back off. It would offer her some protection from any serious, inappropriate advances if they thought for a second it may incur their captain's wrath...but mostly, it really _was_ just about annoying her.

If nothing else, having Nayla around for a little while would be interesting, she'd at least be a great source of entertainment. Law smiled more widely as he recalled the look on her face when he hadn't allowed her to deny anything going on between them but it soon faltered when he thought of the kiss he had nearly allowed to happen. He wasn't all too sure if that still fell under the category of 'harmless teasing and flirtation' that he would limit himself to with her...

Well, she was hardly a blushing virgin, she'd be unlikely to take a kiss-if it _had_ happened, too seriously. Plus he knew Connor would show up soon enough so it wouldn't have gone too far. A little sexual tension between two people never caused anyone any harm as long as it didn't cross the line...He might need to make a more firm decision on where that line was though.

'On to more important things,' he thought with a sigh as he pushed the woman in question out of his mind and glanced at the papers on his desk. He moved his pen aside to peruse the quickly scrawled, notable points of Penguin and Shachi's damage reports.

They had been lucky that no one had been hurt and that the damage was not more severe. The hull breech was actually not too bad but unfortunately spanned over several compartments. The amount and rate of water uptake was purely due to the pressure the vessel had been under at the time.

They had managed to level off the tilt caused by the heavy, flooded compartments by managing some of the sub's weighting but overall their speed and manoeuvrability was severely hindered. Hopefully they'd run into no trouble until they were able to do needed repairs and drain the affected areas. It was unlikely that they would; both marines and pirates in the area had suffered major losses and damages from the war two weeks ago. The marines were in no mood to pick pointless fights and most of the other powerful pirate crews had returned or travelled to the New World. They should be fine as long as the ship took on no more water.

Law turned his chair to look at his board at the articles of interest he had kept from the papers the last couple of weeks. It was unprecedented that not one but two Warlord seats be open simultaneously. He hadn't even considered seeking that position previously but this was a rare opportunity that may not present itself again soon and that offered an untapped potential.

He was certain Doflamingo had been keenly watching his activity since he made himself known as a pirate. He imagined that as soon as his first bounty was published and had been seen that Doflamingo would have grinned and laughed maniacally with glee at it. The man had lost track of him after he slipped away with the Devil Fruit Doflamingo had been so desperately seeking. There was no doubt that he would still want to make use of it one way or another and given enough time, he'd come for it. However, Law intended to strike long before then.

Law had spent a lot of the downtime on Amazon Lily mulling over the possibilities of taking a Warlord seat for himself. Right now, he was in a good position to take further action to place himself as a prime candidate for one. He had unintentionally earned himself Kizaru's attention when he had escaped the admiral's grasp on Sabaody _and_ not been taken out by him at Marineford. He had also openly taken in Straw Hat and Jinbe at the war which had not gone unnoticed either.

Escaping an admiral twice and aiding a Supernova and a defecting Warlord...Law was currently very much on the marines' radar. It wouldn't take him much to push his threat level up higher and when he did; the marines would likely be eager to have him work _for_ them than against them to eliminate his threat.

He had thought of the best-suited show of his power to take one of the Warlord seats, it would need a little while to complete but wouldn't be difficult. Law couldn't have perfected his Mes technique at a better time. His grin returned as he thought of all the poor saps that had been on the wrong end of his earlier trial and errors. Whilst he was working on that idea, he would go out of his way to be a complete thorn in the marines' side at every opportunity to increase his chances that they would want to give him the position to stop his acting out against them.

It wasn't an appealing status to be known as a government dog but it didn't matter as long as it suited his needs. He and his crew would be safe from marines, from other Warlords and from rival pirates who would run in fear at the very mention of his title. All enemies except the Four Emperors nullified in a single move. It would be a significant advantage before entering the New World.

However, the main reason for taking the title was that like his, currently somewhat unwilling, spy within Doflamingo's underground network, Law himself would have significantly more connections and freedoms to dig around for information of use to taking down his target.

He could seek a weakness to exploit from Doflamingo's above and underground world simultaneously. There are always ways to take down an opponent who is stronger than you and he would certainly find it. Doflamingo himself had been the one to teach him that.

Law wondered how he'd react once he heard of his ascent to Warlord. The man believed he was untouchable; he'd leave Law to do as he pleased purely out of curiosity of his next action and for entertainment.

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru." His train of thought interrupted, Law dragged his slightly irritated stare from the eerie black and white grin of Doflamingo's printed face on his board to the Den Den Mushi on his desk instead. Leaning forward from his recline to answer it.

"Captain, the sub has detected something static, roughly 100 kilometres ahead. It's probably an uninhabited island, too small for the Log Pose to lock onto but it matches the co-ordinates of some of the small islands in the area from the maps we got at Sabaody."

"How long until we reach it, Bepo?"

"A little while longer than usual because of the drop in speed but as long as the sea stays pretty calm it shouldn't take more than two hours from now."

"Good, stay on course, notify me of any changes."

"Aye aye Captain."

Law hung up; inwardly relieved they had already found a suitable place to repair the damages they took this morning. An inhabited island would have been more ideal to allow them to make more permanent repairs and restock the materials used but one that wasn't inhabited and unreachable by Log Pose would offer its own benefits too. They'd be unlikely to run into anyone else there whilst their vessel was vulnerable.

Breakfast had been delayed because of the Sea king issue but it should be served and finished before they reach the island. His crew would need the energy to complete the repairs quickly so that they could continue their journey to the island their Log Pose was currently set to.

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru." Law looked at the Den Den Mushi hoping Bepo wasn't already calling back to retract his findings but raised a brow when he found it wasn't ringing. The one next to it, Nayla's one, was.

* * *

"Watch your step sweetie, nearly there."

"I don't see why we couldn't use the main stairwell." Nayla grumbled as she slowly climbed down the metal ladder to the fourth floor.

"Well it's on the other side of the sub, it's faster to take the ladders sometimes, useful for you to know where they are too, ya know?"

"Connor, you wanna stop openly staring at my ass as I climb down so that that explanation sounds more convincing?"

"Ah, sorry."

"...You wanna actually look away after you apologise so that that apology sounds more convincing?"

She stopped climbing down to look pointedly at him, making Connor clear his throat and shift his gaze elsewhere as he muttered a second apology. 'I wonder if this is why Law gave me shorts to wear,' she thought as she looked down at him in mild annoyance.

In the dim lighting of the fourth floor's hallway, the near-amber colour of Connor's eyes was more striking than usual, the bright colour seemingly glowing in the darkness. It contrasted so sharply to the long, black, unruly hair he kept tied in low ponytail under his cap. His eyes were gorgeous and she'd openly said as much to him when she had gotten a clear look at them for the first time on Amazon Lily.

Connor, she had quickly learned, was a little blunt, unintentionally. He had been the man that had sat next to Jeff at Baez's tavern and inadvertently called her a tramp but it didn't take long to warm up to him as she had Jeff. They both had a distinct air of mischievousness to them, it was probably why she liked them, they were not dissimilar to herself in that respect.

"Anyway, level four! Electronic heart of the vessel! Smallest floor but has the main control room for the sub during submersion up front and houses most of the control panels needed to run our systems, engines, turrets, torpedo chutes, the lot really."

"Tor-really? You guys have torpedoes?!" Nayla turned to look at him in surprise as she touched down to the floor beside him.

"Yeah, I know you haven't seen the underside of the ship yet but we have a couple of turrets attached, couple of torpedo chutes near the engine turbines too." He grinned proudly, gesturing for her to follow him down the short hallway with his hand as he turned to walk.

"Seriously? Whoa."

"Ever notice the smaller, metal panels around the outside of the top floor? Got thirteen cannons up top too, for when we're surfaced."

"Thirteen?!" Nayla vaguely recalled the metal panels she had seen on the sub from the outside. She'd had plenty of time to look at the Heart Pirates' vessel when she visited them each day on Amazon Lily but hadn't actually thought of what they might have been for. Maybe she had dismissed them as decorative.

"Yeah, hardly ever need 'em though, you've seen Cap's powers." Connor mildly mimicked Law's 'Room' pose with his hand as he spoke making her giggle.

"I'd actually not noticed the panels much, but wow...torpedoes..."

"Yeah, Cap hates using them though. You know how expensive they are and how difficult it is to find them? God damn pain in the ass." He muttered, allowing her to walk ahead of him into the room at the end of the hall through the open doorway.

"I bet...Ah, wait-you're one of the top mechanics here, right?" Nayla asked as she stepped into the room, recognising the furry silhouette against the large, rounded, glass pane window up ahead.

Connor looked pleased that she had remembered. "Yeah, one of the main mechs of this bad boy." He beamed, patting the metal wall beside him affectionately as he followed her into the room.

"Hmm, so I'm guessing it's your job to find and buy replacements for the torpedoes fired?"

"Yeah...god dammit I hate restocking those." He said sighing and crossing his arms.

"Oh, Nayla!" Bepo turned around in his seat to greet her with a smile.

"Heya Bepo, working hard?" She trotted up to his chair and hugged him from behind it, nuzzling her face against the soft fur of his cheek.

"Pfft, lucky bear." Connor rolled his eyes at the display.

"...Sorry."

"Don't be mean to Bepo! How many times I gotta tell you guys?" She scolded, rounding on him.

"S-sorry."

Satisfied with the reversal of Connor now being the apologetic one she turned back to the furry navigator. "That's better. Ignore him, Bepo." She resumed snuggling the warm bear, looking over his shoulder in curiosity at the numerous buttons and screens displayed on the metal panel in front of him. "Wow, this looks complicated."

"It's not so bad once you get used to it. See this blip up ahead on the sonar screen?" She followed his paw as he used a claw to tap the glass gently to illustrate his point. "We're headed there now to fix the sub, should be there a little after breakfast." He said happily.

"Nice job Bepo, that was fast!" She praised, enjoying his smile though she looked up at the large, glass panel as some fish scurried out of the sub's way, their movement catching her eye. They weren't currently submerged but this floor of the sub remained just below the surface during travel it seemed. It was a nice view; the sunshine broke through the shallow water easily, illuminating the room a vibrant blue hue, the reflected light from the waves of the surface rippled across the metallic walls in soothing, white, fluid, curves.

"Speaking of breakfast, we should go grab a bite, sweetie." She turned to look at Connor as he gestured back the way they came with his thumb. "Before the grunts upstairs hog it all." He muttered, rolling his eyes as he made his way out of the room towards the ladder.

"You eaten, Bepo? Want me to grab you a plate?" Nayla offered, releasing her hold on the bear and standing up straight to leave.

"It's ok, I ate."

"Alright, see you soon." She beamed at him, it really was hard to treat him like a regular, full-grown man when he just looked so damn...cute. Those button eyes. If she'd ever admit to a crippling weakness, it would definitely be to anything of the cute and fluffy variety.

Nayla jogged back down the short hallway to catch up to Connor who was waiting for her by the ladder, she slowed to a stop and gave the ladder then him a deliberate look.

"...Guessing you want _me_ to go up first?" He smiled sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his neck under his black cap.

"You're not gonna get an extended view twice in one day." She muttered, crossing her arms and waiting for him to start climbing ahead of her.

Connor sighed in defeat and hoisted himself up onto the rungs to begin climbing; she made her way up after him as they began ascending to the second floor.

She had learnt during her tour that the floors were numbered from the main deck downwards. Floor 0 was the level of the main deck and the main entrance. It also housed the small compartment above the entrance that she had noticed with Jeff that contained the equipment and hoisting mechanism to work the main mast of the ship.

Floor 1 she would be naming 'Law's domain' in her mind. It was basically Law's floor. It held all medical rooms and his quarters. It was pretty logical she guessed, if anyone were injured and brought onto the ship they'd have the least distance to travel to get to the treatment rooms and if anyone ever dared infiltrate the sub? Try getting past Law on floor 1. No one would be getting any further in than that.

Floor 2 held all the largest portholes and so contained all the social rooms of the crew; the rec room, messdeck, galley, a gym and their quarters mainly. There was a secondary navigational cockpit there at the front of the sub, it allowed visualisation of the above-surface conditions when they were not submerged, had open communication to the main cockpit on the fourth floor and allowed Law to reach a cockpit to take command in an emergency faster from his own quarters if needed. Connor had told her that it didn't really serve that latter purpose much anymore as Law was now able to extend and use his abilities to move himself down to the fourth floor, in a similar manner to how he had moved her out of the flooded compartment earlier.

Floor 3 Nayla was unfortunately already familiar with. It held the brig, storage rooms, laundry and some maintenance rooms. It ran level to the lower deck of the sub that served as a place to enjoy the view during surfaced travelling and as a second entry route for cargo to prevent having to wheel it down the ramp of the stairwell from the main entrance. Though Connor had told her it was sometimes too close to the sea-level and often got slippery in the choppy waves of the Grand-Line's weather.

She hadn't had a chance to visit the circular, white room that rested on the lower deck. She had been told it was another social room for the crew, a quiet lounge for them to relax in if the rec room was too rowdy. She decided to go wander there later if she remembered.

Floor 4 she had just seen, it was much smaller than the other floors but the view out of the glass panel was definitely worth the trek down there, maybe she'd go to visit Bepo once in a while when he was on duty just to enjoy that and the sweet bear's company.

"So...heard how you got the better of Penguin." Conner broke her thoughts cheekily as they reached the third floor but continued their climb up to the second to reach the messdeck.

"Are you really gonna talk about that now?" She sighed.

"Hell yeah I am!" He laughed. "Penguin clammed up real good about it and Captain won't tell us anything."

"Really? Law hasn't said anything about it or me to you guys?" Nayla raised her brows at this, wondering why he had no problem letting the crew hear everything that went on between her and Penguin through the door of his quarters but didn't feel like adding to it or warning them.

"Well...he did say you were a manipulative shrew and that if we were assigned to guard you that we shouldn't get within arm's reach of your cell, ever open your door without strict protocol and that we shouldn't speak to you."

"Shrew?!" She yelled up at him, causing some of the crew members that had been in the hallway of the second floor to turn and look at them as they reached it.

"His words sweetie, not mine." Connor quickly defended, hoping off of the ladder and onto the floorboards. He reached a hand to her to help her off the ladder as she climbed up after him.

"Tsk, what an ass." She grumbled, taking his hand and stepping onto the hallway floorboards next to him.

"Glad _you_ enjoyed the view." Connor winked at her, tugging her by the hand he held in the direction of the messdeck, wiping the scowl off of her face as she laughed at him.

Nayla smiled to herself as she allowed him to lead her, thinking it wouldn't matter how often Law annoyed her if these guys were around, they were all so likeable. She had really expected Law's crew to be dark, sinister, calculative creeps 'cough-liketheircaptain-cough.' She was glad they weren't though, maybe she really would enjoy her time here after all.

"So what do you think of the sub now that you've seen most of it?" Conner grinned at her, it was obvious he took great pride in it and rightfully so.

"The sub is really awesome." She said, returning his grin.

"You think so? Not many women appreciate mechanical marvels like this baby. 'Boys toys' and such."

"I think it's brilliant, I'm totally new to submarines though so I don't think I'm able to appreciate all the amazing mechanical stuff going on behind the scenes..." Nayla didn't want to dismiss the idea of learning more about subs right now, just in case she could still find some useful information to help her slip away later if she needed to. She was sure amongst all the books she had seen on board that there must be one about the way they worked or how to escape them in different situations.

"Hmm, Connor?" He looked back at her when she spoke up uncertainly. "Do you think you could lend me something to pass the time whilst we travel? Something to read maybe?"

Nayla didn't particularly want to borrow a book from a source Law might notice, like the rec room's bookshelves or his own. If anyone owned a _personal_ book about subs, it would probably be one of the mechanics and if she could borrow one through Connor then maybe Law wouldn't find out about her side-snooping. If he ever did then she could just play it off as wanting to know more about sub safety procedures because of what had happened this morning, right?

Connor snorted in amusement at her. "Sweetie, I'm a pirate and a mechanic, I'm not exactly the bookish type. I got nothin' but mech books and por-...mech books." He amended, looking away from her knowing look at his poor cover-up.

"Could you lend me one? Please?"

"...A porn?!" He looked back at her in shock, his loud voice and what he had said drawing attention and raised brows at them as they walked past other crewmembers.

"No, you-...not a porn...geez, is being a pervert a crew requirement?" She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, ignoring the surprised stares of the men in the hallway as they walked past. "As much as I'd just _love_ to see what genre of porn magazine you enjoy fapping to, I'd much prefer a mechanical book, please." She sighed.

"Oh...hmm, they're kinda techy though." Connor said thoughtfully.

"It's better than staring at the wall in Law's quarters or wherever the hell he plans to stuff me all day until it's time to do his bidding." She mumbled.

"Sure I guess, I have no problem with that..." He rubbed his chin with his free hand as if mentally going through what books he could offer her before his face brightened up. "Oh, I got one you might enjoy if you're curious about subs, it's all about different types of 'em. Comparing the features of different models and their advantages, disadvantages and stuff. Pretty simple terms too, easy for beginners to understand...but hey if you ever wanna know more about them, I wouldn't mind giving you private lessons." He added slyly, moving his free hand from his face to place it on the messdeck door they had reached and push it open.

She laughed following him in. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

The background chatter of the Heart Pirates inside the messdeck quietened as they entered the room. Most turned to look at the new arrivals, quietly mumbling to each other about what they had and hadn't heard about the events this morning and about why they thought Nayla was wandering around freely now.

"...Geez, you may as well speak about me at full volume." She huffed, looking around the room at the less than subtle whispering about her. It seemed that most of them had actually already finished their meals and were just chatting socially about this morning, awaiting further orders.

"Knock it off you rude bastards." Connor scolded, leading her over by the hand he still held to the far left side of the room where there was a canteen window-like set-up against the wall, the crew turned away sheepishly trying their best to not stare and resume their previous conversations at their tables.

Nayla had been caught in this room by Law just yesterday but it had looked completely different to her when empty and with the canteen window shut. This was by far the plainest social room on board but it was probably kept that way for practical and cleaning purposes she figured.

The flooring inside was still made of wooden floorboards but they were a warmer shade than what was in the hallway and the walls were painted a bright, clean white. The room contained little more than long rows of lightly coloured, bolted tables and accompanying benches lined up vertically to the doorway.

A large, closed set of double doors were situated on the left wall a few feet from the serving window that seemed to lead to the galley, judging by what little she could see through the round, glass windows at the top of them. As they reached the rows of appetising, warm meals she peered into the room beyond the food choices displayed and into the galley, seeing that there were at least four crewmembers working back there amongst all the cooking equipment at the moment.

Overall the messdeck was pleasantly bright, clean and simple, well lit by the natural lighting coming in from the portholes but much blander than the rest of the vessel. The only personalisation in this room was the extensive amount of photos that had been stuck onto the large board hung on the wall to the right of the room; she would definitely be taking a look at that later.

Her curious peering through to the galley was interrupted by Connor as he abruptly dropped her hand and pulled his own away from her as if he had been burned by the contact. She furrowed her brows at his seemingly slightly paler face and followed his gaze.

He was looking nervously at his captain who was sitting at the furthest table inside the messdeck against the far wall opposite the doorway. It was the only table that ran horizontally, opposed to the other tables of the room. She hadn't even noticed it so far back and behind so many other crewmembers sitting at their own tables.

Law was casually leaning his back against the wall behind him with his arms crossed, the shadows under the brim of his hat concealed his features but it was apparent Connor felt like he was on the receiving end of a deadly stare.

She rolled her eyes at them both before deciding to ignore their weird standoff over Connor holding her hand to use it instead to wave back at Penguin and Shachi sitting at the table on either side of their captain.

Connor cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the food in front of them. "Uh, so, feel free to pick up what you like, sweetie." He picked up a couple of trays from the stack to their left and handed one to her before placing his own down on the metal bars laying adjacent to the open canteen window and sliding it across.

A heavy set man making his way past the other side of the open window, did a double-take and came to a halt as he spotted Nayla. "Well well, if it isn't our cuter version of Penguin out of her cell." He beamed, resting his elbows atop the clear plastic that housed and protected the row of cooked food below. The glow of the heat lamps suspended from the plastic roof's ceiling lit the man's face up brightly as he leant over towards them.

Nayla recognised him immediately, there were few larger men on Law's crew, most were slim, muscular builds but this man was distinctly more 'jolly' than the average Heart Pirate. "Ah, Jake! Hello again!" She smiled back at him.

"Hungry Nayla-chan? I can go to the back and grab the fresher cooked stuff, no need to eat the lamp-warmed dreg I feed to _them_." He said casting Connor a look.

"Oi, what's that about, fatty?!"

"Watch who you call fat you bastard, don't you know how stupid it is to piss off people who are alone with your food before they hand it to you?"

Connor promptly snatched a plate from the stack near the large man's elbows atop the thick, clear plastic and hastily scooped some food onto it before Jake could make good on his threat.

"You shouldn't tease people about their weight, Connor...Besides, you know what they say, never trust a skinny chef." Nayla watched in amusement as he hurriedly placed his filled plate onto his tray and held it at a safe distance out of reach of the portly chef on the other side of the window. "That lasagne last night was amazing by the way Jake, really tasty."

The man stopped glaring at Connor as he stuffed a corner of French toast into his mouth in triumph. "Glad you enjoyed it, thought hopefully you'll be enjoying more meals out of the brig than in it from now on." He sighed, taking his elbows off of the top of the protective, plastic framing. "Anyway, what'll it be, Nayla-chan? We have scrambled eggs, omelette, French toast, hash browns...hmm not a lot left actually, want me to whip you up something quick?"

"Seriously? What's with all the special treatment?" Connor asked angrily from around his mouthful as he stood aside and waited for her. "You never offer _us_ the freshly cooked stuff or a personal meal, even when we ask."

"You guys expect to lay on the fat jokes, never compliment the food like ungrateful pigs and then expect special treatment?" Jake snorted in amusement at him.

"Please, it's nothing to do with all that, it's just 'cause she's a pretty woman, isn't it?" Connor deadpanned at him.

"That too." Jake admitted shamelessly. "So what'll it be?" He turned back to Nayla smiling.

"Omelette would be fine, thank you and I don't mind taking one from here." She reached up for a plate but found Jake quickly taking one for her and opening the plastic casing of the displayed food from his side to use tongs to place a generously sized omelette onto it for her.

"That all hun?"

"Yeah, thank you, I'm not a big eater." She took the plate from him and set it on her tray.

"Ah here, at least have one of these." Jake reached to his side, out of sight of the canteen window and returned his hand into view holding a fruit salad cup, placing it on her tray.

"What the hell, where you hiding those?" Connor asked in shock, trying to peer around the edge of the canteen window where Jake had reached.

"None of your damn business, now go get the lady a drink, sit down and shut up." He answered rudely, slamming a hand onto Connor's forehead and shoving him back out of the window.

"Pfft, holdin' out on us you bastard." Connor grumbled, slapping the big man's hand away and walking further along the window to the drinks.

Nayla giggled at their antics, following Connor and thanking Jake as she walked past. She loved watching the banter between the crewmates; it's what had made them so much fun to visit during the last two weeks. They behaved like overgrown boys most of the time but when they needed to be serious they were as mature and manly as it came. They really were a nice crew, how Law had ever sweet-talked this many decent men into following him so loyally she'd never know.

"Juice, water, tea or coffee, sweetie?" Connor offered her.

"Just juice please." She took the glass he poured for her and placed it on her tray, following him after he poured himself a cup of coffee and turned to walk towards a table. They were heading to the table Jeff had waved them over to when they heard Law speak up.

"Connor."

Nayla was sure she could hear the man audibly gulp as he turned to look at his captain to find him indicating he come over with a flexed index finger. She sighed and sent Jeff and apologetic look as she turned to follow Connor to Law's table. She definitely wouldn't mind sitting with Penguin and Shachi but she'd had enough of Law for one day and it wasn't even past morning yet.

They took their seats at the bench on the opposite side of the table to Law and the others, placing their trays down onto its surface.

"I trust you enjoyed the tour, Nayla-ya." Law cast Connor an unreadable look, making the man uneasy as he took another bite of his toast quietly.

"Hate to admit it, but this place is pretty amazing." Nayla remarked, taking a bite of the warm, cheese omelette, her eyes widening at the amount of flavour it packed. "Mmm, food is damn great too, I might need to marry that man." She looked back around to the canteen window; Jake gave her a questioning look and a thumbs up to silently ask if she were happy with her meal. She blew him a kiss in response, making the big man hold his heart in jest as he grinned happily and moved on past the window to carry on working.

"Geez, you're gonna spoil him, Nayla-chan." Shachi mumbled crossing his arms and looking at the smiling chef going on about his business in the galley.

"I'm going to make it a point to be ten times nicer to any crewmembers you guys are mean too. Bepo and Jake are on my list so far." She replied as she turned back to him. "Anyway, I gotta say that this place is unbelievably clean, especially that bathroom, did _not_ expect that from a bunch of male pirates, no offence." She added, taking another bite of her meal.

"Ah well, Captain is a stickler for keeping the place spotless. Probably a doctor thing." Shachi remarked, giving his captain a good-natured smile as he leant his arms onto the table alongside his own tray, his breakfast long-finished.

Law cast him a side glance. "We are a large crew travelling in a confined, shared space to different and unknown islands with their own unique flora, fauna and climates. Any dirt, any microbe, any illness one person picks up will spread rapidly amongst us. It's crucial we keep the sub clean."

"Yeah, that's what I said; doctor thing." Shachi grinned somewhat cheekily at him, causing him to roll his eyes. Nayla giggled quietly at them around her mouthful of food. It was the first time she had seen Law addressed almost casually by a crewmember. A complete contrast to the respect and mild fear she had seen him usually induce in his subordinates. It seemed like he was at least close or old friends with his senior crewmembers like Bepo, Shachi and Penguin and that they were able to get away with it, sometimes at least.

"Bathroom isn't always that clean though, you got there before the morning rush and before that damn bear used it." Penguin leant forward onto the table in much the same way Shachi did.

"Yeah, Bepo moults all over the damn place." Connor confirmed, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Clogs the drain constantly." Shachi sighed.

Nayla smiled at them, it felt like it had been forever since she had last sat and spoken to them casually like this. She finished her mouthful before asking something she had wanted to since she first saw the rec room two weeks ago.

"I have a question." The men at the table turned to look at her as she spoke up. "Who picked out all the stuff for the rooms? The colours, the furniture, like the whole interior design? It's actually pretty impressive." She was hopeful she wouldn't need to add 'amazing interior designer' to the long list of things she both admired and hated to admire about Law but was met with complete silence, observing the few slightly nervous looks his crewmembers cast his way.

...

"...Touchy subject?" She offered, raising her brows.

"Kinda...well we had a pretty basic interior when we first set off back in the day..." Penguin began.

"Yeah, we hit some pretty big loot at some point and Captain decided to treat us to a refurb with some of the excess cash, hired a pretty pricey interior designer before we left the North Blue completely." Shachi completed, shifting a little bit uncomfortably.

"Oh? Well, that was nice of you, Law." She looked at him in surprise noticing the intense look he was giving Shachi, as if silently warning him to not say too much. "So what's so touchy about hiring an interior designer?" Nayla pushed, even more curious now about what had Law on the apparent verge of annoyance

Shachi returned his captain's gaze and spoke cautiously. "Well...the guy was...um a litt-"

"A lot." Connor corrected before taking another sip of his coffee, his sly smile at Shachi's discomfort evident around the cup's edges.

"Ok, a lot...well, 'fruity.'" Shachi illustrated his point as he looked back at her with a feminine wrist drop.

Nayla slowed the chewing of her mouthful as she looked at him, failing to see the problem yet and hoping she wasn't stumbling onto some distasteful sense of homophobia amongst the crew. She looked at Penguin for elaboration seeing as Shachi finally silenced under Law's glare.

"Well uh, halfway through the job, the guy kinda-" Penguin started but lost his nerve a little bit as Law shifted his gaze to him in warning. "-took-a-liking-to-Captain." Penguin blurted, biting his lip, trying not to laugh.

Nayla took a moment to process that, blinking in surprise before she burst out laughing, only laughing louder when Law turned to glare at her. Connor snickered around the edge of the coffee cup held to his lips. Shachi looked away grinning, unable to trust himself to not to join her laughing if he looked at her or his captain.

Finally able to settle down enough to speak she wiped a tear away. "Oh my god, that's too good, what's the matter, Law? Didn't know how to handle it?"

"I handled it fine. I politely declined his...'attention.'" He defended slightly grumpily.

"Oh yeah, he didn't even blink, it's not the first time a guy's come on to Cap-" Connor abruptly shut up as Law narrowed his eyes at him. Nayla laughed again, wondering just how many times a handsome man like Law had needed to fend off the interest of another man.

"Well, your captain is such a pretty boy, I can understand why." She purred teasingly, unfazed as Law directed his irritation to her for her comment.

"The guy was _really_ persistent...I'm pretty sure if the sub wasn't half-wrecked by the refurb and that we didn't still need him to finish the job that Captain woulda slaughtered him." Penguin said smiling slightly.

"Well that was a very noble sacrifice of you Law, putting up with his advances until he finished the job gave your crew a wonderful looking sub." She half-sarcastically commended before taking a sip of her juice, smiling playfully at Law and enjoying the fun at _his_ expense just this once immensely. "Though slaughtering someone just for asking you out more than once is kinda harsh."

"Oh, it was more than that, at some point I'm pretty sure the guy pinched Captain's a-"

"Anyway, Nayla-ya." Law abruptly interrupted Shachi's comment as he stood, glaring at the man's poorly concealed grin as Nayla struggled to stifle the new round of laughter threatening to spill the juice in her mouth. "I'll address the crew about your stay." He said as he looked back at her.

"Oi! Pipe down you lot, Captain's got an announcement!" Connor yelled over his shoulder around the last bite of his French toast.

Nayla managed to swallow her drink with great effort and turned to watch the crew behind her at their tables. The noise in the messdeck immediately hushed, all the men turned in their seats to face their captain and the chefs in the galley curiously peaked their heads through the canteen window to listen. Once he was sure he had everyone's attention, Law spoke.

"As I'm sure most of you are already aware, Nayla-ya will be travelling with us for the foreseeable future."

There were enthusiastic murmurs from the crew at that. "Did she join the crew?!" Jeff asked excitedly from his seat over the noise.

"No. She is _not_ a Heart Pirate. In fact, she is still not to be fully trusted. If you see her behave suspiciously in any way then you are to let me know immediately, is that understood?" Nayla rolled her eyes as his men muttered affirmatives, giving her wary, assessing looks and nodding.

"If she isn't crew, then what is she doing here, Captain?" Another crewmember she didn't instantly recognise spoke up.

"Nayla-ya is here to do private jobs for me." He said matter-of-factly, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"I bet she is." The men immediately snickered at the remark that had been emitted from one of the crewmembers concealed in the crowd. The crew broke out into mumbles of coarse comments, chuckles, knowing looks, waggling eyebrows and elbowing of their neighbours with dirty grins.

Nayla sighed at the display and turned back toward the table to look at Law angrily. "Do you wanna try re-phrasing that so that I don't sound like your personal whore, Law?"

He spared her an amused look before ignoring her and continuing to speak to his crew as their raucous outbreak settled. "You are not to ask her about what she is here to do and she is not to discuss it with any of you under any circumstances." He warned, locking his gaze with hers for the latter part of his sentence.

"So where is she staying, Captain?" Jeff asked, causing Nayla to narrow her eyes threateningly at Law as he kept eye-contact with her and smirked slyly.

"She will be sleeping with me." Nayla closed her eyes and clenched her jaw in frustration as his purposeful innuendo caused the crew to break out into noisy wolf whistles, cat-calls and loud cheers immediately.

"I swear to god, Law..." she ground out in irritation, only audible to those at her table over the new round of loud jeers coming from the men in the room.

His grin widened at her before he looked back at his crew as they quietened down to speak again. "That is all regarding Nayla-ya's stay with us for now. You are to treat her with respect and to behave yourselves...You know what I mean by that." He leant forward, palms on the table as he glanced noticeably at Connor making him shift uncomfortably before settling his piercing gaze on Jeff ahead of him.

Nayla raised a brow, following Law's gaze to the man and was even more surprised to find the entire crew were looking at him with sceptical faces and crossed arms.

"Wha-oi!" Jeff exclaimed angrily looking around at their judgemental stares. Nayla couldn't help but wonder what the story behind _this_ reaction was.

"We do not need a repeat of 'the Penguin incident.'" The man in question shuffled in discomfort as the crew's attention shifted to him. Law continued over the new round of snickering at Penguin's expense. "So remember what I said about how Nayla-ya is currently not to be fully trusted, if she exhibits any...'undue' behaviour towards you, you are to walk away immediately and find me. Any deviation from that order will be met with severe punishment." The snickering died down as the men sullenly took in their order, visibly unsettled at the thought of 'severe punishment.'

"Now, onto more important issues." Law stood upright, crossing his arms. "We are due to dock on a small, uninhabited island roughly an hour from now. I want the maintenance and mechanic teams to confer with each other on how best to repair the small breech when we land. You are to note all materials consumed for the repair and have a list of what we will need to restock on at the next island on my desk by the end of the day."

"Aye aye Captain!" A chorus of affirmatives from the men she assumed to be part of either team sounded out.

"As soon as we have repaired the sub and drained the flooding, we will resume our main course. Judging by the damage reports, I expect we will be departing from this small island no later than by tomorrow evening. Everyone is expected to tend to their regular duties until then." He uncrossed his arms, stepped out from the inner side of the bench and began walking around the table, signifying the end of his announcement as he moved to leave.

"Aye aye Captain." Some of the men in the galley stood to leave too, picking up their empty trays; it seemed they had hung around for the announcement after they had finished their meals.

"Nayla-ya, you're to come to the infirmary as soon as you've finished your breakfast."

"What? Why?" She asked, turning in her seat to look at him as he walked past her towards the door.

"If you're going to be travelling with us, you'll be needing a full and _very_ thorough medical." Law deliberately looked at her injured, right hand clasped around the glass of juice she was holding on the table.

Nayla followed his gaze and sighed, already guessing what this 'medical' would really be about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Possible spoilers in future chapters*** I'm going to keep writing in a way that assumes most readers already have some idea about Law's backstory and the conclusion of the Dressrosa arc but I won't ever really go into too much detail about either. Just some hints here and there like at the start of this chapter but thought it would be fair to put in a warning for future chapters just in case.


	25. We steal hearts

Nayla picked at the rest of her rapidly cooling omelette, her appetite having left her as she thought of exactly what her 'medical' would entail. Aside from being unsure of how to respond to Law's round of prying it was more the thought of being in a room alone with him again so soon considering how their last private conversation had ended that was making her squirm uncomfortably.

"Don't worry Nayla-chan, Captain's just gonna poke and prod ya a lil is all, it won't be too bad. We've all had one." Shachi offered her a reassuring smile.

She forced a smile back, unwilling to fill him in on what was really bothering her but noticed Connor giving her a curious side glance. Her warning glare his way was interrupted by the person that abruptly took a seat on her other side, making her turn to face the new occupant at the table.

"Man, you guys are real unfair ya know, what will the lil lady think of me?" Jeff sighed, settling his elbows onto the table.

After Nayla realised what he was grumbling about, her curiosity returned, remembering the strange look Law and the crew had given him when they had been warned to behave themselves with her. "Oh yeah, what was that about Jeff?" She asked, her anxiety temporarily forgotten.

"Noth-"

"He's a complete pig." Penguin cut him off.

"Wha-"

"The worst pervert on board." Shachi added, propping his chin up on the table with his hand and giving Jeff a bored look.

"Oi! That's not true, tell 'em Connor." Jeff leaned forward to look past Nayla at his friend for support.

Nayla turned to look at Connor on her other side with her eyebrows raised. The man put the coffee cup he had lifted to his lips back down to the table looking at his friend, then at Nayla, back to his friend, then back at Nayla again before speaking.

"Don't ever be in a room alone with him." Connor said quietly.

"Whose side are you on?!" Connor winced at the volume of his friend's offended explosion at his betrayal, it had been loud enough to cause some of the crew at other tables to look their way.

"The side that ends up with you _not_ getting killed by Captain for touching Nayla." Connor grumbled, rolling his eyes as he finished the last of his drink.

"I...doubt the Captain would _kill_ me for it..." Jeff said unsurely looking at Nayla's chest unsubtly, making her narrow her eyes at him as he seemed to be contemplating anything less than death may be worth the grope.

"Oh he might, you shoulda seen him with her in his quarters, walked in on them nearly ki-omph!"

"I told you that was NOT what it looked like!" Nayla hissed at him, withdrawing her elbow from his side as he reached up to rub his injured ribs with his hand.

"What wasn't what it looked like?" Penguin asked wide-eyed, looking between them.

Connor stayed silent on the receiving end of Nayla's glare, still rubbing his new tender spot as she crossed her arms, daring him to speak.

"It doesn't matter because it was _not_ what it looked like." She ground out. "Your captain is just a bastard and gave Connor the wrong impression is all."

The men at the table exchanged looks silently which urged her to move the conversation along. "Anyway, I find it hard to believe Jeff is the worst one amongst you." She looked at Shachi pointedly as she took a sip of her juice.

"Aww come on, I'm not _that_ bad...nowhere near Jeff's level." He defended at her silent accusation.

"Jeff's been nothing but a gentleman to me so far." She retorted, placing her glass back down.

"So far." Penguin reiterated quietly, crossing his arms.

"Gentleman? You should hear what he says about you behind your back. All the stuff he wants to do to-" Shachi said starting to roll his eyes.

"I am NOT gonna take that from a guy who was sniffing Penguin's boiler suit yesterday!" Jeff cut off angrily.

Shachi regarded him for a second before turning back to Nayla, swiftly ignoring his outburst. "It's all an act, he's a total womaniser and a lecher."

"Depraved." Penguin agreed, nodding his head.

"Total horndog." Connor confirmed, sighing heavily.

"I...I'm sitting right here ya know." Jeff said in disbelief looking around at them.

Nayla raised a brow at Jeff as she looked him up and down beside her, trying to work out if they were right. She could usually spot his 'type' a mile away, if it were true, she wondered how he had gotten under her radar undetected as a seemingly nice, though playful, 'gentleman.'

"Aww come on, don't give me that look. You can't honestly believe these bastards." Jeff grumbled at her.

She soon came to a realisation that brightened her features up. "Ah! Is that why when I came on board two weeks ago Law had you watch me from _outside_ the rec room? He 'told you' not to be in it alone with me?"

Penguin and Shachi snickered at him from across the table. "Geez, why would you even remember that..." Jeff sighed disheartened, tilting his head back and closing his eyes in defeat.

"Why would Law put me under watch of the biggest womaniser on board?" She asked the two across the table from her in confusion.

"Captain really didn't want to. Was the only one available at the time." Jeff shrugged, causing Nayla's eyebrows to raise as he seemingly gave up denying what the others were saying.

"So now you're gonna admit you're a womanising pig?" Nayla asked bluntly.

"What? No way! I only admit to loving the ladies, the others are just jealous that they love me back." He shot them a dirty look.

"If by 'love you back' you mean fall for your cheap tricks, lies and pick-up lines you manipulative man-whore." Shachi muttered, loud enough for them all to hear and earning a chuckle from the other men at the table.

"Who you calling a man-whore, you jealous little snot?" Jeff yelled standing and grabbing Shachi by the front of his boiler suit pulling him to stand too.

"Who's jealous?! I get my fair share!" He yelled back grabbing at Jeff's hands tightly clenched around the fabric of his clothing.

Penguin leant his back against the wall, watching them in amusement as they went at it making her laugh at the reminiscent scene from the first time she had met them all at Baez' tavern.

Nayla happily watched them argue across the table, glad the conversation had moved away from her and their captain. She glanced at where Law had sat as they bickered. He had left his tray and empty plates behind, obviously expecting one of his crewmembers to take and clean it for him as he had done in the infirmary.

She noticed only his tray had an empty fruit salad cup on it as she looked at Penguin's and Shachi's on either side of it. It also looked like a News Coo had found them after they surfaced, a fresh paper was laying neatly folded beside it too.

"Hmm, hey guys?" Jeff and Shachi paused their tussle over the tabletop to look at her. "I kinda lost my appetite, anyone want this?" She held the fruit salad up from her tray in offering.

Jeff blinked at it then broke out into a devilish grin as he turned to Penguin. "Whaddya say Pen? Want that fruit salad?"

"Don't." Penguin warned, the smile dropping from his face.

"Ooooor..." Jeff threatened.

"I said, don't." He warned again, uncrossing his arms and frowning.

Jeff released Shachi, clasping his hands together girlishly instead and batted his eyelashes at him. "Would you prefer it from behind, Penguin?" He cooed.

Penguin shot up from his seat as Jeff started mock-smooching at him. "That does it, you bastard!" He took over Shachi's attempt to throttle the man as Shachi broke out into laughter holding his sides.

Nayla tried her best not to laugh at Jeff as he continued to tease Penguin just out of the man's reach across the table, turning back to Connor as he spoke up. "Oh, me!" Connor immediately made a grab for the fruit salad she was holding whilst the others fought, thanking her as he placed it on his own tray and taking a bite immediately as he smiled at her.

"How come Jake is hoarding these and only me and Law got one, are they really that special?" Nayla asked, watching Shachi try to restrain and calm Penguin down whilst still laughing.

"It's not that, sweetie. Fruits and veg are the first things to go off when we're travelling. We didn't get a chance to restock before leaving Amazon Lily because we left in a hurry after Captain knocked you ou-uh..." Connor decided it would be wise to rephrase as he looked at the expression on Nayla's face. He swallowed his mouthful, cleared his throat and tried again. "Because we left a little sooner than we expected to. So um, we're really low on that stuff at the moment, the crew tend to get a lil crave-y for things that run out, ya know?"

"I guess..." She said, eyeing his happy face and full cheeks as he wolfed down the fruit salad. "Kinda mean of Law to ask for stuff you guys can't have though. Does he always demand special treatment?"

"Nah, Captain isn't like that." Connor said through his mouthful and over the loud rough-housing of the other pirates at the table. "He isn't really one of 'those types' of captains. The crew just kinda insists on spoiling him when we're able to."

"Wow, you guys adore him...Geez, so he really must just be being mean to me." She said glumly, shuffling over a little closer to him to avoid being bumped into by Jeff as he placed a boot onto the bench beside her as he tried taking on Shachi and Penguin at once. She missed whatever he had said to piss Shachi off as well now.

"Well, I'd hardly call saving your life this morning 'mean,' sweetie."

"But I wouldn't have been there to drown in the first place if it hadn't been for him." She said sourly.

"I know, but still...coulda left you to drown if he really were the monster you seem to think he is."

"Well...I don't think he's a 'monster'...per se..." She trailed off as she looked at the newspaper across the table, deciding to take a quick peak in it.

"New bounties came out." Connor said munching on his new mouthful as he watched her slide the paper across the table's surface towards them and flip it open to the enclosed posters in the centrefold; the top one was Law's.

"Wow..." She lifted the page out of the paper and looked at it in shock. "A hundred million berri increase in two and a half weeks?! Are they serious?"

"Whoa, really?!" Jeff gasped out, breaking away from Shachi and Penguin to peer over her shoulder at the poster in her hands.

"Well actually they issued a fifty million increase after we got away from Kizaru on Sabaody. The extra fifty million came out after the war." Shachi clarified proudly.

"Holy hell..." She couldn't believe Law was now worth 300 million berries. She shook off her shock and flipped through the posters underneath his, seeing Luffy's, smiling at Zoro's, sighing at Kid's. She glanced at the article in the paper underneath them, it was about the Warlords. She frowned at the photo of Kuma, his face didn't bring back good memories...but she soon noticed something that made her smile a little.

"Hmm, what's funny?" Penguin asked taking his seat again and catching the look on her face.

"This Kuma guy...he and Law must shop at the same store or something."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Shachi asked, raising a brow and looking at the photo of the Warlord upside down from his side of the table.

"Look at Kuma's hat and jeans." Connor chuckled as he noticed the distinct spotted pattern, popping the last of the fruit salad into his mouth.

"Speaking of clothes, was always curious about the boiler suits you guys wear. Wasn't a fan of them at first but when I wore Penguin's yesterday...I couldn't really work out what material they're made of. Is it something special?" Nayla asked closing and placing the paper back down beside Law's tray.

"Mhmm, they're fire, tear, stain and water resistant, even have some thermal feature. Helps keep heat in on cold islands, breathes like linen on warm ones. They're actually pretty expensive gear." Jeff beamed proudly.

"So there is a reason Law makes you wear them...pretty smart I guess, thought he was just big on stamping his Jolly Roger onto all of you." Nayla nearly rolled her eyes at the thought but refrained.

"Well it's not just his, it's ours too." Shachi grinned.

"I guess so." She said smiling back at him.

"Hmm, sweetie shouldn't you be getting to the infirmary if you've finished eating." Connor pointed out.

She huffed and took another bite of her cold, unfinished omelette. "Not done yet." She pouted stubbornly at him as he shook his head.

"Alright, I have another question, one that's been bugging me for weeks...Why are you guys called the 'Heart Pirates?' Seems almost like a cute name for a pirate crew." She asked as she finished her mouthful.

The other three men at the table all turned to look at Jeff in expectation, making her look at him too as he abruptly stood from his seat. He cleared his throat as he stepped out from the inner side of the bench to stand beside her.

"That would be because..." He took off his hat and held it to his chest with one hand as he dropped to a knee, looking at her intensely. Nayla raised a brow as he gently took her hand and kissed the back of it as he gave her eye contact. "...we steal hearts."

The men at the table laughed as his broke out into a grin against the skin on the back of her hand causing her to laugh and fan herself with her free hand in mock-swoon.

"Oh my, Jeff...how often does _this_ work for you?" She asked, still laughing as he placed his hat back onto his head and released her hand as he stood.

"You wouldn't believe how many women I've picked up with that line." He grinned wolfishly as he retook his seat beside her.

"Well, it's definitely romantic sounding. Pirates that steal the hearts of women, I'm sure the thought would make a lot of them weak at the knees."

"Total ham." Connor chuckled at his friend from her other side.

"So what's the real story?" Nayla asked, turning back to the table as their laughter died down.

"Well, Captain is really the only one that knows for sure, seems to have some meaning for him that he doesn't really want to share with the rest of us so we don't pry." Penguin replied thoughtfully, as if trying to recall any hints he may have gotten over the time he had known his captain.

"Ya know, putting it off won't make your order to go to the infirmary go away." Shachi said, glancing at the single bite of omelette left on her plate. She sighed and stuffed the last bite into her mouth, chewing slowly as she glanced behind her around the room. It had become much emptier; she wondered how long she had kept Law waiting already whilst she was goofing off with his crew.

"Oh by the way, Connor, you got a hairdryer I can borrow?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Why would _I_ have a hairdryer?"

"'Cause you have such girly hair." Penguin immediately responded, making Shachi snicker.

"It's not girly!" He defended, glowering at Penguin.

"What's wrong with long hair on guys? I'm a total sucker for long hair on men." Nayla said giving Connor a playful wink, making him blush slightly.

"Oh, is that so?" Shachi grinned; running his fingers through his own long, red hair 'casually.' It wasn't as long as Connor's but it still counted he was sure.

"Please, mine's longer than yours is." Jeff rolled his eyes at him making him frown.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. Now, does anyone on board have one?" Nayla decided to break off round two of their upcoming scuffle. "Kinda don't wanna have to drip-dry hair this long every time I shower." She said running her fingers through her own, still-slightly damp locks.

"Can ask some of the other girly-haired freaks for ya if you like." Penguin replied, side-glancing at the stare-off between Shachi and Jeff.

"Thanks." She laughed as the three men at the table gave him a dirty look.

"Nayla-chan, you've finished your breakfast, don't keep Captain waiting too long, it'll only make it worse." Penguin lectured.

"I still haven't finished my juice." She said firmly, getting up and wandering over to the board she had spotted on the right side of the room with her glass, making him sigh as he watched her.

She broke out into a smile as she got closer to it; there were hundreds of photos on it of very, very happy looking Heart Pirates.

Some photos were of them on different islands together, arms over each others' shoulders and wearing big, toothy grins. Some photos were of the crew relaxing on beaches, around campfires in woods, hiking up a mountain trail. A few were of them training at what seemed to be a local dojo they had come across on their travels, Bepo was in proud fighting stance with the local students and it looked as though Jeff was in the background sparring with another crewmember, his wine red cap off, hair tied back and boiler suit sleeves tied around his waist. She swore it was difficult to recognise this crew when they weren't wearing their caps and boiler suits. She moved closer to the image in surprise as she noticed Jeff's shoulder, seemed he had an impressive tattoo on it that she had yet to see for herself.

Some of the earlier pictures that were laying slightly under the newer ones seemed to be of the younger days of the Heart Pirates. One was of them in a large hanger of some kind, their sub docked behind them unfinished and only partially painted, the natural grey of its hull in view. She recognised Penguin and Shachi in this one, all the crew working on the sub in the background were in casual clothing, she wondered if maybe this was before they even had boiler suits. They were all covered in black grease stains, yellow paint smudges and sporting proud smiles.

This board was even more heart-warming than the one she had seen in the rec room. She smiled widely at how cheerful the crew all looked together, there was a distinct lack of Law in these photos though...not that she had been looking. He was in a few here and there, mostly casually seated in the background somewhere, a few of him looking uncomfortable as a crewmember slung an arm around him and grinned for the camera, his slightly awkward, antisocial body language making her giggle. There were a few rare photos of him looking at his crewmembers with a small smile as they goofed around though. The most genuine smile she had ever seen on his face was in a photo of what seemed to be the completion of the sub she was currently on. She had been almost certain that the man wasn't capable of an honest expression of happiness...but there was no edge of mockery or condescension or anything of the kind on his features in this photo, she couldn't help but notice how incredibly handsome he looked when he had a sincere smile on his lips.

With some effort, Nayla pulled her eyes off of that photo to glance at the others. The distinct majority of the newer ones, she realised as she bit her lip in an effort to stop laughing, were prank photos. Nayla failed to hold in the laugh as she spotted a particularly ridiculous photo of a close-up of Shachi in a deep sleep, hat and shades off but with a very large, crudely drawn penis on his forehead in what she already knew had to have been permanent marker.

"Looks dangerous to fall asleep around here." She said to Penguin as he approached her from the side. He followed her gaze, grinning wide enough to show teeth when he spotted the photo of Shachi she was referring to.

"Your handiwork, Penguin?" She giggled at the look of fond reminiscence on his face and the scowl on Shachi's face as he approached, peering from around Penguin at the photo they were discussing.

"Nope, wish it had been though." He got a rough shove from Shachi to his side causing him to laugh.

"It wasn't funny, you have any idea how hard it was to look at Captain with that on my face? Took two days for it to come off completely, asshole." Shachi grumbled.

"So who did it?" Nayla asked grinning.

"Ninety percent of the pranks on board are _that_ bastard's fault." Shachi gestured to Jeff with his thumb as he came to join them.

"Ah, my masterpiece." Jeff said affectionately, leaning an elbow onto her shoulder to look at the board with them, realising which photo they were discussing. "I call it 'Dick 'Ed a Le Shachi.'" He said in a stereotypical French accent as he pinched the fingertips of his free hand together and brought them to his mouth, making an obnoxiously loud kissing sound as he released the gesture.

She laughed at the sigh and eye roll he got from Shachi and turned back to the board as she sipped her juice. Many crewmembers had fallen victim to sleep-pranks it seemed as she glanced through the images.

"Yeesh, remind me to never fall asleep around you guys." She said as she spotted a photo of an unfortunate Jake who seemed to have had an eyebrow shaved off after passing out during what had seemed like a rowdy party on board.

"Nah, it's only dangerous if you fall asleep around those two, Jeff especially." Penguin inclined his head over to Jeff and Connor who stood on Jeff's other side, joining him in admiring their handiwork.

"Hmm, Connor too?" She looked over at him noticing his grin, those amber eyes of his alight with the same mischief as his partner in crime.

"Thousand times more dangerous if you're a _woman_ that falls asleep around Jeff." Shachi pointed out.

"As if I'd ever do anything to the lil lady." Jeff said appalled, holding his free hand to his chest in an expression of hurt. She looked up at him sceptically. "Well...nothing too bad." He amended grinning back down at her with a wink.

'Note to self; do _not_ fall asleep around Jeff.' There wasn't an ounce of reassurance in that grin. She shook her head and scanned the rest of the photos.

"I take it no one has the nerve to prank Law." She disappointedly noticed zero photos of a passed out or annoyed Law anywhere on the board. Though snorted in amusement at a photo of a crewmember leaving the bathroom in a bright pink boiler suit, looking very unimpressed at his comrades waiting outside holding all the normal ones, all the towels and what appeared to be his own clothing.

"Hmm, no...I quite enjoy living." Connor muttered, a round of quiet agreement from the others followed.

"Couple of us have tried a few times though, on his birthday and on April fool's and stuff. Ya know, holiday excuses." Penguin said.

"Yeah, but he's too smart to fall for them, always sees them coming a mile away." Shachi said with a disappointed sigh.

"Hmm, well, if you guys ever wanna try again, count me in." She grinned deviously at them, her mind already plotting the many ways she could get her petty revenge on the man in question.

Nayla finished off her juice as she gazed over the rest of the photos. It looked like the pink boiler suit plus a cheap wig had made an appearance on a mannequin and had been snuck into an unfortunate crewmember's bed. Seemed to have spooked him when he had woken up next to it in the morning if the expression of alarm on his face was any indication.

"Definite cliques on board." She noticed out loud as she saw familiar sets of faces in photos together.

"Can't be helped, a crew this size and we work within smaller groups a lot." Penguin shrugged.

"Doesn't matter much in the end though, we're all still family." Connor said smiling.

"Smaller groups like what?...Maintenance, chefs, mechanics et cetra?" She asked curiously, enjoying the photo of Jake and some of the crewmembers she had just seen in the galley with him enjoying a meal at a tavern together.

"That and the crew is largely divided into two. The crew whose main job it is to help keep the sub running and the crew whose main job it is to do the fighting." Shachi answered, crossing his arms. "But we all do a bit of both."

"We're all definitely able to fight though, Captain doesn't recruit anyone who isn't able to take care of themselves. He makes sure there's help with training up new recruits too if they're lacking a lil." Jeff added smiling.

"Juice is gone sweetie, stop putting it off, time for you to go." Connor spoke up before she could reply.

"Wha-oh, dammit..." Nayla looked at the empty glass in her hand that she had unconsciously finished. "Wait, I still have to clean up my tray and dishes right?"

"I got it, go ahead." Connor took the glass from her as she sighed in defeat. "You know how to get there now, right?"

"Yeah." She replied, pouting sulkily as Jeff removed his elbow from her shoulder as she started to walk towards the door.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad, you and Captain can continue doing what it 'didn't look like' earlier." She whipped her head around to glare at the crafty look on Connor's face.

The other three looked between them curiously; keen to hear whatever it was they were talking about.

Nayla narrowed her eyes as Connor broke out into an impish grin. "...Is there any amount of bodily harm I can inflict on you to keep that mouth of yours shut after I leave?"

"None." He answered confidently.

It was obvious from the moment she had left Law's quarters that reasoning with Connor was not going to be productive. Realising that no matter what she did or said to Connor, he _would_ be telling them what he saw, she turned to the other three pirates in the room instead.

"...It was NOT what it looked like." She pre-emptively defended, raising an index finger at them before turning it to Connor. "And I'm only going to say this one more time. Your captain was just being an ass and you know it, don't take what you saw out of context." She warned.

Connor raised her glass and his free hand up in defence wiping the grin off of his face to look more sincere but she could already tell by the mischievous glint in his eyes that he was absolutely going to tell them whatever he felt like.

She sighed in defeat, resigning herself to probably being on the raw end of some serious taunting from them later and turned on her heel to leave the room.

* * *

Nayla had taken her time, dragging her feet and trudging up to the first floor but she still found herself standing in front of the infirmary door a lot sooner than she had hoped.

She stared it, contemplating just 'forgetting' Law had asked her to come and turned to look back down the hallway towards the stairwell, wondering if she'd be able to get away with it... 'Maybe he's busy, there's a lot going on what with the sub damage and all, maybe he's forgotten...probably not but at least maybe I can put this off to another day when we haven't nearly-kissed within the last hour.' She turned back to the infirmary door to find a pair of annoyed, blue eyes looking right at her.

Nayla gasped and pressed her hand to her chest, trying to steady her rapid heartbeat as she swore under her breath. She'd nearly jumped out of her skin.

"When were you planning on finally knocking, Nayla-ya?" Law asked her neutrally, following where her gaze had just been to look down the hall at the stairs.

"I was getting to it. When are you planning to not sneak up on me at every opportunity?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him as he looked back at her.

"I made no effort to conceal that I was opening the door. You seem to have a bad habit of tuning out your surroundings when in deep thought." She watched the start of a small grin tug at the corner of his mouth. "What were you thinking about so intensely, Nayla-ya?"

'How I nearly, stupidly, _stupidly,_ kissed you a little while ago.' "Nothing." She automatically responded.

"Nothing?" His grin widened at her obvious lie as he leant his elbow against the doorframe, his other hand still on the handle of the infirmary door.

'Also wondering if you're just toying with me or if the attraction is at least mutual.' "Yes. Nothing." She grit out, annoyed at his casual posture and lazily lidded eyes as he watched her at total ease.

"You aren't a very good liar." He remarked, taking in the discomfort in her body language.

'Only with you apparently,' she thought, inwardly rolling her eyes. "Didn't you call me up here for a medical or something? Some stupid excuse to ask about my ability that isn't any of your damn business?" She snapped moodily at him.

"Actually, I'll be doing both. Medical _and_ prying." Her rude outburst and change of topic didn't faze him as he stood aside against the door, beckoning her into the infirmary.

Nayla sighed at his bluntness and walked past him through the doorway, the amount of effort she put into not physically touching him as she did so almost made him laugh as he closed the door behind her, indicating to his desk when she turned around to prompt him to let her know where to go.

She reluctantly took a seat at it with a sense of déjà vu, watching him as he took his own across from her. He slid a paper file over to himself from the top of the small pile on his desk, opening it to the first page.

Assuming it was hers she was surprised to find the file that had been underneath the one he had just pulled to himself had her name on it, even more surprised when she recognised the logo and name of Sabaody General printed across it.

She looked back at him in shock to find Law smirking at her stunned expression, unashamed at her discovery. "So, Nayla-ya, let's start with the basics, shall we?"

He lifted the pen laying on his desk and hovered it over an empty line on the blank-looking form in front of him. "Name?"

She deadpanned him. "...Nayla."

He looked back up at her sarcastic tone. " _Full_ name."

"Just Nayla is fine."

He closed his eyes trying to reign in the frustration and headache he could feel beginning to brew. She was already being stubborn at the first question, he had a full history to take, a full examination to do and then needed to grill her thoroughly about what he had seen her able to do this morning. It was going to take a very, very long time if they were already getting hung up on question one of step one.

"Nayla-ya, is there any particular reason you don't want to share your last name?" Law asked tiredly, opening his eyes to look back at her again.

"It's irrelevant to you is all, I'd rather keep it to myself." She said quietly, observing his tiredness. She felt that pang of sympathy for him again but knew it wouldn't last long; he couldn't go two minutes without annoying her on purpose, it would disappear then.

"Names indicate ethnicities, origins, faiths, cultural habits, social classes. Genetic and endemic diseases, foods, lifestyles, religious and cultural practises...there _is_ medical reason to know a person's last name."

"...Sorry, I dropped it years ago. I haven't called myself by that name in a long time, I refuse to use it."

Law watched her look away, shifting uncomfortably. "...Is it an identity-concealment issue or a family-related issue?" He asked indifferently, resting his cheek onto the hand of the arm he had lent onto his desk.

"Family-related." She mumbled, taking visual interest in her shoes that were barely grazing the tiles of the infirmary floor, hoping he wouldn't ask anymore about it.

He observed her a moment longer before deciding to leave the space blank and move his pen down to the next line on his form. "Age?"

She couldn't help the smile of relief and gratitude that spread across her face when she heard him move onto the next question. She also couldn't help the strong urge to answer this particular question cheekily. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you should never ask a woman her age?" She bit her lip to stop the laugh that wanted to escape when his eyes shot back up to hers from the page in front of him.

"Are you going to be difficult about everything I ask?" He enquired levelly, lifting his head back up.

Nayla could hear a little hint of the concealed frustration in his voice despite his attempt for it to remain indifferent. "Mmmaybe."

Law sighed at her about to speak but she cut off whatever it was he had been about to say. "You stole my file from Sabaody General, the doctors there already asked all this basic info. It should be in their notes already."

He narrowed his eyes at her, placing his pen down and sliding over her hospital file, opening it to the relevant page. "Your doctors there were idiots." He bluntly stated after he briefly glanced down the page.

"That's not very nice, why would you say that?" Law observed her act of innocence and ignorance, his irritation ebbing slightly as he watched her bat her eyelashes sweetly at him. He really shouldn't be finding her behaviour even remotely entertaining right now.

"Nayla-ya, you are _not_ eighteen. I don't doubt the rest of this form to be full of false information either." He closed the file, tossed it back onto the pile and leant back in his chair, placing his elbows onto the arm rests and laying his interlocking fingers across his chest

"Ah, you got me, I just wanted to be treated like an adult whilst I was admitted, I'm really just sixteen."

Law snorted derisively, a small smirk of amusement making its way onto his lips. "Even less likely."

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean? You saying I look old?" She asked in offence.

"Nayla-ya, you are older than eighteen, at least twenty in fact."

"How would you know anyway?" She challenged, crossing her arms and looking at him defiantly.

"Your sphenoocciptal synchondrosis is fused. That occurs between the ages of twenty and twenty-five in ninety-five percent of people, I highly doubt you're a special case and in the five percent minority." He said blandly.

"Why...what the hell were you doing digging around that deeply into my skull just to drain a little blood? Are you a quack?!"

Law raised his eyebrows in surprise at her reaction; it was not what he was expecting. He had expected her to ask what on Earth he was talking about. One sentence had told him she knew he was talking about a part of the skull that fuses at a given age, used to age human remains and that she knew it was deep enough that it should not have been encountered during the procedure he had done on her.

Nayla bit her lip as she watched Law's surprised expression morph into a devious smile at her slip-up. "Now isn't that interesting."

He recalled some of their forced pleasantries on Amazon Lily when they had discussed Straw Hat's condition, the questions she had asked had been mildly indicative of better than average knowledge of medicine but he hadn't really seen a need to question it at the time. Many people in violent professions, through their training to attack lethally and through their own and their comrades' injuries obtained a better than average knowledge of the human body and its inner workings

"...Not really, just read some books here and there. Your own crew has more medical training than I do from what Shachi told me...more to the point, why were you cutting into my head so damn deeply?" She prodded.

"Curiosity." He shrugged.

She looked at him agape. "Cu-...curiosity? Are you serious? You dig around in people's skulls when you're feeling a little bored?"

"You don't want to know what I do with people to settle my boredom and sate my curiosity." He said chuckling darkly at her. "I was already in your skull anyway, thought I may as well take a look whilst I was there." He waved a hand nonchalantly as he leant forward again to the form, picking up his pen.

"What the...Don't say it like 'oh I was just in the neighbourhood, thought I'd drop by,' when you're talking about brain surgery, Law! Geez, what is wrong with you?!" She asked in alarm, looking at his sinister grin in horror. Nayla sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "...So, you really did do brain surgery on me?"

"Imagine my amazement when I found that you even had one." She opened her eyes and shot him a look. " _Real_ age, Nayla-ya."

"...Twenty-three." She admitted in defeat, watching unhappily as he wrote down the information with a mildly satisfied look. "...What about you?"

Law looked up at her, a little taken aback that she would even ask before deciding to give a similar response to her own. "You've read about me plenty of times in the paper, the journalists would have already asked that basic info. My estimated age-range should be in there already."

She huffed at his throwback of her earlier reply but oddly found herself fighting back a smile. "Newspapers don't always get it right and don't flatter yourself by thinking I read about you 'plenty of times' either." She corrected, making him chuckle. "So, how old are you, Law?"

"Are you that curious about me, Nayla-ya?" He teased.

"Well..." She looked away as if trying to think of a way to word her excuse for her interest. "It _was_ you that said I should try to get to know you guys better if I were gonna feel more comfortable travelling with you is all."

He contemplated her for a moment noticing that a small amount of her confidence had diminished when she looked back at him. Law had never seen anything remotely close to shyness from her up until now that hadn't been faked. He found it strangely endearing for a reason he couldn't quite understand.

"They at least have that much right, I'm a year older than you."

"Seems they got your home region right too, those earlier articles in the rec room all came from the North Blue...they didn't mention your home country or city though, wher-"

"This isn't a two-way chat, this is a medical interview of _you_." He cut off. "Place of residence?"

She glanced at the Sabaody General file on top of the pile beside him, he sighed following her gaze. "Very cute Nayla-ya but unfortunately fake. Your _real_ home." He asked exasperated.

"Don't have one, nomad." Law shot her a warning look. "I'm serious, I swear!" She said defensively.

"You have no home." He stated sceptically.

"You've seen my suitcase, you think it's practical to lug around all that stuff if I'm just travelling for work before going home somewhere? Everything I own is in there."

He thought about that quietly, wondering briefly what must have gone wrong in her life to end up a relatively smart, admittedly somewhat likeable woman, homeless, seemingly alone in the world and killing for money by the age of twenty-three. "Where _was_ your home then?"

"Complicated. Born in South Blue, raised in North Blue. Never really felt at home in either place...um, but I guess I lived most of my life in North Blue, so I'd consider that home."

Law jotted down the information. "Country and city?"

"You first." He tutted and looked back up at her in irritation to find a small, cheeky smile had taken her lips again.

"No."

"Aww come on, I'm curious! You never know, we could be from the same place." She grinned.

"...Definitely not a possibility." He muttered.

"Then we're at a stalemate on that one. Give a little get a little." She said pouting and crossing her arms as she sat back in her chair once more.

"This isn't a negotiation." Law said in open annoyance. Nayla suddenly understood why he enjoyed irritating her on purpose, it was quite fun to push him far enough to crack that mask of emotional indifference...though he admittedly was much more efficient at getting a rise out of her than vice versa. She could work on that though, she thought with a smile as she enjoyed his expression.

"You have where I'm from to a close enough degree for medical purposes, move on."

Law was pretty sure he was close to developing an eye twitch. He took a deep breath and settled his irritation down. He would make good on his promise from earlier, if she insisted on being an uncooperative brat then he would deal with her as such and if she insisted on making this more difficult than it needed to be then he would do the same.

Nayla's small smile of victory faltered as he looked back at her with a calm and collected expression once more.

"Marital status?"

"...Single." She offered warily.

"Children?"

"None." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sexual orientation?"

"Seriously?"

"Important for medical reasons, though I'm sure I don't need to tell you that." He said slyly, enjoying the shift in her demeanour as she became irritable.

"Lesbian." She deadpanned.

Law laughed at that. "No, Nayla-ya...you're most certainly not." She licked her lips unconsciously as his gaze settled onto them, trying to ignore the low, husky, tone he had just used on the latter part of that sentence.

She cleared her throat. "Bi-sexual."

The smug look on his face faltered at the seriousness of her tone but recovered quickly as he decided she was bluffing and moved his pen to paper to write down her response. He expected her to hurriedly take it back before he put it down on record but after a moment's silence his eyebrows raised when she made no move to correct herself, he couldn't see any discomfort at his action at all.

"...Really?"

"Yes."

Law looked her up and down as if seeing her for the first time. She wasn't sure if he were trying to find some sort of physical proof of what she had said or if he was re-scanning her body language for signs of lying. Either way she allowed him a generously long moment of silent surprise before speaking again.

"What about you, Law?" She cooed with a teasing smile. His surprise disappeared as he chuckled at her open provocation by questioning his sexuality.

"Straight, Nayla-ya."

"You sure?"

"Very much so." He allowed his gaze to linger over her chest before asking his next question. "Last sexual encounter?"

She blinked at him in shock, watching his face shift into an expression of devious pleasure as he made eye contact with her. "...Now you're just making shit up." She accused, trying to look at the form on the desk in front of him to confirm that question was really on it. Unable to see, she reached out to pull it closer to herself making him slide it further away from her.

She narrowed her eyes at him and stood from her seat to lean over for it once more, making him shut the file, lift it from the desk and hold it at arm's length.

"Something the matter, Nayla-ya? You seem quite open with your sexuality, I'm surprised a question of this nature would bother you."

"It's none of your business." She seethed, standing straight as she gave up on trying to reach the file he held behind him, his arms were longer than hers by far.

"Pregnancy, menstrual dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, sexually transmitted infections...I'm your doctor now and for the foreseeable future so it _is_ my business." He wasn't even trying to hide the pleasure he was taking in this.

"...Two months ago." She ground out taking her seat.

He smiled in satisfaction, placing the file back onto the desk in front of him. "Male or female?" He re-opened it to the form and placed his pen onto the paper, waiting her answer.

"...Male."

Law looked up at the strangely forced, neutral tone of her response and locked eyes with her, pausing for a moment before writing. "So, female. When was your last sexual encounter with a ma-"

"Three months ago, vaginal, condom. Move. On." She cut off, anticipating his next series of uncomfortable, prying questions and pinching the bridge of her nose. She swore he was wearing the largest smirk she'd seen on him to date.

"Last menstrual period."

Nayla honestly thought she'd never see the day she would be relieved to talk about her period with an attractive man. "A week ago." She practically sighed out.

She watched Law open his mouth to ask his next question but decided to cut this line of questioning shorter as well. "Started at twelve, regular, no problems, never been pregnant, not on hormonal contraception."

He took a moment to write that down, chuckling as he decided she had been punished enough for her stubbornness. She would be responding much more co-operatively now as long as the questions weren't sensitive. "Occupation, mercenary...any known allergies?"

"None-oh, well, pollen sometimes. Depends on the country."

"Any current medications? Prescribed, over the counter, herbal remedies, supplements?"

"Should still be on some pain meds for the rib fractures. Haven't had a chance to take any since you knocked me out though." She said sourly, crossing her arms.

Law's writing paused as he glanced back up at her, he hated to admit that he had forgotten all about that...it had been easy to do, she hadn't complained about it, he hadn't paid much attention to Bepo telling him he had found a small box of painkillers amongst her things when he had reported his findings of her suitcase and her physical movements had been entirely normal. She hadn't been favouring her left side at all...but he still didn't like that something of medical importance had slipped his mind.

As if sensing his train of thought, Nayla quickly spoke up again. "Don't worry about it, if it bothered me I would have bitched about it to you as soon as I woke up. The headache had bothered me more, it's only two small fractures. I was more concerned about asking for make-up remover than painkillers, remember?"

He was unsure if he were annoyed at himself for forgetting or at her for attempting to reassure him, probably both. "Even if you're tolerating the pain without them, you still need to take those for up to another three and a half weeks." He muttered, getting up from his chair to walk to the cabinets across the room, taking the mug that had been sitting on his desk with him.

"I know, I know." She rolled her eyes and turned in her seat to watch him as he reached the overhead cabinets and pulled out a small, white box off of a shelf before heading to the sinks.

"If you don't breathe deeply enough because of the pain on that side you can get-"

"Pneumonia and stuff, I know. Geez, you have a strong doctor-lecture mode in you for someone who was pretty keen to cut me down this morning." She muttered as he rinsed out the remainder of what she assumed had been his coffee, filled the mug with water and made his way back over to the desk.

'He also seemed keen to kiss you. – Yes, thank you brain. – Seemed _very_ keen to share a bed with you too-an offer which you should take him up on by the way. – Yes. Thank you. Shut up. - ...Thought I'd remind you in case you'd forgotten. – Very helpful. Shut up already, dammit.'

She sighed as she took the items he offered her, more at her own thoughts than at his stubborn prompt. He moved to take his seat on the other side of the desk again as soon as she took both items from him.

"Why thank you, Dr. Trafalgar." Nayla said half-sarcastically, sparing him a mild look of amusement as he settled into his chair.

Law found himself smiling back a little at the title as he watched her set the mug down carefully on her side of the desk to open the box of pain medication on her lap. It was rare to ever actually hear himself called that title. Even if it had been somewhat mocking, it had a nice ring to it, especially when spoken by a sweet, feminine voice like her own.

Law watched her as she popped the pill into her mouth and took a sip of water. Satisfied he moved onto his next question. "Past medical history, any significant illnesses or injuries? Aside from the one I treated."

She thought for a minute as she set the mug down onto her lap between clasped hands. "No not really. Nothing outside of physical injuries here and there, the usual part of the job..."

"For someone of your occupation it's odd that you only have one scar. You've either not been doing it for very long or are exceptionally skilled." He pried subtly; it had been nagging him mildly since he had seen it when he removed her top the first time she had been on his sub.

"Well if you've seen that scar then you know it's not the latter." She mumbled.

"It looks like it must have been a serious wound. What caused it, were there any internal injuries and if so, what surgical repairs were done?"

"Entry wound of a brutally blunt spear." She winced at the memory. "...and sorry, I honestly don't know much about the internal injuries other than he missed the vital stuff, some damaged intestine I think, no idea who did what repairs, I was out of it for a hell of a long time after that one."

Law wrote down the vague information in dissatisfaction, contemplating taking a look for himself at some stage. "Any family history of significant illnesses?"

"Maternal grandparents both had heart attacks in their fifties and some mental illness." He quietly noted her lack of offering of paternal family history. Either they were healthy or more likely, she didn't know, considering she refused to use her last name.

"What kind of mental illness?"

"Not sure what to call it actually, psychotic breaks I guess." She smiled sadly. "Been a lot of tragedies on that side of the family, few of them went off the deep end in grief." She took another sip of water from the mug in her lap as she looked away from his analytic gaze.

"Smoker?"

She was relieved he moved on, unsure whether it was out of disinterest or whether it was just one of his rare streaks of subtle kindness but she was thankful for it nonetheless. "No, never."

"Alcohol?"

"Please." She earned a small grin as he waited for a more sensible reply. "Social drinker, probably a bit of a binge drinker, maybe six to eight drinks maximum." She admitted a little guiltily though he didn't even look up. Considering he was the captain of an all-male crew of pirates, she assumed he probably considered her bad drinking habits mild in comparison to some of his men.

"Recreational drugs?"

"Nope."

Law set his pen down after noting her last response and closed the file as he stood up. "Alright Nayla-ya, that's plenty for now." He said as he placed his palms onto the desk between them. "Physical examination."

"Do we hav-" Her breath caught as she looked up at his devious expression. "...is this really necessary?"

"Yes. You punched through steel this morning, you don't think it might be worth looking at _that_ for possible injury?" He asked rhetorically, gesturing his hand at the raw knuckles of her own. "You also haven't had any more neurological examinations since waking up from a _coma_." He emphasised as he walked around from behind his desk towards her.

"And who's fault would that be, you stalking creep?!" She snapped at him.

"Yours. I didn't force you to leave hospital." Law said as he stood beside her chair, towering over her as she sat, clutching the mug on her lap tightly. He wondered if it were in anger or anxiety as his attention was drawn to it by the small clacks of her long, red nails on the white ceramic.

"Yeah, totally better for my health to stay where an insane and sadistic pirate knows where I am, how silly of me." She rolled her eyes as she placed the mug on the desk next to her box of painkillers before hesitantly standing up beside him.

He made eye contact with her as she looked back up at him, a devilish smirk on his lips as he spoke in a deliberately low, suggestive tone. "Now, let's get you stripped and onto a bed, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece character design got a little lazy, I swear. Kuma really does wear similar clothing to Law...though Law definitely wears the animal spots better of course and apparently submarine crews really are divided into two; 'the guys that make it go and the guys that do the fighting.'


	26. Overly physical examination

Law smiled at Nayla's irritated scowl and turned to walk to the nearest examination table, patting the green, plastic surface as he reached it and looked back at her.

She sighed and hesitantly walked over to him, crossing her arms protectively. This smile was more unnerving than the one she had seen him wear when he was playing mix and match with marine body parts. She wondered what he was going to do to her but regretted mentally asking the question when she was all too quickly answered by the hundreds of dirty, unhelpful suggestions her brain tried to offer in response.

"How tall are you, Nayla-ya?" She broke her gaze at the tattooed hand resting on the bed to look at him as he visually assessed her height.

"Five foot four." Law gave her a sceptical look. "What? I am."

He rolled his eyes and pushed off of the examination table from the hand he'd leant on it to walk to the height chart on the wall nearby. He beckoned her over and watched as she sulkily changed course from moving towards the bed to him instead.

"Back to the wall." He ordered as soon as she approached, earning a childish pout as she did as she was told.

Law sighed. "Nayla-ya..." He gripped her chin firmly between his thumb and index finger, tilting her head back down to a more neutral position and placed his other hand on top of her scalp to flatten her hair and read her height properly.

He broke out into a grin as he looked down at her. "You're barely five foot two."

"Five three." She insisted.

"Five two at _best_." She tutted at him and looked away from his amused face. "There's nothing wrong with being a little short, Nayla-ya."

"I'm not short, I'm an average height for a woman."

"Well, that depends on where you're from..." He conceded removing his hand from atop her head, placing his elbow onto the wall above her and leaning his weight onto it leisurely as he looked down at her. "...but no, in this instance you're just short."

"Maybe you just think so because you're tall. What are you, like, six foot five?"

"Six three, Nayla-ya. _That's_ an average height, not tall."

"Maybe amongst other pirates and violent thugs but anything over six foot is _definitely_ considered tall by normal standards."

"Only to people like you." He smirked down at her.

"…Feel free to stop touching me anytime by the way." She commented at the hand that had never released her chin.

Law made no attempt to remove it, simply smirking wider at her growing irritation at his closeness and contact. "Law!" She hissed, batting his hand away and moving from the wall towards the examination table he wanted her on.

She was stopped when she felt his firm grip around her uninjured wrist, Nayla looked back at him over her shoulder warily as he chuckled. He hadn't moved from leaning on the wall and didn't bother to turn to face her as he spoke, looking at her with a side glance. "I'm assuming you'll lie if I ask for your weight?"

"No. I'll just tell you that it's as rude to ask a woman her weight as it is to ask her age." Nayla retorted, trying to yank her wrist from his grip to find he not only tightened his hold before she could but pulled her back to his side, inappropriately close to himself, her chest bumping into his arm as she came to a stop.

"I'm not going to keep repeating myself Nayla-ya, I'm a pirate, not a gentleman. Don't expect politeness or social etiquette from me or for me to remain patient and good-natured with your stubborn behaviour." He held her eye contact for a moment, satisfied at the racing pulse he felt beneath his fingers on her wrist before speaking again. "You have three options. You tell me your honest weight, you get on the scales or I can pick you up again and estimate it for myself if you refuse the first two."

He loosened his grip as Nayla wrenched her wrist from his grasp, allowing her to back away from him. She glared at his smug look as she walked over to the scales a few feet away from the height chart against the wall.

"I don't know what my current weight is." She grumbled, keeping her distrustful gaze on him as she climbed onto the platform. She found herself for the hundredth time trying to understand what feeling he was provoking in her to make her heart race so uncomfortably. Fear, anger, anger _at_ her fear or a horribly inconvenient sense of attraction. 'Probably all of the above,' she thought sullenly as she reluctantly took her eyes off of him to read her weight but found herself looking at a couple of horizontal bars in front of her, rows of numbers and black, rectangular counterweights resting on each.

Nayla belatedly realised she was standing on a physician beam scale, the entirely manual types of scales that finicky doctors used for the most accurate measurement of a person's weight. She sighed, not surprised that Law had one of these despite having nothing but state of the art, electronic medical equipment within this room.

It had been a while since she had seen or used one; she reached out unsurely for the counterweights to slide them across the bars when she felt Law approach her from behind. He casually placed his hand on her right hip, using his other to reach around her left side and adjust the scales, encasing her in his hold.

She closed her eyes and tried counting to ten, she also tried to remind herself that he was a doctor, not a dentist and that if she kept gritting her teeth with this much force this many times a day she'd probably crack them all beyond repair within a week.

"Is something bothering you, Nayla-ya?" Law's smooth, neutral voice sounded from beside her ear as he adjusted the counterweights carefully.

"No." 'You insufferable jackass,' she tacked onto the end mentally, wondering to herself if anyone on the crew was a dentist.

Law leant his face down closer to her own as he peered over her shoulder at the figure the scales had settled on. This close, Nayla could feel the fur of his hat against the side of her head, the soft tickle of the hair of his sideburns against her cheek and the piercings of his ear contact her own. The small sound of the metal meeting, the warmth of his skin tantalisingly close to her own and the intoxicating fragrance of his aftershave...she bit her lip hard, forcing herself to focus on the bars in front of her.

"Take them off." He all but whispered into her ear.

It hadn't even been the words he had said but the faintest touch of the rough hair of his goatee and of his soft lips on her skin as he spoke that made her tense up. When had he gotten _this_ close? When had he moved the hand he'd been using on the counterweights to her other hip? Had his chest always been pressed against her back?

Nayla turned her head slowly to look at him finding him looking right back at her not more than an inch away with a silent, challenging smile on his face. "…Do you have a problem with personal space, Law?"

"No, I'm quite comfortable, Nayla-ya. Why do you ask?" He leaned in more closely, tightening his grip on her hips before she abruptly slammed her hand over his approaching lips in shock.

It had taken him two and a half weeks but he had finally caused a blush to heat her cheeks as she looked at him in surprise at his bold move. She felt the smirk beneath her fingers widening, the laughter reaching his eyes as he returned her now-angry eye contact in complete enjoyment. He allowed her to push his face back to a more comfortable distance from her own, chuckling at the hard-earned, flush of pink on her face.

"You may think you're being cute but don't think I'll put up with this if you're expecting me to be here for as long as you intend me to be and don't expect _me_ to remain patient and good-natured with _your_ behaviour." She seethed quietly, removing her hand from him, the coarse hairs of his goatee grazing her skin as she did.

Law took in her angry posture and the clear glint of threat in her eyes, the same as he had seen yesterday in his brig. She really was very attractive when truly infuriated, it was a shame the backlash of lust he had felt yesterday had also returned. As much as he enjoyed her general discomfort at his actions, he enjoyed this response from her a lot more.

Nayla couldn't even remember the last time a man had made her blush; she didn't enjoy reliving the sensation. It was incredibly uncomfortable and she much preferred being on the causing end of them. Finally realising that he had never let her go; she slapped his hands off of her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop fucking touching me, dammit! How many times have I had to say that to you in the last twenty-four hours, Law?! I'm not going to warn you again."

"It's going to be very difficult to do a _physical_ examination if I don't touch you, Nayla-ya." His low, suggestive tone, she decided, was highly uncalled for.

"Have someone else do it, your crew are medically trained." She hissed.

"They are, but the majority aren't _doctors_. They can perform examinations but they give _me_ the results to interpret."

"That's fine then! Get someone else to do the examination or be more professional about it!"

"And who would you suggest I ask to come and examine your chest whilst you're topless and be 'professional' about it, Nayla-ya? How do you think that examination will go?"

Nayla opened her mouth to respond before she thought of Shachi or Penguin trying to listen to her topless chest for a moment, she could imagine nothing but nosebleeds and blushes there. She thought back to Jeff contemplating her chest at breakfast and Connor staring at her ass this morning. She honestly couldn't think of someone else on the crew that would be more suitable...

Law watched her expression morph into an unimpressed deadpan as she reached the same conclusion he had done of how an examination from someone else would turn out before he spoke again. "Exactly. Now, take them off." He said levelly.

She blinked at him."…Excuse me?"

"Your shoes." Law glanced down between them at her feet, thinking how ridiculously small they were. He was tempted to ask their size but decided the effort of trying to get yet another honest response from her probably wasn't worth the hassle.

She slid her black flats off against the edge of the scales and let them drop to the floor, fighting the temptation to kick them off at his head. Nayla looked back up when she felt him take a step closer, closing the small gap she had finally managed to put between them. She took a step back automatically, causing her to nearly slip off of the edge of the scales altogether.

…

"Are…are you being serious right now?!" She asked in poorly restrained irritation as she steadied herself against the arm he had wound around her waist.

"I was just moving closer to adjust and read the scales. I thought you were going to fall." He said nonchalantly as he looked ahead of him to marginally adjust the counterweight with his free hand.

"Bullshit, any excuse to-!"

"115 pounds." He watched her fists clench in his peripheral vision as he turned to look at her, anticipating her first and her second attempt to hit him.

Law caught each of her fists effortlessly, he didn't even look surprised, amused even. "Nayla-ya, violent outbursts like that are not in your best interest-" He tilted her right fist to the side slightly, causing her to wince and pull her hands away from him. "-especially if you intend to use your injured side." He mocked as she cradled her sore wrist with her other hand.

She looked back up at him realising that he wasn't even remotely annoyed that she had made a genuine attempt to punch him in his smug face, he had pushed her that far on purpose. She couldn't understand why he would do that or what he was thinking.

Maybe he was genuinely coming on to her, just seeing how far he'd get before she'd either respond as she did or cave in and let him have her. Maybe he was just testing her temperament, wanting to see if she'd dare to attack him and if she did, how seriously she would do so, perhaps even hoping she'd use her ability…but most likely, judging from his expression, he was taunting her purely for entertainment.

Nayla took a deep breath and turned away from him, silently slipping her shoes back on as she stepped back down to the floor. Refusing to open her mouth and indulge him any further.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have an anger management problem, Nayla-ya?" He grinned at her as she walked past him towards the examination bed.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're an asshole, Law?" She snapped at him over her shoulder, childishly mimicking his tone before she hoisted herself to sit on the bed. 'Dammit...that whole 'don't indulge him further' thing didn't last very long,' she inwardly scolded herself for how easily she kept taking his bait.

"Yes, I believe _you've_ told me that, at least twice." He said as he walked at a laid-back pace to his desk.

"Oh good, you're keeping count. Do you believe me yet or do I need to keep telling you?"

Law chuckled as reached the desk and leant down to open his drawer. "I can help you with that."

"With what?" She asked confused as she watched him pull out a stethoscope, draping it around the back of his neck before shutting the drawer.

"Your temper problem." He said more seriously as he turned his back to her to pull open the top compartment of the cabinet behind his desk.

"You're the _source_ of my temper problem." She crossed her arms as he pulled out a fresh form and shut it.

"All the more reason that I be the one to help you with it, you'll know your control is improving if you don't attempt to punch me in the face." He smirked, grabbing his pen as he passed his desk and walked back towards her.

"Maybe I don't have a temper problem, Law. Maybe _you_ have a can't-help-but-be-an-annoying-prick problem. I can help you with that. You'll know your control is improving if you don't sexually harass me for a whole thirty seconds."

"No need, I'm content with myself." He lay the form and pen down onto the surface of the bedside cabinet at the head of the examination table and shot her an amused look.

"I'm sure you are." She narrowed her eyes at him as he rolled his sleeves up further and moved towards the sinks.

"In all seriousness Nayla-ya, an explosive temper like that is a serious burden in lines of work like our own. If you lose your temper so easily you'll act irrationally, it could cost you your life someday. I'll help you with it if you want me to." Law turned the water on and began washing his hands. He had said 'so easily' but inwardly he was actually a little surprised at how much he had needed to push her. She'd displayed a fair amount of tolerance to his actions before reacting violently, despite being so quick to anger.

Nayla stared at him, thankful his back was to her, she couldn't hold off the degree of surprise she had on her face at the genuine offer, her irritation dissipating as she watched him finish washing his hands.

"Well, thank you for the offer, but I honestly don't _usually_ have such a short temper…seems you're a special case." She finished in distaste, watching as he turned to her with a cocky smile on his face, tossing the crumpled, paper towel he had used to dry his hands into the nearby trash can and making his way back towards her.

"Speaking of 'special cases,' I couldn't help but notice that you made no attempt to use your ability when you tried to hit me just now despite being capable of crushing steel with it." He came to a stop in front of her. "Should I take that as a sign that you care about me, Nayla-ya?"

She scoffed, fighting the urge to smile at the grin on his face. "Hardly, it was more like mercy or pity. I don't want to kill you and I wouldn't want to hit you hard enough to mangle that mess of yours into anything uglier. That would just be cruel." She circled her pointed index finger at his face to indicate the 'mess' she was referring to.

"Oh, so you think I'm ugly do you?" Law asked smoothly, setting a hand down onto the bed on either side of her and leaning down.

"Very." She managed to keep a completely straight face despite her obvious lie and despite his hands being close enough to both of her outer thighs for her body to traitorously react to his faint touch.

He tilted his head slightly as he looked at her. "Hmm, that's a shame, though I do recall you saying that you think I'm 'pretty' at breakfast." His slanted, egotistical smile widening as he watched her push her thighs more closely together, further away from his hands.

Nayla cleared her throat, deciding to redirect their topic of conversation. " _I_ can't help but notice that not more than three minutes ago you were telling me you weren't going to remain patient of good-natured with me if I carried on acting out but you seem to have let me get away with trying to punch you in that ugly mug of yours. Should _I_ take that as a sign that you care about me, Law?"

"Hmm." He looked up in feigned thought. "Well, same as you I suppose. I don't particularly have any desire to kill you." Law returned his gaze to her to watch in amusement as the playful glint in her eyes waivered.

"Particularly?" She questioned.

"You have your moments, Nayla-ya…and we all have our limits." He removed his hands from the table and stood up straight, putting a more professional distance between them. "Now, let's try to get through this examination without any bloodshed, shall we?"

Nayla watched as he extended his upturned palm to her. "Give me your hand." She quietly did as she was told, allowing him to grip her gently before he turned to look at the clock on the wall across the room. She hoped his nearness and physical contact wouldn't affect her pulse too badly as she watched his fingers curl around her wrist and press her skin gently.

Taking the quiet moment as an opportunity to turn her thoughts inward, she reluctantly admitted to herself that she wouldn't be able to keep up with this rate of taunting from him. If things carried on like this, she'd give herself a stress ulcer if he made her lose her temper this frequently. Law's open, flirtatious teasing was what grated on her nerves more than anything else he did. He wasn't the first handsome man to behave that way with her but getting flustered was _not_ like her at all, she hated it. She was usually the one in firm control of situations like these.

Granted, the men she had encountered previous to Law hadn't dared to go quite as far as he did or she had simply taken control before they'd had the chance too...and granted, he was perhaps a _little_ more handsome than the others had been…she glanced from his hand to the side profile of his face as he gazed at the clock on the wall. Alright, maybe _a lot_ more handsome than the others, but still, it was no reason to get as annoyingly flustered as she found herself around him.

Law released her wrist and reached for the drawer of the bedside cabinet at the head of the examination table, pulling out what she recognised to be a sphygmomanometer to measure her blood pressure. He opened the metal casing and pulled out the blood pressure cuff as he glanced at her sleeved arm.

Maybe what she found so annoying about his behaviour was the uncertainty that she could have him if she wanted him. Nayla had never had trouble getting what (or who) she wanted before, other than Zoro but that was a different story and she had only ever half-heartedly pursued him. She had been blessed with enough attractive features and enough of her own flirtatious talents to have anyone she had wanted up until now, she hadn't ever really faced rejection…but Law was different, he wasn't flirting with her out of genuine want, he was just playing with her and it was incredibly irritating…could she have him if she tried? Did he want her at all?

"Your sleeve is thin and loose enough to measure your blood pressure through it but I'll need you to roll the lower half of it up past your elbow."

Nayla silently complied, wondering why she even cared if he were attracted to her in any genuine form. Was she really so vain that she couldn't stand the possibility of someone she found attractive not reciprocating that feeling? Maybe it bothered her because of the weird sensation of lack of power it brought; the possibility that the use her sex appeal to weasel out of trouble with him or to gain something she wanted from him might not work. Overall, she had a lot of vulnerabilities and abusing her feminine charm was one of her most heavily relied on tools that she had used so far to help her survive.

Law secured the cuff around her arm firmly, removed the stethoscope from around his neck and put the ear pieces in before gently pressing the rounded end of it onto the inner aspect of her elbow. He rapidly pumped the blood pressure cuff full of air with his free hand, making it tighten as he watched the column of mercury rise on the metre. Nayla watched him work, slowly releasing the pressure around her arm as he waited to hear the reading of her blood pressure.

In the end, it didn't matter if he was attracted to her. What she needed was to find a different way to handle his relentless teasing. He was likely only continuing to do it because he was enjoying her reaction. So, if he didn't get the response he wanted he'd eventually grow bored and leave her alone…hopefully.

Her natural response was anger, which he enjoyed. When he really piled on the pressure she felt a slight fear, which he enjoyed. If he made an abrupt, forward move and surprised her…he also enjoyed that. Worst was when she was sure he could read her unwilling arousal, that he definitely enjoyed…Maybe the only response that she could offer that wouldn't give him any enjoyment would be pretending to be indifferent?

Satisfied with her blood pressure measurement, Law rapidly deflated the rest of the air from the cuff. He removed the stethoscope from her skin, pulled his ear pieces out and draped it around the back of his neck once more before pulling open the Velcro of her blood pressure cuff and removing it from her. He folded and placed it back into its case and turned to put it back into the bedside cabinet drawer.

Nayla already knew she wouldn't be able to maintain a reaction of indifference for very long. Aside from it being difficult to do in the first place, if she _did_ succeed, he'd see right through it. It would only provoke him into escalating his teasing until she finally cracked. She unconsciously sighed out loud at the thought, causing him to turn to look at her over his shoulder with a raised brow as he shut the drawer.

"Something the matter, Nayla-ya?" Law jot down his findings so far onto the form resting atop the cabinet, turning away from her before she responded.

"Nothing." She sighed out, looking down at her feet dangling over the side of the bed.

Law finished writing and turned back to her, observing her apparently deep state of thought as he walked around the bed to stand behind her. Nayla tensed immediately, sitting up straight as she felt his hands on either side of her face. She turned her head up to glare at him as he leant forward, looking at her from above as his fingers worked their way along her temple and jaw.

"Most doctors give clear warning before touching their patients, especially from an angle their patient can't see." She said starting to relax slightly under his touch as he examined her gently.

"Most doctors." He reiterated with a small smirk, moving his fingers along the underside of her jaw to her chin then down to either side of her throat causing her to tense again immediately. She hadn't meant to but it wasn't everyday you had the 'Surgeon of Death' stand behind you with both his hands at your throat and that combined with the dark, playful expression that was now slowly spreading on his face was enough to put her on edge. The expression he wore at her involuntary show of fear reminded her every bit of the one a cat might have whilst toying nonchalantly with a mouse trapped under its paws. A very evil cat.

The way Law's smirk suddenly widened immediately alerted her that the next thing he did or said, was going to cause upset.

"Swallow for me, Nayla-ya." The sly, husky tone of his voice and his eye contact from above her was so far beyond inappropriate, she was genuinely shocked into silence by the nerve he had to look her in the eye and make such a filthy innuendo.

Regaining her ability to speak and deliberately ignoring the field day the filthier part of her brain was having with this one, she quickly narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to give him an earful when he cut her off. "Before you do that, if you misconstrued what I said as anything inappropriate, that is entirely _your_ perversion."

"My _ass_ it is!"

"There _is_ no other way for me to ask you to swallow, Nayla-ya. Is there any particularly appropriate-sounding way you would have preferred I phrase it?" She tried desperately to think of an answer to that, taking in the growing look of triumph on his features as the seconds ticked by.

She growled in irritation, looking forward again. "Fuck you."

"We discussed your foul language and disrespect towards me several times already and we agreed you were not to do it anymore." He leant down to her ear. "Or do you want to give me an excuse to punish you?"

It took a fair amount of effort to fight off the urge to shudder at the smooth tone of his voice and the way he had said it. "I'm pretty sure we agreed I not do it in front of your men, we're alone."

She felt the fingers placed on either side of her neck still, it was a shame her back was turned or she would have seen the surprise on his face as his eyebrows raised. "Hmm, so we did." Law admitted, standing up straight once more, wondering how he had not seen that small slip-up at the time.

"And as far as being respectful to you is concerned, Law, I'm happy to show you as much as you show me." She looked back up at him standing over her; his smug expression had been replaced with one of slightly perturbed indifference.

"Shut up and swallow, Nayla-ya."

She smiled at his slightly temperamental response and did as he asked, surprising him with her rapid obedience to his request despite how he had phrased it. Even more surprised at how her current position, eye contact and the playful expression she now wore on her lips affected him as she swallowed.

Law cleared his throat as quietly as he was able to. "Look forward and do it again." He placed his fingers more correctly over her the front of her neck, hoping that she hadn't done enough 'reading' to know that in his surprise he'd not had his hands in the correct place.

Nayla happily complied, enjoying the turn of events as her behaviour made _him_ uncomfortable for a change. This was much more like it; this end of small teases was the only end to be on. Perhaps teasing him back would work a lot better than trying to feign indifference to his flirtation when he got out of line.

Law ran his fingers under the material of her hoodie along both of her collar bones, feeling gently before speaking again. "Tilt your head forward."

She did so as he ran his fingers along the back and base of her neck before running them through her hair to the area of her scalp he had treated for her. He parted her locks and examined the scar left behind critically; it had healed well, over time it was likely it would nearly disappear completely. "How has your scalp been since removing the staples?"

"Fine, thanks."

Law hummed thoughtfully allowing her soft strands to fall back into place before placing a hand onto her right shoulder and lifting her right arm from above the elbow. "Relax and let me take the full weight."

She did so allowing him to move her shoulder through its range of motion as he watched her face, stopping when she flinched in pain. He did the same with her elbow, eliciting another small grimace of pain as he moved it before walking back around to her front to examine her right wrist. He used both hands to place his fingers on the underside, using his thumbs to gently press across each wrist bone in turn.

"Does it feel like anything is broken?" Law was fairly certain she'd not have been using this side at all at breakfast if there were any serious breaks.

"No, just kinda sore." She bit back a whimper when he pressed over the next spot, causing him to pause as he watched her face.

"I think it's likely you've just sprained your wrist but some smaller wrist fractures are easily missed. Considering the tenderness, I'll X-Ray it next door to be sure." He slid one of his hands down from her wrist to rest under hers, holding it up to examine her fingers and nails. "Still, even if you did manage a small fracture, it's pretty remarkable that this is all you have to show for the damage you must have done to my wall." He muttered quietly, looking at the raw knuckles carefully.

Noticing how quiet she had gotten he looked back at her, a small grin beginning to tug at the corner of his mouth again when he realised she seemed to be purposely remaining quiet so as not to provoke any questions about her ability. Law placed her hand back onto her lap and leant over to the head of the examination bed, folding it up to an angle and securing it.

"Unzip your top and sit back." He watched in amusement as her nervous quietness was rapidly replaced with thinly veiled displeasure at the command. "I can't listen to your heart or lungs through your hoodie. You can keep it on but I need to be able to get my hands under it."

Her eyes narrowed at his phrasing and his grin widened at her eye narrowing. "If you need a hand I'd be happy to help remove your top for you." She huffed and swung her legs up onto the bed, kicking her shoes off to the floor below, not wanting to give him an opportunity to make good on his 'offer' to 'help' her undress. She shuffled to rest her back against the raised head of the examination table and unzipped her hoodie, looking away from his satisfied expression as he approached her.

Law gripped either side of her top and began pulling it open to expose more of her, drawing a warning glare from her as she looked up at him. "I need to watch your chest movements as you breathe."

"I'm sure you do-ow!" She rubbed the left side he had poked.

"I do. _Especially_ because of the two small fractures on this side." She sighed and pulled her top open completely.

He observed her chest rise and fall before gently feeling along it, tapping at certain points and being careful to avoid the sore area he had just prodded to illustrate his point. Satisfied, Law removed the stethoscope from around the back of his neck. "Deep breaths." She did so, watching as he placed the end of his stethoscope across her chest.

It was strange seeing a pirate renowned for his cruelty and sadism slip into a quiet and professional doctor persona, especially with such an anti-doctor slogan printed across his fingers. His face was neutral and though he was looking at her chest it was obvious he was more focused on the sounds he was listening to as he worked.

He prompted her to sit forward and moved to her side, slipping his stethoscope up her hoodie to listen to her lungs across her back, paying particular attention to the area over the small rib fractures. He removed the earpieces, allowing the stethoscope to hang from his neck as a tie would. "Hold your hoodie up or remove it."

Nayla reached behind her to pull the material up and out of the way for him so that he could feel and tap across her back in the same way he had done on her front. He carefully examined the site of her fractures before tugging the fabric out of her hands and back down to cover her when he was done.

Law moved to her front as she rest herself back again. "Lungs are clear but your fractures seem more tender than you let on. Don't skip your painkillers."

"Yes, mom." She sighed out rolling her eyes, causing him to give her a displeased look. "Yes, dad?" He narrowed his eyes at her attitude. "Yes, sir?" It was getting difficult to stop the smile on her lips at this point as she enjoyed the annoyed look on his face but she decided to pander to his ego just a little to smooth things over. It wouldn't hurt to find out how he would prefer being addressed and which titles he enjoyed, for future sucking up anyway.

"Hmm, how about 'yes, doctor Trafalgar?'" He crossed his arms, trying to halt the small upturn of the corner of his mouth at that one.

"Just yes would be fine." He muttered.

"What about 'yes, Captain?'"

He smiled a little at the sound of that despite his small sigh of exasperation. "I'm not your captain, Nayla-ya."

"No, but still the captain of the ship. If it were a cruise ship, I'd be calling you 'Captain' like I've done on other ships I've travelled on."

"Being a _prisoner_ on a pirate ship is hardly the same as being a guest on a cruise ship." He chuckled enjoying the sour pout at the reminder of her situation. "My name or anything gender-appropriate and of a rank above 'asshole' will be more than sufficient."

"No promises." She grouched.

"I'm going to need you to remove or push up your bra on your left side." He stated matter-of-factly as he uncrossed his arms. "I need to feel your apex beat." Law offered as response to her incredulous look, pausing purposely to see if she'd ask what one was or if she'd simply do as he had asked now that she'd heard his explanation for the request.

She belatedly realised the test he was giving her and tried in vain to fake a confused expression. "What's an ap-?"

"Far too late, Nayla-ya." He smiled.

She sighed and reached behind her to unclasp her bra, pushing the cup up on her left and covering herself as best she could with her left hand.

"How much 'reading' have you done about medicine exactly?" He asked as he placed his hand under her left breast.

She tried to ignore the feeling of his large, warm hand on the intimate part of her body as his surprisingly smooth skin contacted her chest. "A bit I guess." She mumbled as he trailed his fingers between the spaces of her ribs, feeling for the tapping pulse of her heart.

"Any particular reason why?"

"We…were all going to be something else before we became mercenaries or pirates or whatever. Very few people set out to end up as one on purpose." She muttered.

"So you had an interest in medicine before becoming a mercenary?" He stilled his hand and looked up at her.

"Sort of." She admitted shyly, avoiding his eye contact.

"You seem to know an awful lot for someone who just does 'reading.'"

"…I was applying for med school…I was really excited, I had been doing so much pre-reading and lots of apprenticeships and stuff…I still like to read here and there, I always thought the human body was so fascinating."

For a brief moment, Law felt like he was looking at a different version of the woman he had come to somewhat know over the last two and a half weeks, an older version. There were hints of a genuine happiness and awe in her voice and it was obvious she was remembering that point in her life with some fondness. It was a lot different to the guarded, manipulative, mischievous or sexualised behaviour he had seen her display or the few but very present tell-tale hints of a woman who knew how to kill that would emerge on his provocation.

"So what happened that made you end up in this line of work instead?" He watched the happiness from her reminiscence fade from her face.

"…Stuff." She offered blandly.

"Stuff?"

"Stuff." Nayla reaffirmed before looking down at the hand he had simply left placed against her chest this whole time. "Are you done?"

He started lifting his hand away when his brow furrowed. He looked down at the upper edge of his finger, tucked underneath her breast. "No." He moved his hand aside slightly to look at the small, linear scar over her heart. It wasn't more than the width of the index finger he was using to run over it.

"Where did this come from?"

"Exit wound."

He looked back up at her for her to offer more of an explanation. On cue, she used her right hand to point at the area of the scar they had already discussed earlier through the material of her shorts. The scar that ran along the skin below and to the right of her belly button, where the top hem of her panty line would be.

Law looked up at her in open shock. "You're telling me this is the exit wound to _that_ scar?"

She nodded in confirmation as his eyes ran up the length of her body diagonally where the spear must have pierced through her. "That doesn't make sense…the angle of the entry wound, the length of the injury…"

"He stabbed me from his position laying on the ground, aimed for my heart." She explained.

"Why didn't you point out this other scar earlier?" Law asked with some annoyance.

"I thought you already knew it was there. I mean you've taken my top off when I was unconscious before, how did you not notice it then?"

He deadpanned at her, moving his index finger to poke at the underside of the left breast she was still holding up and out of the way for him. Making her silently 'o' with her mouth in response. "Contrary to what you may think happened the day I first brought you here, Nayla-ya, I did remove the top half of your clothing but didn't indulge myself in having a _thorough_ grope around your breasts."

She narrowed her eyes at his deliberately long pronunciation of 'thorough' as he glanced back down her body at the trail the spear had taken through her, from right hip all the way up to under her left breast. He furrowed his brows as he wondered how she could possibly have survived having a spear run through most of her body without injuring her fatally or causing her to die of infection afterwards. She hadn't been stabbed, she had been impaled he corrected in his own mind grimly.

"Dumb luck." He looked back up at her from the area he knew the entry wound in question was. "You're wondering how I lived. Dumb luck." She said knowingly.

Law shook his head, removing his fingers from the small scar under her left breast. "It must have been excruciating." He muttered as he stood straight and placed the ear pieces of the stethoscope back in.

"You have no idea…I started beheading people after that." She said darkly, halting the approach of his hand with the stethoscope to her chest as he looked at her in surprise.

"People that you think you've killed, that are laying on the floor. They can't surprise-attack you if they have no heads. You _know_ they're dead." She clarified, some anger in her voice as she said it.

Law's brows rose to the brim of his hat before he broke out into a sinister grin. "So, the rumours are true. You decapitate the people you kill?"

"No, I kill _by_ decapitation." She amended.

"…That's really gruesome, Nayla-ya. I didn't know you had it in you." He seemed to look almost proud at the thought.

"Well, people seem to think so, hence that nasty epithet they gave me but actually I came to realise its pretty merciful."

"You think killing by decapitation is merciful?" He asked sceptically.

"Well think about it, most of the time in wars you're just killing common foot soldiers. Men just doing their jobs, doing what they think is right for their country. There's not really any need to make them suffer unnecessarily and I honestly can't think of a faster, more painless death to give them using blades than a rapid decapitation. They don't even know what hit them."

Law raised a brow at her morbid justification. "How kind of you." He said dryly.

"Can _you_ think of a more instantaneous death to give someone with a blade?" She challenged, not waiting for him to respond as he raised his eyes up in thought. "No. The only thing sucky about it is that someone has to spend time trying to match up bodies to heads when the battle is over so that their families have something to bury." She said guiltily, watching as he placed the stethoscope to the skin over her heart. Her last sentence made him wonder if she had read up on identifying human remains with skull bone fusion ages before or after she started decapitating people.

Once he was satisfied he heard nothing worrying he removed his stethoscope and placed it onto the bed between them. Leaning behind her to lay the head of the examination table flat, though she remained sat up as she refastened and adjusted her bra.

"You can zip up your hoodie but I need you to lay flat and lift it up for me so that I can see your whole stomach."

Nayla zipped her top up, thankful he hadn't been as gropey and harassing as she had anticipated him to be and lay herself back gently, peeling the hem of her hoodie up to under her breasts.

She felt Law's fingers enter the hem of her shorts on either side and tug them down a little bit over her hips, causing her to prop herself up on her elbows to glare at him. He said nothing, giving her a small smirk as she sighed and lay back down.

She closed her eyes, deciding she was too tired to deal with his obvious provocation. She could feel his gaze on her as he observed her exposed stomach carefully from the side of the bed. "Hey, Law…" Hearing no response she opened her eyes and looked up at him, he was looking back at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. "What were you first, a pirate or a doctor?"

He tilted his head and hummed in thought as he placed his hands on her stomach. "That's a good question…technically, I was a pirate first."

"Technically?" He gently pressed onto the flesh of her stomach, feeling each part systematically.

"I started learning medicine before I was a pirate but didn't continue to do so until after I became one."

"How old were you when you became a pirate?"

He stopped his hands moving across her skin to look up at her with a devilish smirk. "Ten."

Her eyebrows shot up at that, letting how young he had been when he had become a criminal sink in and that he must have been even younger than that when he started learning something as complicated as medicine. It wasn't the first time since she had met him that she had acknowledged he was an intelligent man but now she was beginning to wonder if he were maybe a genius or a young prodigy. It wouldn't surprise her if he really did have an abnormally high IQ. It was both impressive and worrying, smart people were always the more dangerous ones.

"…You've been a pirate for fourteen years? And you're wondering how _I'm_ still alive?" She finally responded, making him chuckle.

"Hey wait…you picked up medicine again _after_ you became a pirate…that means you can't possibly have studied at a medical school." She eyed him warily as he felt over her right, lower abdomen, over the deep scar that ran there.

"Sadly, not many medical schools accept pirates who haven't been attending a formal school since age ten."

"So you really _are_ a quac-ow!" She rubbed at the skin on her stomach he had pinched as he reached for the stethoscope on the bed beside her.

"I had to self-teach the rest of my education, but if it makes you feel any better, I scored higher on medical school exam papers than consultants did by sixteen." He smiled proudly at her as he wore his stethoscope once more.

"You're _still_ a self-taught qua-ow! See! _Real_ doctors don't pinch their patients, Law!" She yelled, swatting his attacking hand away, making him laugh as he placed his stethoscope down onto her skin again.

Nayla quietened down and watched him carefully. Despite her poking fun at him, she couldn't help but admire him. She really hated doing that, he gave her a lot of things to admire about him…to have the drive and intelligence to complete his education himself…teach himself medicine no less. He hadn't had an easy life either.

Her thoughts thankfully came to a stop after he stood back up to full height. Thinking about him as a person too deeply wouldn't be wise on many levels; she'd rather not grow to like him too much if it could be helped. Frankly, she shouldn't like the man at all, the reality of it was she was being held against her will on a ship by this pirate...but somehow she found him…oddly fun to be around.

"You can pull your top back down."

"And my shorts back up?" She shot at him as she tugged her hoodie down, causing him to smirk as he turned from her to walk back towards his desk, removing his stethoscope.

"You know, Law. For someone who's always gripping a weapon, your hands are strangely smooth. Do you moisturise often?" She taunted mildly as she tugged her shorts back up.

"Actually, I do." He opened his desk draw, tossed his stethoscope in and closed it.

She raised a brow at his admission, placing her hands onto the bed behind her to hold her into a sat up position as he walked over to the sheet on top of the bedside cabinet and began writing his findings down.

" _You_ care about having soft hands?" She asked in disbelief. Seemed he was far more secure with his sexuality than the average man who would vehemently deny anything that might remotely tie them to homosexuality or stereotypically feminine behaviour. He didn't respond at all to those taunts, she'd need to note that for future reference as something to not bother using when trying to get under his skin.

"Not particularly but rough, calloused or broken skin harbours bacteria. I'm a doctor and a surgeon." He responded evenly.

Nayla rolled her eyes behind his back, figuring she should have expected an answer like that before she suddenly froze up. "Holy shit…"

He turned to look at her over his shoulder at her wide eyes and open mouth as she looked at him in shock. "I was under the impression you already knew that Nayla-ya…"

"No, not that…you're a self-taught surgeon?!"

He turned back around to face her, regarding her carefully and crossing his arms, wondering where she was going with this but expecting her to now begin questioning his competence and the operation he had done on her.

"Yes."

"…No amount of reading from books can teach you that. Surgeons can only learn technical skills through practise…what did you do to learn?" She asked quietly, dreading the answer.

The horror on her face, the shades paler she seemed and the thoughts she must have had about him running through her head right now...he couldn't help but laugh loudly at her. She twisted herself around more on the bed, to keep her eyes on him, suddenly remembering the feeling she got from him when she had noticed the look in his eyes on the first day she'd seen him that had reminded her of madness.

When he managed to settle down to just chuckling, he leant himself back against the bedside cabinet. "How do _you_ think I learnt, Nayla-ya?"

She licked her lips, trying not to seem too unnerved by her own thoughts of how he earned 'practise' as a surgeon but beginning to think that maybe he was one of those creepy, antisocial kids that went around killing and cutting up cats for fun. "Did you…dissect animals or something?" She offered quietly.

"Dissection is of dead tissue, that would be of no use to me."

"…Did you _vivisect_ animals?" Her tone had come out higher than she would have liked.

"Live is better yes, but how would practicing on a different species be helpful?" He offered lowly with a sinister smile creeping onto his features.

"You practiced on…live…people?"

"Of course I did, like any surgeon needs to."

"… _Consenting_ , live people?" She asked nearly inaudibly.

Law watched her for a deliberately long, silent moment, only the hum of the submarine and the waves hitting its hull outside could be heard. Finally deciding that he'd had his fill of her anxiety, he allowed his grin to widen before he answered. "Rarely."

He stood from his leant position, walking past Nayla on the bed, amused as she unconsciously pulled away from him as he moved to reach the cabinets on the other side of the room.

"Who were they?"

"Hmm?" He opened one of the cabinet doors, pulling out a tendon hammer.

"The people you experimented on."

He laughed as he closed the cabinet and turned towards her. " _Trained_ on, Nayla-ya. Trained on." Laughing again at the apparent mad-scientist/doctor scenario she had dreamt up in her head about him over the last few minutes.

"Whatever!" She snapped as he walked back towards her. "Who did you butcher?"

He smirked at her peculiar, indignant anger as he stopped in front of her, dangling the long stalk of the tendon hammer between his fingers. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Why?" He leant down towards her, watching closely as she fought the urge to recoil from him now.

"Were they civilians? Elderly? Children?"

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I only selected the most heinous, evil and deserving rival pirates to 'butcher,' Nayla-ya?"

"…Yes."

"Then we'll go with that."

"Law! Seriously, did you kill a bunch of people to learn? Like a total sociopath?!"

He laughed again at the expression on her face; the amount of entertainment he got from her was beyond priceless, he was starting to think he should have abducted her long ago. He closed his eyes, wiping the corners of them with the index finger and thumb of the hand he placed across his nose. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard.

Law sighed in content and smiled which seemed to unsettle her even further. It really was a shame he needed her to be cooperative and that he needed her to find him tolerable and respectable to work with. It would have been so much more fun to allow her to believe he was a sociopath that went port to port abducting innocent, elderly civilians and children to 'butcher' on his submarine.

"Nayla-ya, I _did_ mostly learn on captured, rival pirates."

"Mostly?" She repeated distrustfully.

"The occasional marine." He chuckled at the memory and at the look of distaste that crossed her features. "The point was to perform operations on them and have them _survive_ otherwise my training wouldn't have been very successful now would it?"

She seemed to relax a bit at this. "So you didn't just hack them up and kill them for fun?"

He chuckled. "Well, it _was_ fun but they did usually end up dead. Rest assured though, it was rarely a result of the surgery I performed on them."

"…That's not reassuring at all, Law!...Geez, 'Surgeon of Death' is an understatent." He smirked at the look on her face.

"And for the record, Nayla-ya, there are some crews like Gropey Goth Pirate-ya's who _do_ deliberately harm civilians but mine isn't one of them. I make it a point to my crew not to do so. Apart from it just being unnecessary, I don't want my notoriety or bounty increases to be because I'm a threat to harmless people but because I'm a threat in my own right."

She looked him in the eyes at that prideful statement wondering how much of it was true and whether he was just using that as an excuse to not hurt civilians because he found it immoral…who was she kidding, he just admitted to butchering people against their will to learn surgery.

"Now, lay back down and relax."

"Lay back down and _relax_ , he says, after freshly revealing himself to be a complete psycho." She sighed out, covering her face with her hand and shaking her head. She wondered how and why she ever got herself into these situations and why she always found out that any man she was ever attracted to was insane.

Nayla nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt him rest a hand on either of her shoulders and push her gently back down to the bed. Her tension and his action made her remember the night he had broken into her hospital room as she looked back up at him.

"I need to test some reflexes, so _try_ to relax." He chuckled down at her, releasing her shoulders and moving down to the end of the bed.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to rid herself of the images of a blood-splattered Law gleefully hacking away at a marine strapped down to his operating table and laughing maniacally. She felt him begin testing her reflexes and opened her eyes as she felt his fingers glide up her leg as he did so.

It was pretty unfair to judge him as the insane one when, considering everything he had just told her, she still couldn't help but find him attractive or help her body's response to his physical contact. She was definitely the crazier one in the room right now.

The silence settled into something comfortable as he diligently tested her leg and arm reflexes, setting the hammer onto the bedside cabinet when he had finished.

"Have you noticed any changes in sensation? To touch, temperature, pain or balance perception? Any numbness of tingling anywhere?"

"No, nothing at all."

He hummed in approval moving back towards the end of the bed. "Considering its been two and a half weeks, you'd probably have noticed any changes of that nature by now so I'll only be testing your perception of light touch." She furrowed her brows at him before he explained further. "Close your eyes and tell me when I'm touching you."

She leant herself up on her elbows to look at him as he leant over her legs at the end of the bed, an arm resting on either side of her calves. He looked back at her with a smirk as she continued to glare at him. "Just close your eyes Nayla-ya, the sooner you do it the sooner this will all be over."

"Not a reassuring choice of words _doctor_." She grumbled, hesitantly forcing her head back down to the bed and closing her eyes.

She felt him briefly touch and remove his fingertip from the side of her ankle. "I can feel that."

He repeated a similar action on her other ankle. "Yep."

He did the same along her shins, calves, front and side of her thighs moving on after each verbal confirmation she gave him. She flinched when she felt his fingertip higher up on her inner thigh then was decent and clenched her jaw silently.

"Hmm, you didn't feel that? Let me try again." She snapped her eyes open and grabbed his approaching hand before he could touch her again.

"I felt it fine." She growled at his smirking face.

"Oh? I didn't hear your respond."

"You saw me flinch you perverted bastard." He chuckled at her from his position leant over her legs. "Just hurry up and finish examining me already." She hissed, releasing his hand as he stood up to full height and moved up the bed to stand beside her at hip level.

"Pull your shorts down and your top up."

Nayla looked up at him exasperated, making no move to comply. "I thought you were in a hurry to finish, Nayla-ya." He taunted, making her sigh and shuffle the hem of her shorts down a little bit and her hoodie back up to under her breasts.

"Good, now, close your eyes." He said quietly.

Closing your eyes when the last thing you saw was the Surgeon of Death smirking down at you was so unsettling she thought to herself as she forced herself to try to relax as she heard the rustle of his clothing as he leant back down over her. Nayla grudgingly let him know when she felt him touch her hips, stomach and arms, surprised he made no move to annoy her any further.

"I assume you know how I'm going to test your muscle power if you've had these examinations done at the hospital. You just have to oppose my movements with as much power as you're able to."

"Yeah, I got it." She sighed out, not even opening her eyes as he reached over to her uninjured arm and moved her fingers, wrist, elbow and shoulder against her resistance. Law moved back down to her legs, carefully assessing her ability to resist his attempts to move her ankles and knees in each direction.

She tensed a bit as he placed his hands on her thighs, prompting her to push them up, down and open against his resistance, expecting him to do or say something smarmy but to her pleasant surprise he didn't. 'Maybe he's finally done provoking me, he's finally just going to-' She cut that thought short as she felt his hands purposely glide across her bare skin and tuck themselves, inappropriately high on her inner thighs. It was as if he had purposely waited until she had relaxed a bit to do it.

"You know what?"

"What, Nayla-ya?" She didn't even have to look at him to know he was wearing a cocky grin right now; it was clear in his voice.

She opened her eyes and propped herself up to look at him. "I bet you were that awkward fucking child in your class. That one weird little boy who had no idea how to deal with the girl they had a crush on. Couldn't just walk up to them and introduce yourself. Instead, you'd just be mean to them, pick on them 'til they cried, pull their hair and run away. That kinda awkward little weirdo."

The amused grin he wore grew but he made no effort to move, he remained leant over her body with his hands still on her inner thighs.

"Is your teasing your way of telling me your have a crush on me, Law?" Despite her frustration at him, she found herself fighting off the urge to smile as he chuckled.

"I was not the _least_ awkward boy in my class but no, I was never mean to the girls."

"Oh, how interesting, you didn't deny the crush, Law." She practically sang.

He interrupted her gloating by tickling the sensitive skin his fingers rest on, bringing her attention back down to his hands. "If you'd be so kind, Nayla-ya." He prompted, making her push her thighs together against his resistance.

Law pulled his hands away, stood up straight and stretched before making his way back to the form on top of the bedside cabinet.

"Does that mean we're done now?" She asked hopefully as he quietly wrote down his findings again.

"Just two more examinations to do." He placed his pen down and turned to face her as she groaned aloud.

"What else?" She asked keeping her vision on her wiggling, painted toes as he walked back to stand beside the bed, towering over her.

"Breast and pelvic." Law said evenly, watching in pleasure as she ceased moving her feet and slowly turned her head up to look at him.

"No."

"Breast health is very imp-"

"We both know I'm too young to need regular breast examination _and_ I can self-check if I need to." She cut off, narrowing her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"There's a lot of ground to cover, Nayla-ya. If you need a hand, just let me know."

"You. Are not. Funny."

He chuckled at that. "And your excuse for denying the pelvic examination?"

"I don't even need to make up one, you are _not_ going to be doing one of those on me." He smirked at the look on her face, sticking his leg under the examination table to unlock the wheels of the small stool that that been stored under it and rolling it out. It had never been his intention to do either examination on her; he was simply content to enjoy her reaction to the idea.

Law reached over to the bedside cabinet, pulling out a clipboard from its drawer and pulling the form off of its surface. "In that case, Nayla-ya. We can move onto the last part of our 'meeting.'" Law flipped the form over to its blank side and slid the sheet of paper under the metal clip.

"Which is?" She asked warily as she watched him pick up his pen and sit on the stool he had pulled out in front of her.

"You'll be telling me exactly how your ability works."


	27. Paddling pools and pregnancies

Nayla sat up fully as she watched Law wheel himself closer to the side of the examination table, setting the clipboard onto his lap, pen in hand, smirking at her displeased pout.

Seeing that she had no intention of answering him, he spoke again. "You do remember that trust thing we need to work on, Nayla-ya? You'll be under my watch until I understand what you're capable of, so you'll need to start talking…unless of course you want to share the bed in my quarters with me so badly."

He watched her bite the inside of her cheek in an attempt to not rise to his obvious goad. "We didn't agree to me sharing a bed with you Law and you know that."

"Actually, we didn't have a chance to conclude the conversation we were having in my quarters either way." He answered smoothly, wheeling himself close enough to rest his chest against the side of examination table, crossing his arms on its surface beside her hip. "Would you like to pick up where we left off?"

"No." She tried to say it seriously but was actually finding it pretty hard not to find the mischievous expression on his face funny as he looked up at her from his seat.

"Hmm, that's a shame." Law shifted slightly, the bare skin of his forearms tickling the side of her thigh, drawing her gaze.

He tapped his pen against his folded forearm in thought for a moment before he spoke again. "Ok, let's try this another way. _Why_ don't you want to tell me about what you used this morning?"

Nayla pulled her eyes away from the tattoos on his arms to meet his gaze. "Lots of reasons, main one being that it's just not any of your business."

"You may have had a point before but you're under my care, working for me, living and travelling with me and my crew. It _is_ my business now." He watched her lips part to deny what he had just said despite them both knowing it to be true. He raised a hand and waved her attempt to refute it away dismissively, making her frown at his rude gesture. "Next reason."

"…I think you'll use any information I give you about my ability to look for vulnerabilities in it."

"And so what if I did? If you were confident you could beat me with it then you'd have done it already. So knowing its vulnerabilities wouldn't change anything between us now would it?"

Nayla narrowed her eyes at his arrogant remark. "Well, aren't you sure of yourself."

"Am I wrong?" Law asked smugly making her turn away from him crossing her arms with a huff.

"I don't like how one-sided this all is, Law. Telling you anything about the only trick I still have up my sleeve just makes me feel even more vulnerable." Nayla muttered, looking at the infirmary door longingly.

Law observed her quietly for a moment. A small amount of her deep anxiety at her situation was leaking through in her temporarily unguarded body language and facial expression. He couldn't understand why that odd, small twinge of sympathy for her that he had felt when he had watched her boarding his ship two weeks ago had come back. He knew he shouldn't feel it at all, despite her appearance she had proven this morning she was anything _but_ vulnerable…but it was like looking a baby rabbit in its big, watery eyes and trying to convince yourself that it was in fact a dangerous, man-eating beast. What he _saw_ from her just didn't seem to fit with what he _knew_ about her.

He sighed, glancing down the length of the table at her short legs and dainty feet. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Nayla-ya, considering the length of time you're likely to be with us, you'll be seeing me use my own ability plenty of times whether I want you to or not. You're not too dull, you'll figure out my own vulnerabilities soon enough. This is a mutual risk."

Nayla looked back at him surprised that, in his own way, he seemed to have tried to make her feel a little better. "Hmm…I guess that's true..." She took in his sincere expression as he propped his cheek onto a hand looking back up at her. "...What do you mean by 'not _too_ dull?'"

A small grin found its way back to his face as she gave him an annoyed look. "Geez, we can't _all_ be geniuses and criminal masterminds by age ten, Law."

"You think I'm a genius, Nayla-ya?"

"Wrong choice of words." She rolled her eyes at his conceited expression. "Besides, I already know your greatest vulnerability Law." She said smiling deviously and leaning forward to rest her arms on her knees as she bent them.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yup."

"Do tell."

"Water of course."

"…That's already well-known." He sighed out, unimpressed.

"But it's all about the execution – pun intended. Think about it Law, Devil Fruit eaters are all super paranoid around large bodies of water like the sea, right? So I bet it'll be easy to catch you guys off guard when you're away from them and have a false sense of security. I just need to catch you off guard, once, near a smaller body of water. I already know how I'm going to do you in, how's this for a headline-"

She cleared her throat and raised her hand in front of them, sweeping it to the side slowly as she read out an imaginary headline. "'The Mighty Trafalgar Law Defeated By a Puddle!' Imagine it, worldwide news about how some woman half your size shoved you into a puddle on a rainy day then took that pretty, little head of yours off whilst you were weakened."

He blinked at her. "I take back the 'not too dull' part, Nayla-ya."

"You're just bitter you're gonna get your ass kicked by a puddle."

"I'm not goin-"

"Alright how about this instead." She raised her hand to spell out the next headline. "'Supernova Trafalgar Law Beaten By Bubble Bath!' Couldn't help but notice that lovely bathtub you have in your bathroom Law, interesting choice for a Devil Fruit user. The second you dare use it when I'm here I'll take you down. I'll be sure to fill the tub with feminine bath bombs, oils, salts, rose petals, the lot. Make you look like a real girly headless corpse to the poor bastards that find you."

Law sighed. "Are you done?"

"Oooh no wait, even better!" She cleared her throat and used both hands to spell out the next, more grandiose headline. "'Trafalgar Law Conquered! Perishes In Paddling Pool!' Little photo on the front page of kids sobbing because your headless body is taking up all the space in their cute, inflatable paddling pool. That would be such a fitting end for you." She said lowering her hands, not missing the small upturn of the corner of his mouth. "I'll even be nice enough to clip the article out and stick it on the rec room board for you as a parting gift before I pack up and leave, if you like?" She offered, leaning closer, making his grin widen just a little.

"Were you this stupid _before_ the head injury?"

Nayla laughed at him. "Nope, can't tell if it's the head injury or the brain surgery I had a couple of weeks ago that caused it. Probably the surgery, I hear it was done by some self-taught-quack."

Law chuckled. "Unfortunately Nayla-ya, my weakness doesn't quite work the way you're hoping it does."

"Then feel free to correct me, I'd like to get it right when I come for your head." She said, smiling devilishly at him.

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru."

Law glanced back at his desk at the ringing Den Den Mushi before pushing away from the examination table, setting the clipboard onto its surface and getting up to make his way over to answer it.

"Captain, we made good time, we'll be arriving a little ahead of schedule, in around ten minutes. Should I announce it for the crew so they can get ready?"

Law glanced up at the clock on the infirmary wall, he would usually have been pleased to have saved time on a journey but he could already see the winning smile on Nayla's face in his peripheral vision at the new time constraint on their little 'chat.' "Good job Bepo and yes, announce it."

"Aye aye Captain!"

Law hung up, setting his pen back into its stationary holder on his desk before watching Nayla as she swung her legs over the edge of and hopped down from the examination table beaming as she listened to Bepo's announcement sounding out over the sub's intercom.

"Ah that's such a shame but I understand, you're a busy man Law, you'll need to go see to landing preparations and start overseeing repairs and stuff right?" She asked brightly slipping her discarded shoes back on.

Law leant his hip against the side of his desk and crossed his arms as he watched her bend her knee to raise a foot up and use a finger to pull on one of her shoes more firmly at the heel.

"Well, was a pleasure having a chat and being sexually harassed mercilessly by you. See ya!" She said cheerfully as she started walking towards the door.

"Nayla-ya." She stopped halfway across the room and looked back at him in disappointment. "We're not done."

She sighed moodily. "Why? You and I both know you have more important things to do right now than get on my case."

"X-Ray." Law indicated to the door leading through to the room next to them, on the opposite wall to the one leading through to 'Theatre 1.' He pushed off from his desk to begin moving towards it.

"Oh." Nayla said, feeling slightly guilty about her sulky attitude with him as she turned around to follow him through the doors.

She found herself entering an equally impressively sized room only this one was filled with what she recognised to be various medical imaging equipment, the large CAT scan bed and tunnel installed in the middle being the dead giveaway.

There was a sectioned off, relatively large compartment in the corner, the lower half of its walls an opaque, dark green metal that matched the floor tiling and the upper half a clear, thick glass. She could see through the compartment's open door that it held a control panel, several monitors and a couple of chairs. She figured that it was probably housing the controls of the equipment in this room.

Law strode over to the wall beside the large tunnel of the CAT scanner to what she recognised from her previous injuries to be a portable X-Ray machine parked beside it. He wheeled it over to the edge of the bed, sliding out a black panel from a slot in the machine.

"Place your hand on this." He said laying it down onto the bed's surface before pressing a few buttons on the X-Ray machine and walking towards the compartment in the corner of the room.

Nayla followed his instructions and moved to rest her injured wrist onto the panel that lay beneath the overhanging part of the X-Ray machine placed beside the bed. She watched as Law entered the compartment, half closing the door behind him and standing over the panel inside.

She looked at the machine as it emitted a quick, high-pitched beep sound then peered back up at Law through the glass of the room he was in, wondering if maybe he was stood in there because its thick-looking walls were radiation-proof. "Can I remove my hand now?"

Law glanced up at her and nodded. She removed her hand and walked over to him, slipping the door open a little more to peek inside at the panel he was hovering over, surprised to see her wrist X-Ray already transmitted to the screen in front of him. She watched his sharp, blue eyes scan over the image meticulously from top to bottom before he spoke.

"No fractures Nayla-ya, you were lucky."

"Oh, that's great." She smiled.

Law turned towards her to leave the compartment, walking past her and back to the bed, removing the black X-Ray film from a slot in the panel she had placed her hand on and wordlessly walked back into the main room of the infirmary.

She rolled her eyes, assuming that meant she was supposed to follow him, taking one last look at the X-Ray machine before leaving, noticing the small Den Den Mushi placed onto one of the small shelves of its side, deciding it must have been how her film was transmitted to the screen in the control room.

She couldn't help but find all his equipment cool, Chopper would probably explode glitter if he saw the facilities Law had on this sub. He practically had a self-contained hospital on board.

Nayla peered back into the main room from the doorway to find Law walking back to his desk from the examination table she had just been on, holding the sheet of paper that he had removed from the clipboard. She watched him slide it and the black film of her wrist X-Ray into her medical file on his desk.

"So you keep physical and electronic records of all your medical stuff?" She asked curiously.

Law looked up at her standing by the door, deciding to humour her interest. "Just the images, it's easier to examine those on electronic screens. Notes and lab results are only kept manually." He closed her file and tossed it back on top of the pile on his desk.

"Do you ever use your Devil Fruit instead of X-Rays and CAT scans and stuff?" She asked clasping her hands behind her as she watched him pick up the Nodachi he had apparently leant lowly against the side of his desk near his seat. She wondered if he had kept it near him but out of her sight on purpose or if it had just been coincidence that it had been leant so lowly against his side of the desk. Law settled it onto his shoulder and moved past her towards the counter on the other side of the room, sparing an amused glance at her interest as he strode past.

"Sometimes, if it's an emergency or if there's some reason I can't use the equipment. A still image that I can look at multiple times without slicing my crew up alive is always preferable." He opened one of the drawers under the counter, rummaging through it until he pulled out something soft and white wrapped in plastic. "Besides, the crew don't like it very much when I do." Law tossed the item to her as he turned around.

"…I can imagine." She mumbled as she looked at the item she had caught in her hands. "What's this?"

"A splint. It will give your injured wrist a bit of support and you're already taking painkillers for your ribs." He watched her examine the thick, white fabric splint through its sterile, plastic wrapping. "You shouldn't need it for more than a day or two until the sprain stops being so tender."

"I can probably do without…" Nayla started unsurely, unwilling to break the plastic on the item.

"Yes, you can do without. Sprains just heal faster with good support. Use it." He said with finality, turning to walk towards the infirmary door that led to the hallway.

She hesitantly tore the plastic open, tossing it into the small trash can by his desk and pulling the splint out. She pushed her sleeve up a bit and slid it over her right wrist, the firm but comfortable compression already making it feel better.

Nayla looked up to find Law waiting at the open door for her and jogged across the room to catch up to him. "Thanks."

"There doesn't seem to be much swelling but if you want an ice pack let me know." He said quietly as she walked past him into the hallway smiling at him.

"Sure thing."

Law closed the door behind her and walked down the hallway towards the main stairwell, placing his free hand into his pocket as she fell into step beside him. A strangely amicable silence fell on them as they walked at a leisurely pace towards the stairs before he decided to attempt to settle his mild curiosity.

"I'm making the assumption that if you were in a position to be considering applying to medicine that you completed school. I suppose that would mean that you've had all your childhood immunisations or are you missing some that I may need to give you?"

Nayla furrowed her brows at him as he looked at her, trying to read between the lines of what he was asking, unconvinced that he would genuinely be bothered if she were missing a vaccine or two or that he just so happened to be carrying childhood vaccines on board a ship full of adult pirates.

"Ah, I get it, are you're trying to figure out if I had an ok childhood or what age my life broke down by seeing if I'm missing something? If you're so interested, you could just ask ya know." She said smiling slyly at him.

He grinned slightly. "I'm not interested. I'm only asking for the sake of my crew, I need to know if I have someone unimmunised against a possibly dangerous and contagious disease on board. Besides Nayla-ya, you and I both know you wouldn't answer me honestly even if I did ask you."

"Mhmm, well uninterestingly for you Law, I've had all my immunisations." She cupped a hand to her mouth to whisper loudly in mock-secret. "Psst, that means that I had a loving family, a decent school and a stable life until at least my meningococcal booster at sixteen."

Law chuckled. "I see, are you due for any flu shots or tetanus boosters?"

"Nope, all good Doctor Trafalgar, thanks." She returned his grin as they reached the stairs and started ascending to the main deck.

"Fair enough, then other than pain medication, do you need anything else from me?" Sensing an impending 'I-need-you-to-let-me-go-and/or-leave-me-alone-you-perv' type of response from her expression, he quickly added on: "As a doctor."

Closing her mouth shut in disappointment she thought for a moment before replying. "No, not that I can think of."

Law hummed noncommittally before they fell back into companionable silence, interrupted only by their footsteps against the wooden flooring as they climbed the staircase.

"I became a mercenary at nineteen, that's how old I was when my life fell apart."

Law raised a brow at her. "Why the sudden honesty?"

"You told me what age you were when yours did." She shrugged, deciding to speak again before he could ask any follow-up questions. "By the way, I was wondering…why did you name your crew the 'Heart Pirates?'"

"You should probably ask Jeff that question." The humoured, knowing look he gave her as they reached the top of the stairs made her laugh.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that was just _his_ explanation for it." She said smiling but deciding not to pry too deeply into it. If Law hadn't explained its meaning to his own crewmates then it was unlikely he'd share it with her but it had been worth a shot.

He adjusted his weapon onto his shoulder more comfortably as they reached the inner door of the main entrance's air lock, placing his hands onto the rounded mechanism to open it.

"…You know Law, we'd probably get on pretty well if you didn't keep trying to annoy me on purpose."

Law looked at her from over his shoulder as he turned the handle, the metal bars of the lock mechanism clunking noisily. "Probably." He said easily, pushing the door open and resting his hand back onto his Nodachi as he stepped over the threshold into the air lock.

She raised her brows a little as she watched him, not expecting him to agree so readily. "Well if you know that and _want_ me to be more cooperative with you…why don't you stop doing it?"

"I don't have to. I will get your cooperation regardless." He said haughtily, allowing a faint hint of threat to hang onto his words.

She narrowed her eyes at his back as he turned the handle and pushed the outer door of the air lock open. "So you just keep doing it because…?"

"It's enjoyable." He said evenly, walking into the sunlight and fresh, morning air outside

"It's enjoyable?" She asked him blandly, walking behind him as he made his way to the front of the deck.

Law said nothing as leant his elbows onto the railing, looking at the approaching island a short distance away but she could see the smug grin on his face from behind him.

"I'm just gonna go with the 'awkward weirdo with a crush' theory." Nayla sighed, standing beside him and propping her own elbows onto the railing as she inspected the island they were heading to.

He turned to look at her, leaning his face a little more closely to her own. "Because you wish it were true?" He teased.

Nayla scoffed at his cocky grin but made no attempt to move back from him. "No, more like, it's just a less infuriating explanation for me to deal with."

Law chuckled settling his gaze back onto the island; Nayla did the same once he had leant back to a safe distance outside of her personal space.

The island was extremely small, it was no wonder the Log Pose hadn't picked it up. From the side they were approaching, she could see a small stretch of sandy beach, the edge of which quickly receded into lush, green grass further up on the bank. There were sparse palm trees dotted throughout but further back as the grass became longer, they began to grow more thickly and closer together until it was impossible to see through the gaps of them. The centre of the island seemed to be foliage-dense, palm trees blended backwards into small shrubs and other, leafier trees. There wasn't much else, no hills, no mountains, no rock formations. It was merely a simple, small, relatively flat island with a small beach on one side and a thicket beyond it. There didn't seem to be any signs of animals on the small island other than the birds nearby, circling overhead.

Nayla glanced up at them, the shrill caws of the seagulls blending in to the acoustics of the calm waves hitting the hull of the vessel below her.

There were few clouds in the sky, the morning sun was unhindered and slowly warming the day. The remainder of the sky was a beautiful, clear blue. The temperamental Grand Line climate seemed to be being merciful today.

"I don't have any form of hormonal or emergency contraceptives on board, Nayla-ya." She blinked at the sky before furrowing her brows and turning to look at Law slowly, wondering if she had developed a serious hearing problem over the last minute or two.

…

"I'm letting you know that up front. I have an all-male crew so I've obviously never had a need to have those types of medications on board and I don't intend to buy anything of the sort at the next island."

"…Alright…noted."

"And I'll say this now, Nayla-ya." Law turned to look at her, leaning his side against the railing as he made firm eye contact with her. "I will _not_ be dealing with a pregnant woman on board. You will need to be responsible whilst travelling with us."

Nayla couldn't stop her jaw from dropping at the absolute audacity of him. "Who-what the fuck, I don't even know where to _start_ with you, Law!" She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, taking a deep breath before settling her angry glare back on him. "Who exactly do you think I'm gonna be sleeping around with anyway? How much of a skank do you think I am?!"

He opened his mouth, ready to happily offer an answer. "Actually no. Don't answer that. Anyway, I'm a grown woman! I know how to be responsible and frankly I can practice safe or unsafe sex as I damn well please. Who the _hell_ do you think you are to take me, force me to travel with you then tell me when I can and can't get pregnant?! You do NOT tell me what to do with my body, ever!"

Law rolled his eyes and settled himself more comfortably onto the side he'd leant against the railing, realising her indignant rant was probably nowhere near done yet if the hands she had just placed on her hips were any indication.

"Maybe I _want_ to get pregnant! Maybe I was trying before you kidnapped me! Hmm? Ever think of that? You selfish bastard, you think I'm gonna put my plans for a kid on hold just because of you? If I feel like landing the first guy I see when we reach the next island and having unprotected sex with him then I'll damn well do it! I have half a mind to really do it too! I really just oughta-" She stopped mid sentence as she followed Law's sudden side glance, turning her head to see a couple of crewmembers stood at the open doorway of the main entrance looking at her in shock.

Nayla cleared her throat and crossed her arms, waiting a moment for them to do or say something. "Is there something I can help you with?" She snapped impatiently.

"Uh…no…just gonna…" One of them sheepishly raised a pointed index finger to the side as he walked onto the deck and over to the railing a fair distance away from where her and Law stood, his crewmate in tow, trying to avoid eye contact with the angry woman as he pulled his hat down a little further and shuffled away nervously.

Nayla's attention was brought back to Law when she heard him chuckling, turning to find him watching his men's awkward retreat away from them in enjoyment.

Sighing and trying to remember to keep her temper in check she decided to use her hard-earned experience in dealing with Law from this morning to try a different approach. "So…what you're saying is, you don't want a pregnant woman on board, is that it?"

Law raised a brow at the sudden change in her demeanour and the calculative expression now on her face but said nothing as she continued, wondering where she was going with this. "Sooo if I _were_ to get pregnant…you'd let me go?" She asked neutrally, mimicking his pose and resting her side against the railing as she faced him.

He narrowed his eyes in silent warning of her new train of thought, his amused smile falling from his face which only made one appear on her own instead.

"You know your crewmembers better than me, who do you think is the best daddy material on board?" She asked innocently.

"I thought I made myself clear at breakfast but if not, I'll make myself crystal clear now. My crew are as off limits to you as you are to them, Nayla-ya. They know that and they won't disobey my orders."

"I might. And I know they don't _want_ to disobey your orders but ya know…you said it yourself Law, everyone has their limits..." She said stroking her chin with her index finger in mock-thought. "Hmm Penguin is really sweet, he'd make a wonderful daddy but I'm kinda worried you'll be too hard on him if he knocks me up because of that whole brig incident yesterday…"

"Nayla-ya." The sour expression on his face and the unmasked threat in his voice only made her smile more widely.

"Connor has beautiful eyes, don't ya think? Damn I'd love eyes like that on my kid…" She sighed wistfully at the thought as Law stood to full height beside her.

"Maybe I should be more selfish about this and stop thinking of the best daddy or the nicest features for the kid and think about what would be most fun for me. If Jeff really is as much of a man-whore as you guys make him out to be then maybe all of that experience of his will make 'baby-making' the most enjoyable with him."

She enjoyed the brief look of shock on Law's face at her crude insinuation of Jeff's possible sexual prowess before he re-schooled his expression into one of blunted annoyance.

"Hmm, actually ya know, I think I'll go for Shachi. He seems to be the perfect choice. He's sweet, you aren't already pissed at him, he has beautiful red hair which the kid may luck out and inherit _and_ he seems to have a bit of perverted streak in him too so I'll still have my fun." She finished grinning slyly back up at Law.

"You better have a poor sense of humour and be joking." He said levelly.

"Oh and what if I'm not, Law? What if I really do seduce your crew until I'm pregnant? What if you end up losing one of your best men because they wanna get out of pirating to help me raise our baby? You really are asking for more trouble than I'm worth, you should just let me go at the next island."

"No." He said crossing his arms, trying to reassure himself from the laughter in her eyes at his visible discomfort that she really did just have a warped sense of humour.

"Finnne. But don't you come crying to me when Shachi knocks me up." She shrugged.

They both turned to look at the main entrance when they heard a heavy, metallic thump, seeing that Jeff and Shachi had just made it to the deck. Watching as Shachi propped himself up against the open door that he seemed to have tried to lean his weight on, causing it to swing back until it met with a slam against the wall.

"W-what did you do?!" Jeff had regained his ability to speak first, punching Shachi hard in the arm jarring him from his open-mouthed shock to rub it and look back at him angrily.

"I didn't do anything!" Shachi defended as Jeff grabbed a handful of his boiler suit, raising his fist again before they both turned to look at Nayla for confirmation.

"He's right, he didn't do anything to me." She said, watching as Jeff reluctantly lowered his arm and released Shachi's clothing, shooting him a suspicious glare.

"…Not yet anyway." She purred in a honeyed tone as she turned her gaze to Shachi, causing him to whip his head back up to her from straightening out the creased material Jeff had just released in surprise.

"…Wha-?"

"Shachi, sweetheart, I need a ticket off of this sub. Wanna make a lovechild with me?" She leant her back against the railing, resting her elbows atop it as she gave him a wicked smile and a lick of her lips.

"...You…lucky son of bitch!" Jeff yelled, shaking poor Shachi out of his blushing stupor and making him try to wrestle Jeff off of him.

"Jeff, stop roughing up my future baby daddy." She scolded as she pushed away from the railing towards the two men. "Come on Shachi, we have work to do." She yelped in surprised as she felt a firm grip tug her backwards roughly from the fabric of her hood.

"You two. Stop fighting. Now." Both pirates stood to attention immediately with a firm salute and an 'aye aye captain.'

"The rest of you. Stop eavesdropping and get to work." Nayla looked over at the other crewmembers that had come out onto the deck during her conversation with Law who seemed to have been standing at the railings listening in unsubtly with interest. They soon followed Jeff and Shachi's example and respectfully saluted and affirmed their captain's order, moving to prepare the submarine for landing.

"And you." Law said lowly, looking down at Nayla from behind her, still gripping onto her hood. "Stop teasing my men." He demanded sternly, earning an upside down mock salute and cheeky smile from her.

He rolled his eyes and released her none too gently, turning back to watch the island drawing nearer again. 'Yep, taunting him back is _definitely_ the way to deal with him,' Nayla thought smugly, giggling to herself at his obvious frustration as she turned around to rejoin him at the railing.

Though to be fair she admitted to herself that he didn't seem to have particularly intended to rile her up or taunt her this time and he was absolutely right; getting pregnant whilst travelling on a pirate vessel wasn't exactly ideal. But the fact that he had not deemed it worthy the effort to even _try_ to articulate his point in a way that she _couldn't_ find offence in had been enough to irk her into petty revenge.

"I was just kidding, Law. You don't need to worry about that ever happening." She smiled as he turned to regard her with an irritated frown. "I'm not actually able to get pregnant anyway." She added quietly so that the other crewmembers on the deck couldn't hear.

His brows rose a little. "Why? And why didn't you think that was worth mentioning during your medical just now?" He asked in annoyance.

"Well, you didn't ask." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Had enough thought to ask about my sex life though, didn't ya? Pervert." She muttered, looking away from him.

"Captain." Law halted his response to her to turn to Penguin as he jogged up to them. "Bepo is having a little trouble with approach to the island, quite a few reefs and rocks in the water near the shore, he wants to go over some landing options with you."

Law nodded, standing straight from his leant position over the railing to leave and walked towards the main entrance. He looked over his shoulder at Nayla as he reached the doorway. "I won't warn you again. Behave yourself."

She frowned in annoyance at his patronising tone before he turned and disappeared through the airlock.

"…So, I'm guessing your physical went well." Penguin muttered beside her as he watched his captain leave.

"Very." She said bitterly, still glaring at the spot she had last seen Law. "Anyway, what happens now?"

"We get as close as we can, pull her up on shore, drain the flooding and start repairs." Penguin grinned.

"How you gonna get the sub on shore?" She asked curiously, wondering how they'd manage without a dry-dock facility or the hoisting equipment of a professional shipyard on this small stretch of uninhabited island.

"You'll see." Penguin beamed confidently, turning to watch Shachi as he approached them looking slightly on edge.

Nayla looked past him to find Connor had joined them on deck and was talking to Jeff behind him about something animatedly. She could guess the topic of interest was her behaviour if Connor's surprised face and glances her way were anything to go by.

"What's up with you?" Penguin raised a brow at Shachi's behaviour as he came to a stop next to them.

"Uh…" He looked at Nayla, scratching the back of his neck a little nervously.

"Think he's a little weirded out because I was asking him to father a child with me like, two seconds ago…Isn't that right, daddy?" She pinched his blushing cheek and smiled at him as Penguin stared between them wide-eyed, mouth open.

"I…you know what, I don't wanna know." Penguin sighed, shaking his head. "Nayla-chan, I asked around for a hairdryer. Kotta cut his hair short about three months ago, he had an old one stashed in his cabin that he wasn't using anymore. I left it in Captain's quarters for you."

"Oh, that was fast, thank you." She smiled at him.

"Your cloffes fromph thif morning are done too." Nayla released Shachi's cheek to allow him to speak properly. "I folded and tucked them into your suitcase in Captain's quarters for you." He finished, rubbing the part of his cheek she had just released.

She furrowed her brows at his oddly specific placement of her clothing and his nervous demeanour, unsure if it were because of her joking around or if he were feeling a bit uneasy about something else.

"Thanks a lot…are you feeling o-?"

The sub swerved abruptly to the side, making them look over the railing towards their destination as they veered right. Nayla leant against it, looking down at the sea, able to see the beautiful, colourful blurs of coral reef below that they were steering away from as they made their final approach to the shore.

They were close enough now that she could see numerous small, deposited shells and stones dotting the beach as the tide lapped lazily at silky, white sand of the island's edge.

Penguin and Shachi leant over the railing on either side of her, watching as the sub was slowly and carefully manoeuvred closer. The ocean below them was completely clear, allowing them to see that the ship was now floating on water shallow enough to visualise the soft slope of the island's sandy foundation as it gradually disappeared and descended into the sea.

The sub soon stopped its motion altogether as they heard the distinct sound of metal on metal, a large splash and the heavy thump of the anchor diving heavily into the soft sand of the ocean floor below them.

"Repair team are to go ashore. You know what to do." Law's voice sounded out from the subs intercom, echoing loudly throughout the vessel and through the open door of the main entrance.

"Aye aye Captain!" Nayla looked around at the other crewmembers that had come up to the deck, taking in their excited smiles and cheerful attitudes. Despite their near miss this morning, the damage to their ship and the hard work they had ahead of them they all seemed happy and raring to go.

"Alright! This is our stop lil lady!" Jeff slapped Nayla playfully onto her back as he and Connor approached them.

"You're on the repair team, Jeff?" She asked, steadying herself against the railing, wondering if he was aware of his own strength.

"Well, not really. Getting the sub onto land doesn't really need any mechanical know-how though, most of us will be helping with that. Then it's our lil grease monkeys' time to shine." He slung an arm around Connor's neck pulling him down and noogying his scalp through his cap.

"Oi! Get off me." Connor tugged at Jeff's arm as he grinned down at him refusing to let up.

"We'll be going ashore to help out too." Penguin said as he hoisted himself over the railing, sighing at the two tussling behind her.

"Whoa, where you going?!" She asked wide-eyed as he jumped off of the railing to the sea below. She watched him land easily on his feet with a splash in the shallow water, the level only reaching his thighs.

He grinned up at her as other crew members hopped down from the deck in the same way, landing around him with ease. "Ashore, where else?"

"Geez, isn't there like…a safer way down?" She asked turning to Shachi as he climbed over the railing.

"Well, there's no dock, no high land and it's not easy to settle a gangplank from this far. Pointless even if we did it, we'll be pulling her on shore with us soon anyway." He grinned at her surprised face as he hopped down to land next to Penguin.

"You coming ashore?" Connor asked, standing upright, readjusting his cap and glaring at Jeff's toothy grin.

"Actually, I'm not sure…Law didn't really tell me where he expects me to be." She mumbled, glancing back at the main entrance, expecting the man to make a reappearance on cue.

"Alley-op!" Jeff vaulted over the railing past them and to the shallow sea.

"Oi!"

"Watch where you're landing!"

Nayla peered down over the railing to find Jeff had landed dangerously close to Penguin and Shachi, splashing them with seawater up to their faces it would seem. Shachi was wiping his sunglasses and Penguin was using the back of his sleeve to dry off his face.

"Well, wanna go ask him where you're meant to be?" Connor offered, shrinking back a little under Nayla's glower as she turned to look at him. "Taking that as a no…well, come ashore with us I guess. If he needs you elsewhere he'll let you know."

"I'm sure he will." She muttered, watching Connor climb onto the railing. "Wait, how do _I_ get down?"

"You'll either have to jump or wait for us to pull the ship onto land, sweetie." He looked at her apologetically before hopping down to land beside the others.

"You coming, Nayla-chan?" Shachi called up to her.

She glanced down unsurely at the huge drop, starting to climb up onto the railing when she saw a familiar, blue, spherical glow extending from the hull to the edge of the beach. Law appearing in the blink of an eye on the sand ahead.

"Oooh wait! Law!" She called waving her hand at him as he turned around and looked up at her. "Can you do that thingy to help me down to the shore too?"

He blinked at her as he released his Room. "Aww come on! Don't be like that, be a sport and gimmie a cool teleporty ride to shore too." He rolled his eyes, turning to speak quietly to one of the crewmembers that had walked onto the shore beside him.

"Ass." She muttered, glaring at his back as he walked away, looking at the large piece of paper the crewmember had pulled out from his boiler suit and unfurled.

"You can do it Nayla-chan, jump." Shachi called back up to her.

"Don't you worry lil lady, I got ya." Jeff beamed up at her, gesturing to himself with a thumb.

"…You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll catch ya, no problem." He said confidently.

"…Alright." She bit her lip as she lowered herself to the edge of the deck on the other side of the railing, looking at his sure expression one last time before jumping towards him.

He wrapped his arms around her back and waist, catching her effortlessly in a hug, holding her above the water. "There ya go! Not so bad now was it?" He grinned at her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed in relief.

"Thanks, can you put me down a lil closer to shore?" She pulled away from him to look below at the sea. "Thigh-level water for you guys is like, soak-my-shorts level for me." The other three pirates snickered a little at her as they turned to start walking towards the beach.

"No can do lil lady." Jeff said easily slipping his arm under her legs to sweep them up into a bridal-style carry as he started walking towards the shore alongside them. "It would be un-gentlemanly of me to let such a fine young lady down into this filthy seawater. I'll carry you all the way." He stated heroically, making Connor groan aloud and shake his head.

Nayla blinked up at him as he sloshed through the shallow seawater. "I'm sorry…say that again?"

"I said it would be un-gentlemanly of me to do that." He repeated, beaming down at her.

"Awww, well thank you so much Jeff for proving that it IS in fact possible to be a pirate AND a gentleman." She said loudly as he made it to the sand of the beach, within earshot of Law.

"Well of course lil lady, who said otherwise?" He asked raising a confused brow at her as he lowered her legs to the dry land below.

Nayla turned to lock eyes with Law as he looked at her in amusement. "No one important. Thank you for the lift." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling her arms from around his neck and using her hands to straighten out her clothing as she walked further onto the beach.

"Do you have something you'd like to say to me, Nayla-ya?" Law asked mockingly, ignoring the curious looks on his crewmembers faces.

"Not a thing." She sang, returning his wry, knowing smile as she passed him to go over to the soft-looking grass, enjoying the feel of the sun's warm rays and Law's piercing gaze on her back as she sauntered away.


	28. Pseudo-psychopathy

Nayla watched from her seat with curiosity as the crew gathered on the beach as they came ashore, looking at the large piece of paper the crewmember beside Law held open for them to see.

It was difficult to tell from where she was sat on the grass some distance away but it seemed to be some sort of schematic of their ship, he was probably relaying the position of the damage on the hull to them, talking at too quiet a volume for her to make out the exact words.

Losing interest as the man became obscured from her sight as more of the crew huddled around him she relaxed back and set her hands palm down on the grass behind her, deciding to take notice of the beautiful little island around her instead. She looked above her at the overhanging canopy of the tree she had sat under, the sunlight glistening through the spaces between the leaves as they swayed softly on the mild morning breeze.

Hearing what she recognised to be Law's smooth tone, she glanced back at the crowd on the sand to find him addressing his men with instructions, indicating to the side of the beach and then to some of the thicker looking trees further in.

The crew began lifting the heavy-looking coils of ropes from where they had been set down on the ground around their feet and began digging into the large tool trunk they had brought on shore whilst Law walked towards the trees and summoned a Room. He unsheathed his weapon and effortlessly sliced down dozens of them, cutting their leafy tops off and manipulating them to slam upright into the sand in two rows, parallel to the shallow water.

The crew crowded around them, wasting no time in securing the rows of trunks together with ropes as Law sliced their tops in one clean sweep to level them all to the same height. He manipulated and settled the unused trees on the ground behind him to lay between and atop the trunks that comprised the rows to connect them, waiting patiently as the crew scrambled to rapidly secure them in place before releasing his Room.

Nayla realised, as she looked at it, that in less than two minutes flat Law had nearly single-handedly made a makeshift framework for his vessel to rest on. 'Geez, what an annoyingly useful Devil Fruit.'

Law turned from watching his crew work to flash her a smug grin at what she quickly realised must have been a look of awe on her face. She huffed and looked away from him, deciding his crew was far more interesting to observe now.

It didn't take them long to finish, they began to call across to each other to confirm the parts they were each working on were secure. She watched as a few climbed on top of the framework, jumping over the joints to test the sturdiness, calling down to the others who were pushing against the trunks at the bottom with their shoulders in similar tests.

Nayla spotted Shachi and Connor walking back towards their captain from the part of the frame they had been securing, Connor removing his cap to wipe his brow with the back of his sleeve before replacing it.

Shachi spoke to Law, getting a nod of approval before he turned back to the shoreline and waved his arms at the sub, signalling for it to approach.

She could hear the heavy, metallic clinking of the anchor's thick chain winding up from there, watching as the sub began to manoeuvre gently towards the shore. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, it didn't matter if they had made something to set the sub atop to work on it, there was no way to get the sub onto it by sailing it closer. Even she could tell that if it came any further inland that it was going to run aground on the sand below the shallow water.

Law summoned a Room, just large enough to engulf the entire sub and Nayla watched in amazement as he lifted the vessel clean out of the water with nothing more than an upturned finger, moving it carefully to rest onto the framework, water rushing off of the hull to splash noisily into the sea below and across the sand of the beach as he moved it.

The crew steadied the trunks upright, helping support the framework as it slowly burdened the weight of the sub, sinking deeper into the soft bank. The sub was finally allowed to settle its full weight as Law lowered it completely. He unsheathed his Nodachi and created a slice through a section of the hull, peeling away the detached part with a flick of his finger to rest on the beach below.

Nayla looked through the peculiar cross-section of the sub he had created, seeing two large, flooded storage rooms, recognising the brig she had been kept in, the section of hallway she had managed to run across and the compartment she had nearly drowned in that morning. The water inside of them held still, despite the lack of fourth wall now.

Law's alteration of space and physics was such a bizarre display. She watched him turn his head down to look at the crewmembers still underneath the sub, unsure from this angle behind him if he had said anything or if they had understood with a look from him that they were to get out from underneath it.

As soon as everyone was out of the way he released his Room, the seawater pouring from the cut compartments onto the ground below. He gave out commands as he re-sheathed his Nodachi, eliciting a loud round of 'Aye aye captain' as they scampered to prepare to begin repairs.

'Just what the world needs, a sociopath with ESP-like powers,' she sighed to herself as she watched Law enter conversation with the crewmember with the schematic of the vessel again, she couldn't recall his name but was going to guess he was one of the main mechanics spearheading this repair.

'Well, guess I can take comfort in the fact that if I _had_ died this morning, they'd have gotten me out pretty fast,' she thought morbidly, spotting the soaked pillow and blanket she had been using in the brig sitting on the sand below the sub where the water had drained. She turned to look behind her at the beautiful green foliage as she caught a subtle, sweet scent as the wind changed direction. Some of the shrubs further back between the trees were in full bloom with some colourful and interesting looking fruits and flowers.

She contemplated going over to look at them but her attention was brought back to in front of her by the increasing sound of the familiar, boisterous voices of Penguin, Shachi, Jeff and Connor as they made their way across the beach towards her, talking animatedly amongst themselves. She smiled at them as they came closer, stepping onto the grass in front of her.

"What did ya think of that lil lady, pretty cool huh?" Jeff grinned down as they reached her.

"I'll only admit to that if you don't tell your captain." She sat up, pulling her legs in to allow more space for them to settle onto the grass near her.

"Speaking of Cap, interesting exchange you guys had on the beach." Connor remarked casually, sitting down beside her, exchanging a look with Penguin as he sat in front of her.

Nayla's smile faded as she caught the playful grins on their faces. "I think my 'exchange' with Shachi was _far_ more interesting." She muttered, trying to divert the direction she suspected this conversation was heading. "Don't you agree, daddy?" She grinned at Shachi as he sat himself down on her other side.

"Geez, Nayla-chan, don't call me that." She enjoyed the poorly fought-back blush appearing on his cheeks as he gave Jeff a wary look as if expecting the man to thump him again.

She pressed her hand to her chest in phony heartache. "What? Would being the father of my child be so terrible? Shachi please, I'm hurt."

"No no, it's not that. It's just these morons will tack that on as a nickname if they hear it too often." He spared the other pirates a look as they quietly snickered. "And I do _not_ want to be called 'daddy' by a bunch of men all day." He sighed.

"Fair point." She laughed, happy to have managed to direct the conversation away seamlessly.

"Is your wrist ok by the way Nayla-chan?" Penguin asked nodding his head towards it.

"Yeah no problem at all, just a lil sprain." She held her wrist up and flexed her fingers at him over the top of the splint in a little wave, illustrating her point.

"Speaking of that, did your medical with Captain go as well as your conversation with him in his quarters?" Jeff bluntly asked, exchanging a sly side glance at Connor, immediately making her round on him in annoyance.

"Jerk."

"I didn't say anything, I just told 'em what I saw sweetie. They just came to the same conclusion that I did is all." He leant back on his hands beside her with a teasing smile.

"What you saw? And what was that exactly? Two people talking to each other over a desk?"

"An inch away from each other, apparently." Shachi chimed in quietly, looking away innocently at a tree off to his side, earning a chuckle from the other men.

"…I was just going to bite him in the face." She crossed her arms, glaring at Connor for opening his mouth.

"Sure ya were lil lady." Jeff laughed.

"Listen, I'm normally game for a little good-natured teasing but I have had a rouuuugh morning. You don't wanna deal with me right now. Lay off and change the topic or I swear I'm leaving." She said grumpily.

"Alright, we get it. You don't wanna talk about your _chat_ with Captain in his quarters." Jeff raised his hands in defeat, feigning thought for a moment before exchanging a devious smile with Connor and speaking again. "So let's talk about your _medical_ with Captain instead. If you've had it so 'rough' this morning, tell us about it. Just how physical was your physical?"

Shachi snorted with laughter as Jeff waggled his eyebrows at her with a grin. Penguin tried to stifle his laugh, unsuccessfully and Connor just didn't even bother trying to cover up his.

"Alright, that does it you bastards." Nayla started to stand, making them laugh even louder.

"Aww don't get mad Nayla-chan, we're just kidding with ya." Shachi managed before chuckling at the irritated face she turned to give him.

"Yeah, don't be like that lil lady, there's no shame in it."

Nayla stood straight and looked down at Jeff confused. "Shame in what?"

"Most women fall for Cap, he's a real lady killer, my main competition when we go out. Not like these duds, they couldn't pick up a chick with a forklift." He gestured with a thumb and an unimpressed expression at Penguin next to him.

"Oi!" He swatted Jeff's hand out of his face in annoyance.

"…I actually wasn't that mad before but now I'm pissed. Fall for your douche bag of a captain? Are you being serious? You better take that back, right now." She seethed, bending down to Jeff's face.

"And whatcha gonna do if I don't?" He challenged deviously.

Nayla snatched the hat off his and Penguin's heads, turning to yank Connor's off, Shachi –seeing it coming– held his on with a hand on either side, promptly provoking her into snatching his sunglasses off instead.

"Wha-!"

"Oi!"

"Where ya going Nayla-chan?"

They watched dumbstruck as she stomped down to the beach, clutching their stuff in both hands.

"Aww crap." Penguin said getting up, realising she was heading straight to the water.

"Aww come on sweetie, don't be like that! We were just playin'!" Connor yelled getting up to hurry after Penguin.

Nayla reached the water before they could catch up, swiftly hauling her hands back and tossing the hats and sunglasses as far into the sea as she could manage. Sighing in satisfaction at the sound of them hitting the water and of the frustrated groans of the men as they trotted to a stop on the beach behind her. 'Music to my ears,' she smiled to herself, feeling much better.

"Dammit Nayla-chan, my sunglasses sank…" Shachi whined, watching the hats starting to slowly soak up water and descend.

"Yes. Yes they certainly did Shachi-kun." She shielded her eyes from the sun to watch as the other three men started wading out into the sea to fetch their hats. "You should probably go get them whilst you can remember where you saw them enter the water." She said nonchalantly.

She turned to look at him as he sighed, pouting at her. "You shoulda just given me your hat. Chop chop, before one of them step on your glasses by accident."

Shachi turned to see the other pirates stepping dangerously close to where he had seen them fall in, groaning in defeat as he rushed into the water to catch up to them.

"You have beautiful eyes by the way!" She called after him, enjoying the small blush on his face as he turned to look at her over his shoulder before continuing to slosh into the water.

Penguin had rescued his hat, wringing it out as Connor reached into the sea to pick up his own. Jeff beat him too it, scooping Connor's hat through the water to fill it and slapping the cap onto his head, full to the brim.

Nayla couldn't help the laugh that escaped her as she watched Connor freeze as the water poured down his face, turning to look at Jeff dangerously slowly as he pointed and laughed at him.

"Nayla-ya."

She jumped at how closely Law had spoken from behind her, glancing up at him over her shoulder as he watched Connor shove Jeff over into the water.

"Why did you throw my men's hats into the water?" He asked levelly.

"Disciplining your crew." She answered easily, turning back to them to watch as Jeff pulled Connor into the water with him and as Shachi yelled at the two to be careful until he found his sunglasses.

"What did they do wrong?" He asked turning his gaze to her instead after watching Jeff and Connor exchange a mischievous look before teaming up to pull Shachi into the water with them.

"They…oh, nothing important actually." She said sheepishly, deciding to turn away from his piercing look to watch them as Penguin laughed at Shachi's misfortune, trying to evade the attempts to have him pulled in too.

Law sighed, watching the childish display. "Nayla-ya, please refrain from encouraging them." He muttered, watching as the three finally caught Penguin and tackled him into the water.

Nayla giggled, ignoring him and watching them have fun, almost tempted to join them though she'd had her fill of seawater for one day, almost literally.

"Captain."

They both turned to the direction of the sound of a heavy thud in the sand a little way from them as a gangplank was lowered to the beach from the deck of the sub.

"Everything is ready and re-calculated for the next island. It should take us less than a week to reach it from here." Bepo announced, walking halfway down the gangplank towards them.

Law nodded. "Good, help the others check what stock is salvageable." He gestured over his shoulder making Nayla look around him. Sure enough the crew were hard at work in the two freshly drained storage rooms sorting through the boxes and crates of flooded cargo, the men inside the ship tossing down the unsalvageable items to the ones on the beach below to discard.

It really was surreal watching them through the sliced cross-section of the ship, even more surreal watching a polar bear in a bright orange boiler suit hop directly into one of the opened compartments of the sub from his position on the gangplank with an 'aye aye Captain.'

"When are you gonna piece your sub back together?" She asked curiously, watching the bear trying to take charge of the men inside the room.

"I'll leave the flooded areas opened to dry them out for a little bit. Once I put them back together the men can work on the hull repair."

"You're gonna put it back together ok, right?" She asked a little sceptically, imaging an untimely end if they tried to submerge with a shoddily replaced hull whilst watching Bepo get depressed and apologetic as the crewmembers yelled at him for his bossy behaviour.

"Would I have done it if I couldn't?"

"I guess not…" She hummed, still a bit unsure.

"Let's resume our talk." Law turned to walk past her as she reluctantly moved her gaze back to him.

"Ugh, do we have to? Haven't we talked enough for one day-week, even?" She asked as she watched him head towards the grass, silently gesturing for her to follow as his response to her question.

Sighing she looked back at the ocean longingly but her severe temptation to join in with the clowning around going on was soon squashed when she saw the men were already walking back to the shore and by the look on Shachi's face. He'd found his sunglasses, those were back on, he grinned at her, using his index finger to indicate between her and his captain before giving himself a hug and making mock-kissy faces, much to the amusement of the other three sloshing back through the water onto the beach with him.

She narrowed her eyes at him, opening her mouth to correct his childish taunt when she felt a hand snake around her waist to rest on her hip.

Nayla looked up at Law as he stood to her side, smirking down at her knowingly. "I take it this is what they did to provoke you into throwing their belongings into the ocean?"

"It's _your_ fault. If you hadn't said what you'd said to Connor this morning then th-"

"Hmm, less than two hours to spread to the whole crew. That's a record, even for them." He said, ignoring her to glance over at the other crewmembers who were watching with interest from around the sub, elbowing each other and grinning.

"Why would you purposely give them the wron-" she took in the widening of his smirk as he turned back to face her. "Right…'enjoyable,' get off of me, you ass." She spat, attempting to walk back up the beach only to feel him tighten his grip and pull her closer to his side as he strode leisurely alongside her.

Groaning in defeat at the chorus of wolf whistles coming from the crew around the sub she gave up and walked back towards the grass with him, not missing the one finger that had 'somehow' managed to slip between the bottom of her hoodie and top of her shorts onto her bare skin.

"You four. Stop messing around. Work." He demanded easily over his shoulder at the four soaked pirates as they neared the beach. They shouted their affirmatives over the noise of the crew, grinning ear to ear despite the mild scold.

Law released her as they reached the grassy part of the beach, sitting himself down in the same spot she had occupied not long ago, patting the ground beside him in invitation. "Have a seat, Nayla-ya."

She sat herself down beside him groaning like a petulant child and bringing her knees up to rest her crossed arms on.

He remained quiet, watching as his crew turned away from observing them to continue working on their flooded rooms. Nayla on the other hand watched her four soggy pirate friends reach the beach again, jostling each other playfully, undoing and wringing out the top halves of their boiler suits before tying the arms around their waists and going to help out. She smiled at their playfulness, deciding to pull her eyes away from them in favour of watching the gentle waves lapping onto the shore ahead of her.

She rest her chin onto her arms, the peaceful, natural ambience nearly made her forget the dangerous man sitting next to her until he spoke up.

"You aren't a Devil Fruit user or you'd have been doomed the moment the brig began flooding and it doesn't look like any form of Haki I've ever seen though it seems to work in a similar way." He thought out loud.

She snorted to herself, watching the waves glide back and forth across the sand ahead of them. "There are more things in this world than just Devil Fruit and Haki." She rest the side of her face against her arms as she turned her head to look at him. "In fact, I'd never heard of either until I came to the Grand Line…By the way, it's kind of ironic that Devil Fruit users remain around the Grand Line sea and don't travel inland as soon as they eat one."

Law leant his back against the tree behind him, regarding her quietly as she opened her mouth to speak again. "And by 'ironic,' I really just mean 'stupid.'" She said smiling, earning a small grin from him.

"Devil Fruits are mostly found on the Grand Line, Nayla-ya. By definition that means the people that find them are usually sea-farers. Marines, pirates, the like."

"Still. Stupid. If I were a sea-farer and got my hands on one of those I'd eat it and head straight into the middle of a nice, dry continent."

"Easy for someone who doesn't even like the sea to say." He adjusted his Nodachi more securely onto his shoulder.

"You do?"

"Your diversion tactic is wearing thin with me. Tell me what I want to know." He said flatly, raising his hands to interlock his fingers behind his head as he lay back fully.

She glanced at the crew as they worked. "…Will you tell the others?"

Law followed her gaze, not really expecting that to have been a hurdle in getting her to talk. "I don't plan on telling anyone on the crew anything you share with me. I'm the only one that needs to know."

Nayla met his eyes as he looked back at her, deciding that she believed him. Not because she could tell he wasn't lying, his expression and tone of voice were perfectly neutral. Just because he didn't seem to have any interest or reason in telling anyone else. She hummed to herself in thought before resting her head back onto her arms comfortably as she gazed at him.

"…I honestly don't think you'd believe me if I did tell you."

He sighed tiredly, closing his eyes. "Try me."

"Seriously, you're a doctor and you now know that I have a family history of mental illness. You'll think I'm crazy if I say it." She found herself watching the small flecks of sunlight that managed to seep through the leaves overhead glide back and forth across his handsome features as the breeze swayed the branches.

He smiled, opening his eyes to look at her. "Would it be helpful if I told you that I already question your mental health?"

"Ditto." She deadpanned, giving him an unimpressed look as his grin widened.

"You make the decision to board a pirate vessel full of men, alone, against all better judgement that I _know_ you had at the time and think _I'm_ the crazy one?"

"I think you're probably a psychopath."

He laughed at the seriousness of her statement. "Oh? What makes you think that?"

"Superficial charm, grandiose self-worth, cunning, lack of remorse, callous, _definite_ criminal tendencies-" She counted off on her fingers. "-and if you became a criminal at ten then I'll bet you were a complete _bastard_ of a child. You fit the profile of a psychopath pretty well, Law."

His eyebrows raised in surprise as he realised that she really was listing off the traits used to establish whether someone fit the medical criteria of a psychopath before smirking at her. "I'll have you know that I only scored twenty-two out of the necessary twenty-five to thirty required for a diagnosis of psychopathy."

Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at him, realising he was dead serious despite his grin. "...You actually checked?"

"When enough people call you a psychopath, you begin to wonder." He confirmed darkly, returning her eye contact.

"Twenty-two...is not something to be proud of." She said shocked.

"You do realise that you fit many of those criteria yourself, Nayla-ya?" He removed one of the hands he had tucked behind his head to mimic her count off on his own fingers. "Superficial charm, manipulative, lack of goals, impulsivity, poor behavioural control, killing people for money-no matter how you justify it, is also criminal tendency...and let's not forget promiscuous sexual behaviour." He smiled slyly at her look of offence as he rested his freed hand onto his chest. "I'd say you'd score at least an eighteen towards that diagnosis _and_ considering you know the criteria off by heart, I take it you already checked for yourself too. Or was that just some more 'reading' you did?" He finished mockingly.

"Actually, in this industry you work with a lot of whack-jobs, you tend to wonder how stable your 'colleagues' are, that's why I looked those up-plus eighteen is _still_ a lot better than twenty-two-and for the record, I am _not_ promiscuous, Law!"

He raised a sceptical brow at her. "I honestly don't care if you are or aren't but your behaviour and clothing choices would suggest otherwise."

"I can dress and behave as I please. I'm more of a…" She paused, looking upwards, trying to find the right wording. "I guess I'm more of a 'you can look but you can't touch' kinda person? Not that you seem to be following that rule much." She said, muttering the latter part.

He hummed to himself turning his gaze from her to the open ocean in front of them. "I believe there's a technical term for that."

"…Really?" She asked in genuine interest.

"Yes, I believe the word you're looking for is 'cocktease,' Nayla-ya." He looked back at her as she glared at him.

"What? No! That's when you tease someone on purpose with no intention of actually sleeping with them!"

"Not surprising you would know that definition so well."

"Shut up, if anyone's behaved like one it's you!...Though wait, I guess it wouldn't be called cocktease if you're a guy…" Her irritation quelled as she tried to think if there was a name for it when guys did it, her brain generating a few crude terms but nothing she felt the need to voice out loud.

"Who said I have no intention of sleeping with you?" He broke her thoughts with a husky tone and devious expression, enjoying the wary look on her face as she subconsciously leant a little further away from him as he spoke again. "As much as I enjoy discussing your over-sexualised behaviour and probable mental defects with you, let's get back on track."

"Alright, you want to know what it is?" She challenged. "Then let me ask you something first, do you believe in malevolent spirits? Or demons?" She watched impressed as his expression remained perfectly still apart from a slight furrowing of his brows.

"…You think your power comes from demons."

She nodded at him, awaiting his response. There was a long pause as he looked her over, seeming to assess her critically before sitting up and letting his hands fall into his lap. He regarded her completely seriously before speaking in a neutral tone. "Do they talk to you, Nayla-ya? Are you able to hear or see them here with us right now?"

She tutted and rolled her eyes, looking away from him. "Law! See?! Now you think I'm a lunatic. I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

He smiled at her offence, trying not to laugh. "It's a little hard to believe."

"Oh yes, it's _much_ more believable to eat a fucking fruit and suddenly be made entirely of rubber or to be a human magnet or to be able to dissect people and rearrange their bodies parts in mid-air."

He chuckled at her bending one knee to rest his elbow onto it as he followed her gaze to watch his crew clearing and salvaging their flooded storage rooms. "Point taken, I'll humour you."

"…Alright, let me ask you something else then. You saw the energy flowing uncontrolled when I was out of it the first time you treated me?"

He nodded in confirmation, mentally filing away she had described the black markings as an energy flow. "When you saw it, or touched it, did it make you feel unsettled? Anxious? A weird ominous feeling in your gut, like something was wrong?"

His face sobered as he remembered the foreboding feeling he had felt at the time, the unexplained sense of dread when he examined it. Bepo had felt the same.

"And you realise your weapon is a cursed blade right?" He raised his brows, wondering how she had known as he glanced at the Nodachi propped against his shoulder beside him.

"You probably don't feel it anymore, you're probably used to it by now but when you first gripped it, didn't you feel that same weird, negative vibe from it like you did from me?"

"Did someone on the crew tell you it was a cursed blade?"

"No, it's easy enough for me to feel it. I noticed it the first time you walked past me…Even Zoro picked up one of those." She muttered in distaste, wrinkling her nose as she looked down at it.

"You're saying that cursed blades are the work of demons?" He failed to keep the scepticism out of his voice this time.

"No, of course not. Your blade was obviously enchanted by the glittery wand crafted from a princess' unicorn's horn by a well-meaning tooth-fairy." She said dryly, earning a warning look from him at her sarcastic tone.

"Anyway, same deal. I'm the same as that." She indicated to his blade with her hand. "Except I get a continuous tap of it and I'm not an inanimate object. Cursed blades can only contain a set amount of unchanging energy in it."

He glanced back at his sword, mulling over what she said. He hadn't actually given much in-depth thought into why cursed blades were cursed. There was definitely something off with them, that much was real, but most explanations as to why that he had heard he'd immediately dismissed as being superstitious fiction. Stories of creatures inhabiting the blades or the human souls cut down by it haunting the weapon in resentment and bringing misfortune to the wielder or that they were the work of malicious spirits and demons.

"If you really believe that 'demons' curse these blades…why would they do that? What's in it for them?" He said eyeing his weapon.

"They feed off of human misery, it's nothing more complicated than that. No better misery than death, they enjoy lending their power to objects and people that will cause it. Cursing weapons is pretty standard for them." She eyed the tattooed word over the fingers that gripped the weapon.

"I'm using the term 'demon' loosely anyway. Some people think they're ghosts or spirits or whatever and religious people _always_ link it to their own belief systems in some way. I'm not saying I believe in any of it but I know that whatever they are, they're horrible creatures."

He tapped a finger over his sheath in thought, trying to find the right questions to poke holes in her story, unwilling to believe anything so outlandish anytime soon. "So they enjoy playing a hand in misery and death. If that's the case then why wouldn't they lend this ability to people more often? You're the first I've heard of. People are far more effective at killing others than an inanimate weapon is."

"It's not compatible with life." Seeing the small flicker of confusion cross his face she continued. "The ability I have, it's a continuous version of the energy that's infused in your blade. Human bodies aren't built to deal with it, it's not compatible with life, it kills most people. That's why they have to settle for cursing inanimate things like weapons instead."

"Why are you able to survive it then?"

She smiled, practically seeing the medical cogwheels in his head turning as he looked at her. "Who knows, last person recorded to successfully use this ability died over 600 years ago, apparently. Maybe there are a few others out there who lay low like me."

"That long between people able to use it…that rules out a hereditary mutation." He mumbled to himself, looking back out at the sea. "It works by just making you physically stronger?"

"Not much more than that, yeah." She settled herself to lay down on her back on the grass, resting her own hands behind her head as she looked up at the sky between the leaves of the tree they sat under.

"What's the catch?"

"Hmm?"

"Every power comes with a price, you know mine, what's yours?" He asked, looking down at her with a smirk.

"Well, it's not as lame as being vulnerable to water." She said returning his smirk.

"I'll be the judge of that." He chuckled.

She contemplated withholding it from him but she had to reluctantly admit to herself that him being a doctor, an annoyingly observant one, he'd figure it out the first time he saw it anyway.

"Well, aside from the damage I can cause to my own body by pushing it past what it's naturally capable of-" She raised her splinted wrist in illustration. "-which is why I try not to use it bare handed and use weapons- I'm not immune to the effects of it. It doesn't kill me instantly but that doesn't mean it doesn't do damage to my body. The longer I allow it flow through the more damage caused and the longer it takes for me to recover between uses of it."

"So it's killing you." He summarised indifferently.

"That's why people that take it get some sort of seal. It allows only a single point for it to flow in and makes it easier to stop it when not using it." She stifled a yawn and closed her eyes. "Mine's on my lower back, away from vital organs but near enough to either end of my body for rapid flow if I need it." The drain of her early wake up and long morning crept up on her as Law quietly thought to himself, allowing her a peaceful moment to relax.

"It wasn't 'stopped' when you were comatose. You have to control it consciously." He concluded out loud, piecing together what he had seen with what she was telling him. "…that must be tiring."

"It was at first but you get used to it. I think the closest thing I could think of to describe it would be like how we breathe. We're doing it all the time without noticing it but we can take conscious control of it if we want to too…we also lose our ability to breathe properly if we fall too deeply into unconsciousness." She mumbled quietly, enjoying the sounds of the birds above and the calm waves.

"How long can you use it at a time?"

"…Mmm, not too long really, few hours or so."

Law watched her face for a moment, noticing that despite her closed eyes and seemingly relaxed facial expression, she seemed a little bit uncomfortable. He sighed and reached a hand over to take one of her own out from under her head and rest it on the ground between them, causing her to open her eyes and look at them.

"…Are you getting better at expressing your crush on me?" She asked with a raised brow, looking from their joined hands to his face.

He chuckled, releasing her hand and sliding his fingers under the cuff of her sleeve to her wrist. "Can you use your ability longer than a few hours?"

"What are you…you're measuring my pulse aren't you?" She deadpanned, realising he hadn't bought her lie.

"I wouldn't need to if you'd shake off that poor habit of lying to me, Nayla-ya. Can you use your ability longer than a few hours? Yes or no?"

She looked up at him stubbornly, refusing to answer and getting slightly alarmed when instead of the annoyed frown she had expected from him at her silence, she got a smirk that promised nothing good instead.

Law removed his fingers from her wrist, leaning over to rest on his elbow above her, placing his fingers across the side of her neck instead. Pleased with the quickening thrum of her pulse beneath his fingertips as he leant close to her face, keeping eye contact with her.

"What are you doing?" Her voice didn't come out nearly as sternly as she had wanted it to.

"Observing your eyes and it's more accurate to take your pulse from this artery anyway. Answer my question." He demanded lowly, enjoying her discomfort.

She glanced past him at the beach where he knew his men were. "…This doesn't look like you're trying to work out if I'm lying or not."

"No, it doesn't. I doubt they can even tell that our lips are still apart from that angle."

She sat up, growling in frustration at his gloating smile and shoving him aside from hovering over her.

"You can boldly declare you want Shachi to father your child in front of the entire crew but get embarrassed over what might be mistaken as a kiss with me? That's an interesting reaction, is it because you're genuinely attracted to me?"

"Oh shut up, Law! No one said I was."

"No one had to." He chuckled before leaning his face closely to hers, speaking in a low, suggestive tone. "It's almost a shame that you are though. There's no way I'll be able to tell if you're lying because of the way your heart races when I touch you, Nayla."

She clenched her teeth, contemplating another attempt at trying to punch the smirk off his face. "Cocky, arrogant, son of a bitch." She hissed, deciding it would probably be the wiser move to suppress her sudden, violent urges and leave instead. Nayla quickly stood but didn't take more than one step forward when she felt his hand wrap around her uninjured wrist. She looked back at him in annoyance as he sat looking up at her in unmasked laughter.

"You're not going anywhere." He pulled her back gently from the step forward she had managed to take away from him. "I'll stop teasing if you just answer honestly."

"And if I don't? What are you gonna do if I refuse to answer? Torture me?"

"Not in my best interest to torture someone I want to be cooperative."

"Wha-We just went over this! It's not in your best interest to _annoy_ someone you want to be cooperative with you either but that hasn't stopped you so far mister 'it's enjoyable.'" She yelled down at him, though his easy, laid-back smile didn't falter.

"Annoying you is fine, torture is a little overkill. I do have some sodium thiopental on board though. Have you ever come across that in your 'reading,' Nayla-ya?"

She furrowed her brows in thought though Law quickly interrupted it as she felt him rub his thumb over the skin of her wrist, drawing her attention back to his grip. She chose to ignore it as she tried to decipher his threat. "…That's kind of an old-school choice of anaesthetic for a surgeon, though I guess that's to be expected from a quack."

"Actually." He suddenly pulled her towards him with more strength than she had expected causing her to stumble down to land with a hand on either side of him as she found herself on his lap. She winced a bit as her injured hand landed onto the grass beside his hip. "I don't use it for anaesthetic, try again, Nayla-ya." He pulled the wrist he still gripped behind him, forcing her forward to press her chest against his before she had a chance to react to her new position.

She looked up at his face, catching the subtle edge of lust in his expression as he dragged his gaze from their contacting chests to her eyes. A devilish grin taking to his lips as he chuckled at her discomfort, the reverberation of his deep voice, along with his warmth, soaking through the thin layer of clothing between them.

Forcing her brain to focus and keep functioning, she tried to remember the question he seemed to be awaiting an answer for. "…Lethal injection?"

He laughed at that, the motion of his toned chest pressing against her own reminding her that she should probably make an attempt to pull away from him, preferably before the crew spotted them. "You should know from my hospital visit to you that I'm not a fan of painless deaths, good guess though."

She tried to sit up but he didn't loosen his grip to allow it "…Truth serum."

"Truth serum." He confirmed, smiling down at her continued futile attempt to overpower him.

"You really are a quack, those don't work ya know." She wrenched her wrist free of him and sat back, rubbing the skin his fingers had gripped.

His brows raised at the sudden strength she had used, looking at the black markings across the hand he had just held captive. "Depends on how they're used and the interrogator. I've found them quite useful so far."

He leant forward from the tree he was resting on, closing the small gap she had managed to put between them as she sat between his legs. She watched his movements warily as his face approached hers. "I already asked you this question yesterday, let's see if you'll give me the right answer this time. Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way, Nayla-ya?"

She glanced over at the crew, thankful they hadn't seemed to have noticed their position. "If you stop annoying me on purpose then I'll tell you what you want."

He smiled, settling himself back against the trunk behind him, silently allowing her to leave his lap. "I won't ask the question a third time."

"...I can use it continuous for a few weeks at a time." She mumbled, leaving a generous gap between them as she settled herself back onto the grass next to him.

"That's quite a big difference from a few hours. Were you hoping to take my head the second I turned my back on you, believing you could no longer use your ability?" He watched the markings on her hand recede once more.

"Crossed my mind, I like to keep my options open." She admitted, matching his wry smile.

He chuckled at her, following her gaze to watch as Connor jogged over, stopping on the grass a few feet in front of them.

She couldn't help but notice that with the top half of his boiler suit and hat off and his shoulder length, wet, black hair loose he was actually a very appealing man himself. She was beginning to feel a little disappointed that Law had made it clear his men were off limits…though she was already wondering how bad the consequences would be if she were to ignore that order.

"Captain, sorry to 'interrupt'-" He spared Nayla a small, smug grin, stopping her thoughts short and halting her quiet admiration of his impressive build as she frowned at him. "-we've finished sorting through the stock."

"How much was salvageable?" Law asked as he stood.

"Well, not a lot actually. We lost most of the gunpowder and virtually all the stocked food that wasn't in plastic or metal packaging." He sighed, offering Nayla a hand as she moved to stand. She took it but still sent him a dirty look which he ignored.

"Are the rooms dried out enough to replace the hull?"

"Yeah the sun helped dry off the wood enough. The boys gave the rooms a quick mop up and towelled off the inner walls too. The rooms will dry up with the sub's normal level of ventilation no problem."

Law hummed in acknowledgement as they walked back towards the sub, he ran a critical eye over his crew's work and the pile of discarded cargo laying on the sand.

"Fine, I'll reassemble the hull." He held a hand out and cast his Room to engulf the section of exposed sub and the piece of it on the beach. "Have the team begin repairs immediately."

"Aye aye Captain." Connor crossed his arms and watched as Law manipulated the piece of sliced hull back into place with a single swipe of his finger as soon as the crew inside the rooms backed away enough from the cut edges.

Nayla, or she'd argue, the more perverted part of her brain that she tried to disassociate from, was more focused on the impressively muscled, exposed upper halves of most his crew. Some sweaty from exertion, an assortment of tattoos and scars…and piercings? She eyed Connor's torso through his soaked white undershirt at the point of interest with a raised eyebrow.

"Something of interest on Connor's chest, Nayla-ya?" Law asked without turning around as he released his Room.

Connor turned his head from watching his captain to look at her in surprise to find her staring at him.

"Oh…uh well, yeah actually…" She spluttered at unexpectedly being caught eyeing up his crew a little, wondering if Law had eyes in the back of his head hidden under that hat of his. She cleared her throat as Law turned from ensuring his handiwork was sound to look at her. "Interesting nipple ring you got there Connor. Didn't think you were the type." She smiled innocently up at him as he looked down at himself, as if only just remembering it was there.

"Oh right…yeah…I'm not, that uh, would be what happens when you drink too much around here." He muttered uncomfortably, averting his eyes from his captain's sharp gaze.

"Jeff goes around sticking needles into you lot?" She asked shocked, raising her gaze from his chest to his eyes.

"No not exactly but uh…the guys tend to convince you to do stupid things when you've had one too many. Managed to talk me into this somehow." He said gesturing to it.

She snickered at him. "Why didn't you just pull it out in the morning?" Nayla caught Law crossing his arms over his Nodachi in her peripheral vision as he looked at Connor expectantly.

"Well…the guys dared me to keep it, placed bets on how long I'd leave it in...Jeff bet one month for a pretty hefty amount, I agreed to leave it in for that long to let him win in exchange for a twenty percent cut…but don't tell the rest of 'em I'm in on it." He finished mumbling.

"Stupid." She stated bluntly, smiling up at him good-naturedly.

"Very." Law agreed walking away to talk to a crewmember that was approaching them.

Connor winced as he watched his captain walk away, turning back to Nayla as she spoke. "Well, at least you'll make some money out of your stupidity…and at least the crew were kind enough to make you get your _left_ one pierced."

He paused his sheepish scratching at the back of his neck. "Why what does the right one mean?"

"No prizes for guessing." She giggled at his paling face. "Sounds like parties with you guys get wild, you often do this to your friends as soon as their judgement is impaired?" She asked prodding at the metal beneath his top.

"Ah well…we try not to, it annoys Captain, _a lot_."

"Hmm killjoy." She said turning to look at him as he directed what seemed to be the mechanics, if the tool belts they had started strapping around their waists were any indication, to the damaged part of the hull.

"He got tired of people asking him to remove tattoos or treat badly done piercings the morning after, refused to do it anymore, which is fair enough really sweetie. He shouldn't have to spend his time on our self-inflicted stupidity." He said chuckling.

She laughed, trying to imagine a grumpy Law the morning after with a queue of hung-over crewmembers in his infirmary asking for assorted tattoos and piercings to be removed and treated. "Yeah I guess so."

"Speaking of which, I'm just curious…did he have 'the talk' with you?"

"The talk?"

"Yeah the uh…'safe sex' talk?"

"…Seriously? He polices _your_ sex lives too? Tyrant."

"Well no, we can do whatever we want but he refuses to have to examine and treat our…ya know…anymore if it's because we were too irresponsible or lazy to use a condom. Was just wondering if he gave you the same deal."

"…No…I got the 'don't you dare get pregnant' deal but nothing about th-…wait he refuses to do it _anymore_?"

"Jeff."

"Ah right, Jeff."

"It was pretty funny, Captain doesn't often lose his temper but I remember this one time four months ago. He lost it, ranted about how he was sick of looking at everyone's junk, especially Jeff's." Connor tried suppressing his laughter, turning to look at the man in question on the other side of the beach, waving completely innocently at him as if he hadn't just said what he had.

Nayla burst out laughing at the thought of a grumpy Law, face-palming, losing his temper, possibly hung-over himself and having to examine and attend to his men after their drunken exploits at every port visit. Being doctor to a bunch of horny young men that drank too much must really be a job and a half.

Law turned to look over at them at her loud laughter, only making her laugh harder as he narrowed his eyes at her and turned to look at Connor, obviously trying to work out what had been said to have made her look his way in a fit of giggles.

"Imma take this as my cue to leave sweetie, stay outta trouble." He said patting her on her back as he watched Law finish his conversation and begin to walk back towards them. He took off to jog back up the beach towards Jeff and some other crewmembers, ducking his head a little as he passed his captain.

Nayla tried to settle her laughter down as Law passed him with a suspicious look and came to a stop in front of her. She wiped her tears away and bit her lips together as she looked up at him.

"Nayla-ya." He sighed at her widening smile before continuing. "With me." He inclined his head towards the gangplank as he made his way to it. She followed him onto it, snickering at all the mental images of Law's annoyance and discomfort Connor had so kindly bestowed upon her.

Law looked at her over his shoulder with a raised brow as they climbed back up to the deck. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." She laughed, earning an eye roll as she smothered her mouth with her hand to try to suppress the new round of laughter he had unintentionally provoked.

She managed to settle herself down as he led them back inside silently, down the stairs to the first floor and stopped in front of the door to his quarters to turn and look at her. She seemed happy, hands clasped behind her back, looking up at him with an 'innocent' smile.

"Go make yourself useful and help Jake in the galley." He bluntly demanded.

She blinked at him her smile fading a little as she furrowed her brows in confusion. "What? Why?"

"Do you expect to just lounge around all day doing nothing whilst my crew work in between your jobs for Joker? You'll be expected to help out around here." He watched the grin fade from her face completely.

"What?! Then I'm doing THREE jobs for the pay of one?! The hell with that, I'm not doing it!" She said crossing her arms and meeting his stare in defiance, openly daring him to force her to do as she was told.

"Hmm, I had thought you might _want_ to spend time with the crew and help them out but if that's not the case-" He opened the door to his quarters with his free hand. "-then I'm more than happy to have you spend all day _and_ night with me, Nayla-ya."

"…Ok fine, but why the galley? Why not something else?" She sighed out, uncrossing her arms and looking away from him back down the hallway to the stairwell.

"I'm assuming you can cook."

She whipped her head back to him narrowing her eyes. "Why? Because I'm a woman?"

He raised his brows at her apparent offence, taking in the hand that had found its way to her hip. "Actually, I assumed as much because you've been on your own since nineteen…that was quite a 'sensitive' reaction." He said grinning slightly.

Realising she had just given him a new button to push she closed her eyes and groaned. "Geez, forget I said anything. I'll just go play obedient housewife-woman-thing and go cook." She said turning to leave.

"...You can't cook, can you?"

"Not worth a damn." She called back as she made her way towards the stairs.

"Then what good are you going to be there?"

"I'll find something Jake needs sliced up and pretend it's you." She sang back as she reached the stairs. "Hey, if the crew are outside working and you're sending me to go help in the galley, what are _you_ going to do?"

"Nap." He said easily, leaning against his doorframe and enjoying the look on her face.

"Well that's not fair, I'm tired too ya know. You woke me up so freaking early _and_ I nearly died. Where's _my_ nap?"

"You're still quite welcome to join me, Nayla-ya. We can nap together." He purred lowly.

"I take it back. Enjoy your _beauty_ nap. You need it." She placed her hand onto the railing and started to descend the stairs, hearing him chuckle as he entered and closed the door to his quarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Psychopathy Checklist Revised' by Robert D. Hare, fun times checking how close to a psychopath you and your loved ones are…or just me…probably just me.


	29. Above the Law

Law tossed his hat onto his bedside cabinet, leaning his weapon against its side gently as he ran a hand through his hair.

He lay down on his bed, sighing quietly in relief as his head sank into the soft embrace of his pillow, tiredly closing his eyes to the gentle level of morning light coming in through the archway from the living half of his quarters; he had drawn the thick curtains within this room.

After a few peaceful moments of enjoying the calming lull of the waves outside they were soon unheard over the heavy, electronic screeching of power tools drilling through the metal hull of his vessel.

He smiled to himself as he rest his hands across his chest, he'd already known he wouldn't be able to sleep fully whilst repairs were going on but just resting his eyes for a little while would be enough to get him through the rest of the day.

She was a strange one, that woman he'd picked up. Her drastic swings in behaviour, her bizarre thoughts…maybe she really was a little crazy, maybe he should do a mental examination on her later. His smile widened as he imagined the look of insult she'd wear if he suggested the idea to her.

Law was confident Nayla wouldn't be causing any trouble whilst he rested. They were on uninhabited island, the vessel was beached, she had nowhere to go and she'd gain nothing from causing problems, he could relax for now.

As much as he enjoyed riling her up he'd need to do less of it, at least until after they reached the next island. He was indulging himself too much in her reactions to his touch and he'd felt the backfire of his own actions again on the beach. He'd need to keep that in line.

He hadn't gotten a great deal of information from her but it was enough for now, he could easily connect the dots to fill in the gaps from what little she had said already.

From what he had gathered when he had checked for information on her epithet last night, she worked combat-intensive jobs like wars infrequently; at least a month or two apart from each other. He had thought at first it was probably because she earned enough money to live on for that long before needing to work again but it was looking more likely now that those time lapses coincided with what she had described as needing time to 'recover' from excessive use of her ability. Assuming she'd be using it for her maximum of three weeks straight during a prolonged battle like a war.

'Jack of all trades,' he thought to himself, remembering their conversation in the tavern. She probably took other jobs that didn't require use of it during the time she needed to heal to earn her living. Though he wondered what kind of jobs she did in between exactly.

Nayla was far from physically strong without her ability, he'd seen as much for himself plenty of times. She was unable to break his hold without it on the beach, he'd had to dial back his own strength significantly when testing her muscle power during her medical examination – a stark contrast to examining his much beefier crewmembers, she'd barely been able to tip her suitcase onto its side this morning and she hadn't given Kuma so much as a scratch without it the first day he'd seen her.

At least now one of his nagging questions had been indirectly answered. He couldn't understand why a woman able to do what she did to steel this morning with her bare hands would need to pack such an excessive amount of hidden blades into her clothing…or even need to trick men attacking her with underhanded seduction tricks – if how she said she used that peculiar cleavage dagger was true. It seemed she was left having to compensate heavily for her lack of physical strength when she was unable to use her ability. No one would need to be able to punch or kick particularly hard to do significant damage with that many blades in their gloves or boots; they'd only need to land a hit.

Law felt much more satisfied as the pieces fell into place as he mulled over them. He wasn't entirely sure of what to make of her explanation of her ability's nature but he supposed it didn't matter too much what the source of it was as long as he understood it enough to keep the upper hand should he need to. He was just left with one bothersome question that he'd not had the chance to ask her. The one that had made him go to her hospital room, that had led him to discover her connection to his enemy and the one he'd had since the day he met her; what was wrong with her blood?

Was it just some odd physical remnant of her ability? Or maybe it reflected the 'damage' it did to her? Exactly what kind of damage did her ability do to her anyway? Should he care? It would probably be mildly interesting to find out; may he should do a few tests on her vital organs. Was the damage temporary, permanent or cumulative? Why was her ability so 'incompatible' with life anyway? It was an odd word to have used to describe it, reminding him of how it was used in medical context sometimes to describe severe genetic defects that would result in malformations that were 'incompatible' with life…Was her ability why she was unable to conceive? Speaking of genetics, why was she even able to use her ability to begin with? Maybe he should run DNA and look for weird mutations. She'd said the last 'recorded' person to use it had died over 600 years ago. Recorded where? Where did she read that information? Was there maybe something of medical interest documented there too?

It seemed that answering one question about her only seemed to raise another ten in its place. He could think of only one way to find the answer to all of them. Law chucked to himself, already imagining her reaction and knowing how much she'd hate the idea.

* * *

Nayla walked through the messdeck's large double doors, finding the room she'd had breakfast in empty and the canteen window now shut. Though there was plenty of noise to be heard coming from behind it.

She wandered over to the doors to the galley, rising up onto tip toes to look through the round glass windows. Frowning down at her flats when she could barely see through them, sorely missing the heeled boots Law had confiscated from her.

Giving up on seeing what the commotion was about, she knocked hard on the doors instead, trying to be heard over the clatter and the loud voices of the men inside talking loudly to each other.

Rolling her eyes at them obviously not being able to hear her she decided to peek in instead, pushing open one of the swinging doors gently in case someone was on the other side of it. She scanned around the steamy, hot room, looking for Jake and spotting him over to the right, by the inner side of the canteen window yelling back an answer to the inventory question the other chef had called out.

Jake was stood in front of a small whiteboard on the wall; it seemed to have the days of the week and a meal plan on it. He hummed to himself before scribbling down some notes onto the piece of paper he had on the counter in front of him.

Nayla slipped into the room, glancing around curiously at all the industry-standard cooking equipment. The room was mostly a gleaming, stainless steel, from the machines, to the utensils hung on the walls and overhead, to the countertops. The room's floor and walls were tiled a simple, shiny, clean white.

The left wall was consumed mostly by two extremely large ovens that spanned from floor to ceiling, she could see several lines of shelves in them through their glass doors, baking bread apparently, they would be where the majority of the heat in the room seemed to be coming from. The back wall was lined with cupboards, shelving and counters with an assortment of smaller cooking equipment sitting on top. She couldn't help but take note of the microwave there; if she ever had to make her own meal, she was sure she'd be becoming well-acquainted with it, considering her cooking skills.

Her attention was brought to the open door on this back wall; leading to what she guessed was some kind of pantry or storage room, as the other chef's voice came from it again, asking another inventory question. Something about running low on sweeteners for deserts, to which Jake replied along the lines of 'the hyper idiots' could do with less sugar in their systems anyway.

She sniffed the air keenly, wondering what they had simmering in the large pots atop the stoves in the middle of the room. Seemed they had four of them, several counters and preparation stations on either side. Whatever it was, it smelled wonderful, she was already looking forward to seeing what they'd be having for lunch.

The right wall was lined with counters that had a couple of sinks built into them, what seemed like a huge dishwasher and more storage cupboards. The overhead cabinets here had transparent doors, they were housing all the glasses and cups so it was probably a safe guess that the storage cupboards below them held the cutlery, plates and bowls. She stopped short as she spotted some of the mugs in the cabinets...'Really?' She eyed the colourful mugs printed with the Heart Pirate's Jolly Roger in disbelief before shaking her head and calling out to Jake over the noise in the room and the hull repairs below them.

He turned to her in surprise as she walked over to him. "Oh hey there, hun! What can I do for ya?" He cheerfully greeted, tucking his pen behind his ear and folding his arms as he leant back against the counter.

"Actually, I'm here to give _you_ a hand." She smiled at his warm welcome.

"Oh? How co-?"

"I'm gonna go check for myself what they tossed out, I swear half of 'em wouldn't know a lima bean from a jelly bea-oh, heya Nayla-chan, whatcha doing here?" The other chef emerged from the back room holding a clipboard and raising his yellow cap up a little to see her as he walked up to where she and Jake stood.

How either of them could stand the heat in the kitchen with a hat on, she didn't know. "Hey Ichiou, Law sent me to 'make myself useful' somewhere, I came down to see if you guys needed a hand with anything."

He exchanged a look with Jake, rubbing his chin with finger as he contemplated her. "Hmm, does this count as suspicious behaviour?"

"…Seriously?" She deadpanned at him.

"No offence but how do we know Captain really sent you down here, what if you try and slip poison into the food or something?"

"Well feel free to go ask him, he's in his quarters. Though he just settled down for a nap, I'm sure Captain Cranky will love being woken up for your paranoia."

"Fine, I will and he won't be mad because I'll be following his orders." He walked past her towards the door to the messdeck. "I'll go see Cap, call down if she's not meant to be here then go make an _accurate_ note of what food we lost in the flooding." He called back to Jake, giving her one last glance before leaving the room.

Jake laughed at the look on her face before plucking his pen from its nestled position between his ear and curly, brown hair before turning back to the counter to continue writing. "Don't take it personally, he's just doing his job. He's a good guy."

Nayla sighed leaning onto the countertop beside him to look at what he was writing. "I know I know, I'd probably do the same…whatcha doing?"

"Well, we lost some food in the flooding and Bepo called up to let us know what was thrown out and that we have roughly a week until we can restock at the next island, so we're having to rethink our menu a little."

"Will we run out of food?" She glanced down the growing list of food items he was making with concern.

Jake chuckled at her worried expression. "Far from it, don't worry. We can stock food for double the size of this crew for up to ninety days at a time so running out is never the problem. It's just missing certain nutrients or trying to keep the food interesting and satisfying for the ungrateful bastards that's the problem."

She broke out into a smile as she looked back up at the rota on the wall, impressed at the appetising looking variety written on it though sadly, Jake reached up and used his finger to rub out some of the tasty looking desert options. "You say 'ungrateful bastards' with the most fondness I've ever heard anyone say those two words with."

"Well, it's kinda like having twenty brothers. You don't always get on with 'em but you love 'em anyway." He laughed.

"Hmm, feeding a crew at sea…sounds like a tough job, especially when your captain is a doctor."

"Yeah, it's a hell of a balancing act. Trying to meet Captain's orders of making sure there are healthy meals that provide everyone's daily needs, making sure the men still get the less healthy junk they enjoy, trying to mix in some nostalgic home-cooked dishes for 'em from wherever they're from, trying not to have a repetitive menu and then crap like this-" He gestured to the list on the counter in front of him. "-happens and throws all your well stocked supplies and planning out the window. Then ya gotta think on your toes and get creative to still meet everyone's demands…best job in the world, can't find a bigger challenge as a chef." He grinned.

"Sounds like a really important job, you seem to be enjoying it though." She leant her elbows onto the counter as she glanced at the other handwritten notes tacked up onto the wall. Lists of crew preferences, places of origin and known allergies. It was obvious Jake took his role seriously and with a lot of passion.

She noticed that oddly, quite a few members of the crew were sensitive to cucumber seeds, a couple of them were lactose intolerant but no serious allergies seemed to be amongst them. She raised a brow at the 'bread' note next to Law's title though, wondering if maybe he had a wheat intolerance of some kind and already inwardly plotting his ironic demise with the business end of a stale baguette or something of the sort should the opportunity present itself.

"Oh, it is. Ya know, how long this sub can stay out at sea is all down to the chefs on board. We can generate our own power, resurface whenever we need fresh air, filter our own water, the only thing that decides how long we can stay outta port is our food supply. Yours truly being in charge of all of it." She glanced at him, his pride apparent in his warm, chocolatey-brown eyes. They were sweet, the kind that reminded her of the overly adorable ones she'd often seen on teddy bears. His size and cheerful, jolly demeanour didn't help her to regard him as a fearsome pirate from an infamous crew.

She smiled as she watched him resume working on his list, letting him concentrate on what he was jotting down as she glanced around the room for a few moments. "Hmm, weren't there more chefs in here at breakfast?"

"Yeah, four. We have four on board in total. Usually only two hands in here at a time, this morning was different, we were running behind because of that stupid Sea king…ya know, actually, probably a good thing Captain sent you. Ichi will be gone a lil while, the other two chefs are outside helping with the hull and I need a few to rethink what we can make for the next week. I could probably use an extra set of hands in here for a bit, at least to help start lunch prep until Ichi is back."

"Sure thing but I'm only good for grunt work. Washing, peeling, chopping, anything basic."

"Can't cook?" He raised a brow at her as he turned to look at her from under his orange cap, speaking again when she shook her head in reply. "How come?"

"Just never needed to I guess, was a spoilt child, parents did all the cooking for me…didn't learn whilst I had the chance." She sighed.

Jake hummed in understanding at the slightly sombre end of her statement. "Then what do you usually do to get by?"

"I usually get fed at my jobs and when I'm not working I just eat out. It'll do for now…at least until I can find a nice hubby that can spoil me and cook for me."

He laughed at her cheeky wink. "Well, you can do me a favour. Go into that back room-" He pointed to where the other chef had emerged from. "-fridge is through there, grab the huge bag of fresh, mixed peppers we got in the salad drawer. Wash 'em, core 'em, chop 'em. You ok with that?"

"Yes, Chef." She saluted, much to his amusement and went to do as he'd asked.

The back room was an impressively sized pantry, every wall lined floor to ceiling with wooden shelves full of dried food stock. The only wall that wasn't lined with shelves housed an enormous, built-in, stainless steel fridge and freezer. She pulled it open and quickly found the bag Jake had asked her to retrieve before returning to the main galley.

"The size of that fridge…Law spared no expense on the equipment anywhere on this sub, did he?" She asked the chef rhetorically as she set the clear plastic bag beside one of the sinks, watching him as he wiped down a countertop for her to work on.

"Certainly didn't. Important to have the proper facilities to safely store and prepare the food you and you're men are gonna rely on at sea, right?" He set a chopping board and bowl onto the surface for her as she rolled up her sleeves. She couldn't help but notice he had that same look of admiration on his face as the rest of the crew did whenever they spoke about Law.

"You ok to work?" He nodded at the wrist splint she was removing.

"Yeah, it's just a lil sprain." She folded and tucked the thick fabric into her pocket as she watched him toss a colander into the sink she stood at.

"…Hey Jake?"

"Hmm?"

"You seem like a really sweet guy…how'd you end up as a chef on a pirate crew?" She asked as she rolled her hair up into a bun to keep it out of the way.

He looked at her in thought for a little while before realisation lit up his features. "Ah, you mean how did I end up working for a guy like Captain, right?"

She scoffed at his insightfulness, turning the water on to wash her hands. "Yeah I just…everyone here is really nice, way nicer than I'd ever expect of pirates and you're all practically in love with him." She said rolling her eyes.

He laughed at her. "And what's wrong with that?"

"Well he's…Law is…well, Law."

Jake smiled at the mild look of distaste on her face as he walked back to the counter he was working on. "Oh come on, he isn't _all_ bad."

"Do you _know_ how he taught himself surgery?!" She asked him incredulously.

"I've heard the rumours, was before my time though." He laughed, waving a hand dismissively at the thought.

"Oh? So you're one of the newer members?" She opened the bag and tipped its contents into the colander in the sink to rinse.

"Well, six months isn't that new. Newest chef anyway."

"…But I thought you were the head chef?"

"I am, don't remind the others though, tends to tick 'em off a lil." He grinned making her giggle. "Cap made me head because I had the most experience running a large kitchen. Rank doesn't really matter much though, it's all team work in the end. I just get the added responsibility of managing stock and planning meals mostly." He nodded at the much emptier looking whiteboard rota on the wall ahead of him.

"So the Heart Pirates were already established and well-known when you joined…you must have heard of them before you were recruited so why would a nice man like you agree to work under the notoriously 'cruel and sadistic pirate captain Trafalgar Law?'" She mocked, unintentionally gripping the poor pepper she was currently rinsing with a little more force than necessary.

"Beat the shit out of two of his men." He said bluntly.

She stopped semi-strangling the vegetable to turn and gape at him. "What? Really?!"

"Yup."

"Who?"

"Jeff."

"Wh-?"

"Touched my sister."

She groaned and rolled her eyes, beginning to understand why Connor seemed to do that a lot around the man in question. "Why do I get the feeling that every time I ask who started trouble on this crew I'm gonna hear that name." She muttered, resuming her task. "Who was the second guy?"

"Connor." She turned to him surprised at his response. "Defended Jeff." He clarified.

"Ah right, poor Connor…good for you though Jake, taking on two Heart Pirates by yourself. That's pretty damn impressive." She was beginning to think that she had been underestimating the happy-go-lucky chef in the room with her.

"Ah well, it was one at a time and they were both beyond drunk so it was no big deal really." He modestly amended.

She laughed a little at his apparent embarrassment. "So, Law rewarded you for beating them up by giving you a place on his crew or did he threaten you here or what?"

"Little of both really." He chuckled.

"Do tell." She turned off the water and pulled a few of the peppers out of the colander to set on the chopping board. "How do you want these sliced by the way?"

"Thick chunks please hun, doing barbecue-skewers for lunch today and well, the crew had visited the restaurant I was working in a few times after they docked at my home island. Had heard of 'em, nothing good mind you but they didn't cause us any trouble. Came in, ate, enjoyed themselves, left. Their captain was a quiet one, polite, always paid the tab, no problems."

"So when did Jeff's, apparently untameable libido, change that?" She asked, looking around for a knife.

"Well the boys had spotted my sister on their first visit, I don't blame 'em though…she's a real pretty, cute lil thing." He said fondly, leaning over to pull open the drawer beside Nayla, letting her take a knife out before closing it again. "So it was no surprise the dogs were flirtin' with her as soon as they saw her."

"She came to visit you at work?"

"Nah, the restaurant was a family business. My dad had just retired, left running the place to me-being the eldest, but my sister worked there too, as a waitress. The men always flirted with her when she worked but she laughed it off and tended to 'em, the usual." He muttered.

She grinned a bit at the sour tone his voice had adopted. "I take it that got on your nerves a lot."

"Of course, but what can ya do? Pirates and other roughnecks are the usual clientele at businesses around ports these days and when you have such a cute sister, having men ogle her is a daily given." He sighed. "Anyway, one night Jeff, Connor and a couple of the others came by for a late bite. They'd been drinking, Jeff got too handsy, grabbed her ass so I kicked his. Connor got all bent out of shape about it so I kicked his too." He said matter-of-factly.

"What did the others at the table do?" Nayla asked, scraping the chopped peppers into the bowl beside her and grabbing more from the colander.

"Mostly just sat there dumbstruck, didn't know what to do. Couple of 'em apologised on his behalf, couple of 'em weren't too happy about the whole thing. Dragged the two sorry bastards out of there and back to their ship, promising they'd be returning soon with their captain."

"Were you scared?"

"You kidding me? The 'Surgeon of Death' is about to come pay you a visit for beating his men to a bloody pulp and you ask me if I was scared?" He turned to look at her incredulously; his pen paused over his list. "…You're damn right I was. I was shitting myself."

Nayla laughed. "So what did you do? Did you try to run?"

"Well my sister told me too but I figured, what was the point? It wasn't like it would be difficult for him to find me if he wanted too. Didn't wanna leave the restaurant behind to get trashed, or my sister there when he showed up and leave behind my elderly dad living upstairs? Nah, decided to stick around and take it like a man and just hope he wouldn't kill me, ya know?"

"What happened when Law got there?" Her respect for Jake was sky-rocketing; it took a lot of nerve to do what he did _and_ stick around for the consequences.

"Ah you know Captain, he has that air about him. He walked in with that small grin on his face that makes you feel like your blood turned to ice water, slinging that big 'ol sword of his on his shoulder. Spooked the last customers in there out real quick. The boys he brought with him sat at a booth and he came over to me at the bar, ordered a drink, real casual like, took his time drinking it whilst watching me clean up for the night." He chuckled.

"Geez, way to sweat a guy out." Nayla could easily imagine Law sat at the bar quietly sipping his drink, watching Jake like a hawk with his piercing gaze with that sinister smirk of his on his face.

"No kidding. After I'd finished cleaning up and had nothing left to do but wait for him and his boys to leave, he eventually spoke up. Told me to take the seat next to him and have a drink, 'his treat.' Thought it would be my last."

"What did he say to you?"

"He asked me if I knew why he was there. Laughed when I told him I knew he was there to kill me."

"Guy has a sick sense of humour." She muttered, happily slicing through the flesh of the vegetable in her grip.

Jake only laughed at her apparent annoyance at his captain. "Well, maybe a little. He didn't say anything else, let me finish my drink then said we'd be going out back, told his boys to stay behind. My sis got all teary and stuff telling me not to go with him." He scoffed. "Like I had a choice. Gave her a hug, told her to keep quiet and go upstairs so that she wouldn't be alone in the restaurant with those thugs, stay out of it…Ya know, all that heroic, brotherly, manly, last-words stuff." He said, puffing out his chest.

"What did Law say to you when you guys got outside?" She watched him lift the pen dangling from the string attached to the whiteboard on the wall and write in some new items on the menu rota.

"Asked me if I knew who their captain was before I beat 'em. Said yes. Asked me if I understood his position - that he couldn't allow an attack on his crew to go unpunished. Told him I understood that he needed to do what he needed to do. Was strange, despite what he was there to do to me, I couldn't help but think he didn't seem like such a bad guy at the time."

Nayla could relate to that in a big way. On paper, the things Law had done and said to her so far should have her hating his guts with a passion but for some strange reason she found herself unable to really dislike him all that much, even though he had given her more than enough reasons too. He really didn't seem like such a bad guy…kinda.

"What happened next?" She asked keenly.

"He turned to me, looked me dead in the eye and with a totally straight face said that fights between crewmates was inevitable, that we couldn't all get on all the time and that I'd have to do all the cleaning chores on board for the next month or so as punishment…I musta stared at him like a moron. Thought I'd gone deaf and dumb."

"Just like that? He offered you a spot on the crew?"

"Well, he said it was either I get my ass handed to me – probably literally, you know captain's powers…and his sense of humour…anyway yeah, get my ass handed to me or I could join. The crew had recently grown, they needed another chef on board. Said he'd enjoyed the food, thought my culinary knowledge and ability to run the place at such a young age was impressive." He said proudly.

"So you chose being a pirate over getting your ass kicked? Kind of a lifelong deal you made there." She said in disbelief.

"Running that place wasn't for me, my sister had always wanted to do it, got kinda mad at our dad for passing it on to me. I'd always thought about being a chef on a ship, doing what I love whilst travelling, seeing amazing new places, trying food from all over the world, adding new skills to my own and all the challenges the job would bring. It was a pretty ideal opportunity actually."

"…You could have just taken the beating and joined a non-pirate ship." She deadpanned at him.

"Coulda…I dunno, there was something different about this crew. They were obviously happy and…well, you've seen 'em." He swirled the end of his pen at the side of his head, earning a giggle from her. "Their captain, was something else too…how many pirates do you think would have chosen to shoot me dead if they'd been in his shoes? But not him…he's clever, seemed to think it was a waste. He saw an opportunity to earn my respect, gratitude _and_ fill a needed position on his crew in one move…There's something about him too, makes you _want_ to follow him, it's hard to describe I guess."

Nayla furrowed her brows at his fond smile and hummed to herself thoughtfully, focusing on her task quietly before Jake spoke up again. "I guess you know what I'm talking about." He said knowingly.

She rolled her eyes, lifting the chopping board to the edge of the bowl again to scrap in the newly chopped pieces. "I believe they call that phenomenon 'the Devil's charisma.' Anyway, you just accepted right then and there?"

Allowing her to skirt around answering he chuckled and resumed his story. "Well, I was shocked, didn't know what to say, just asked him why I guess. He said he knew it had been his men that had provoked a problem and that he'd warned them about it before. Said he respected that I'd been brave enough to defend my sister even though I knew they were from his crew, impressed I actually managed to kick their assess so easily too – considering how well trained they are at combat…said he would have done the same had it been his own sister."

Nayla paused and looked up at the slightly off tone Jake's voice had taken, it stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to the playful, boastful tone to the rest of his speech. "…Does he have one?"

"Who knows?" He sighed sadly, leaning over to re-fill some more of the blank spaces on the board in front of him.

"…Hey, what were Jeff and Connor's reactions when they found out you'd joined the crew? Any hard feelings?"

Jake broke out into a wide grin. "Well, it was an interesting start for sure but no. Jeff came by the restaurant the next day and apologised…then went straight back to wooing my sister like a nuisance. Boy needs a neutering I tell ya." He muttered. "Connor welcomed me aboard but never did apologise, stuck to his guns, said he'd done the right thing to try and help his crewmate and that's fine, I respect that. I'd be upset too if I saw anyone on this crew get hurt, whether they asked for it or not."

She smiled at the look on his face, mulling over Jake's story. Six months in and his devotion to his captain and his love for his crew were obvious.

Law really was clever; he'd earned such a deep level of respect from his crewmembers. She'd heard of how Jean Bart had joined this crew, she wondered if everyone on board had similar stories of recruitment. The more bitter part of her wanted to simply assume Law purposely sought out people that would feel indebted to him to ensure their loyalty but part of her wondered if maybe deep down he really was just genuinely kind. Very deep down. Under layers of arrogance, psychopathy, sadism, murderous intent, narcissism…what was her point again?

She reluctantly admitted to herself that she was curious about Law's family, now that Jake had brought it up. Maybe she'd ask Law some time, if he were in a good mood or something. Maybe not, wouldn't want him to think she were that interested in him, it was none of her business anyway and would only invite him to ask questions about her own family that she wouldn't really want to answer.

It was probably better not to learn too much about him, she was only a temporary visitor on board. She'd either decide to slip away soon enough or Law would be kicking her off his sub as soon as she was of no more use, one way or another.

'You know you want to know, just ask him. – Go to sleep. – But what if he has a brother? – Sleep now, I already know where you're going with this. – A really nice brother. A really nice, law-abiding, kind brother with a striking resemblance. – So what? Shut up, you're getting too much exercise today, aren't you tired out from all the 'helpful' suggestions you gave me during my 'physical?' – Oh my…what if he has a TWIN brother?! What if he and Law are totally up for a thre – For the love of god. Shut. Up!'

"Hun, you ok?"

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine." She removed the hand she had slapped to her face, realising she must have drawn Jake's attention by her open frustration at her ridiculous, runaway thoughts.

'You're really just going to pass up this opportunity for a threesome with Law-twins? You'll regret not asking. – He doesn't have a twin brother. – You don't _know_ that. That's why I'm telling you to ask! – And _I'm_ telling you to shu-'

"You sure? You seem a little flushed." Jake looked at her concerned.

"Really, I'm good. Just a little tired." She muttered, turning the water back on to splash her face and re-anchor herself in reality for long enough to finish her task.

"Well alright, don't push yourself." He said unconvinced as he watched her get back to work.

She focused on the loud noises outside to keep her mind preoccupied, listening to the coarse yells and heavy machinery of the men working. The tremors of the metal hull they were repairing were easily felt through the floor beneath her shoes. Although she really was tired, she'd probably never have managed to sleep through this noise, she wondered how Law was managing…She cursed under her breath as she inadvertently reminded herself of his offer to 'nap' together, setting her brain off on another perverted tangent.

She could already see Jake turning to her with a raised brow to ask what the matter was but was thankful he was interrupted by the galley door opening as the other chef returned.

"Ah, Ichi. Let's take a look." Jake reached his hand out for the new list on the clipboard the man had come back with, comparing it to his own as he set it on the counter in front of him.

"Well, seems like Captain really did ask you to be here." He grumbled as he looked at Nayla. "But he said if you're being a nuisance and getting in our way we can send you off somewhere else."

"…Kay, lemme check. Am I being a nuisance, _Head_ Chef?" She asked Jake, enjoying the sour look on the other man's face.

Jake scoffed back his laughter. "No darlin', never."

She stuck her tongue out at Ichiou as he sighed and rolled up the sleeves of his boiler suit. "So we're going with barbeque I take it?" He asked Jake, eyeing the peppers she was working on and choosing to ignore her childishness.

"Yeah, plenty of meat left. Fresh veg is gonna go off so we better use it, didn't get a chance to pick up the fruit and veg those Amazonians promised us." He muttered, rubbing his chin as he looked over the more accurate list.

"What? Don't look at _me_ , it wasn't _my_ idea to get kidnapped and have you guys run off before you could pick up your food." She defended as the other chef turned to her with an accusing stare.

Jake nudged him. "Oi, knock it off Ichi. Get the meat out and seasoned would ya?" The man grumbled but moved towards the pantry to do as he was told.

He soon returned with a hefty amount of bagged, assorted meats and set them onto a preparation station in the middle of the room, diligently getting to work on tenderising and seasoning as Jake finished re-writing their meal plan.

The three worked quietly for a few minutes before Nayla spoke up. "Sorry to sound like a total woman about this but I've just gotta ask. Are the crew all gonna come back into the messdeck for lunch?"

"Well…yeah of course." She turned to shoot Ichiou a mild look of annoyance at his condescending tone.

"Whaddya mean hun?" Jake quickly interjected as he looked between the two.

"I mean, most of them will have been outside all morning. Boiler suits soaked in seawater, sweat, trailing in tons of sand from the beach and grease from the repairs and stuff…wont it make the messdeck really, well, messy?"

Jake sighed. "Yeah, sure will. They'll probably all stink like hell too, working outside in that heat." He finished in disgust.

Nayla fought back her own urge to contort her face into a look of disgust as she thought about trying to stomach lunch in an enclosed, filthy room full of sweaty pirates. "Considering its barbeque, couldn't we eat outside? On the deck or on the beach maybe?"

"Mmm, could do I guess. We could easily grill this stuff outside, boys might enjoy it too, been a while since we had a real barbeque. Whatcha think, Ichi?"

"We're behind and shorthanded as it is, we don't have the hands to take the grill and prep tables and crap outside _and_ get lunch made on time." He grumbled.

Nayla waved her hand at him. "Hi, spare hands. I could do it, just tell me where to get that stuff and I can take it outside if you like."

"You sure?" Jake asked eyeing her wrist.

"Yeah, it really is fine. Law's just being too doctorly with the splint thing." She rolled her wrist around to prove it was up to the task.

"Well, alright, if you're sure. Finish those up-" He nodded towards the nearly empty colander. "-grab the stuff from storage and take it outside for us then. I'm done with the rota and Ichi is here now so we'll have no trouble getting lunch prepped on time."

"Alright, nice. Beachside barbeque for lunch!" She grinned in triumph, picking up her pace to speed through the last of the vegetables.

As soon as she was done she washed her hands and dried them on the nearby towel. "So storage is floor three, right? Which room do I need to go to and how will I find the stuff?" She asked, pulling the splint out of her pocket to slip it back onto her wrist.

"Some of the boys are down there working on resetting the triggered flood walls and fixing the leak damage. Ask 'em to show you, they'll know what you need and where it is. Just the grill and a couple of prep stations to lay the food and plates on, the boys won't mind sitting on the beach so don't worry about tables and chairs and such, hun."

"Alright, will do." She beamed, rolling her sleeves back down and undoing her bun as she made her way to the galley door.

"Oh, Nayla-chan." She stopped pushing the door open to look back at Jake. "Drop by Cap's quarters for permission, he'll say yes but he'll want us to get an ok from him first before deciding the crew are eating outside."

Nayla could feel her smile falter a little but she tried to hold it up. "…Sure thing."

"Alright, thanks for the hand but try to get a little rest between finishing that and lunch though." Jake said with a little concern.

"Yeah, I might do that actually. See you." She waved, allowing her smile to drop as she left the galley. 'Awesome, I'm sure Law will be even less cranky when a second person interrupts his nap,' she thought bitterly to herself as she trudged her way through the messdeck and back out into the hallway.

* * *

For the second time that day she'd dragged her feet back upstairs to see Law on the first floor.

She stared at the door to his quarters, unsure of how to go about this. Would he be able to hear her knocking on the door from the bed in his living quarters? His quarters were pretty big…maybe people needed to go inside to wake him? Maybe she should just ask one of the other crewmembers to do it…Come to think of it, how was she going to enter these rooms in future anyway? Technically, she kinda lived here now too, would she always need to knock to enter her 'own' bedroom?

"Hmm." She pushed open the door quietly, glancing around and at the empty desk, confirming Law wasn't in the living part of his quarters before slipping in and shutting it softly behind her.

The shiny, red hairdryer sat atop her black suitcase on the floor beside her feet caught her eye. She smiled and stooped down to tuck it inside, noticing Shachi had indeed placed her freshly laundered clothing from this morning in there too though he had oddly spaced the pieces out individually and tucked a few of them under other items.

She narrowed her eyes at that. 'Jacket…top…skirt…socks…' She checked and tripled checked but sighed when she confirmed there was in fact something missing. 'Well, that would explain why he was so keen to do my laundry…and his odd behaviour on deck earlier…and why he'd bother to place this stuff back _inside_ the suitcase all spaced out like this…probably hoping I wouldn't notice.' She rolled her eyes, resigning herself to dealing with _this_ problem later as she zipped her case up again quietly.

Nayla tiptoed across the soft carpeting towards the archway that led into Law's bedroom; she peeked around the edge of it, spotting him lying on his bed.

The room was dimmed by the thick, dark, drawn curtains but she could still make him out clearly. He'd lain on top of his covers, his long legs crossed, his hands resting across his chest, rising up and down gently with his peaceful breathing.

She wondered if she should knock on the wall before entering his sleeping quarters or just call him from where she stood as she eyed the long Nodachi beside him, propped against the cabinet at the head of his bed. She'd had a few close calls with some of the more battle-worn, jumpy warriors she'd worked with that kept their weapons next to them when she'd had the misfortune of startling them awake.

Nayla was actually pretty surprised Law had managed to fall asleep at all, what with all the noise the repairs were causing…but he had seemed like he was pretty tired…she wondered why she was starting to feel a little guilty at waking him. After how much effort he'd put into getting under her skin today she should just run in with an air horn and do jumping jacks on his bed she thought bitterly, wondering if he might actually kill her if she went to find a bucket to fill with water to wake him instead.

She let the possible results to that scenario roll around the back of her mind as she crossed her arms and leant against the archway, taking the opportunity to glance leisurely around the 'beast's lair' as she tried to rationalise the benefits to her health by just being a normal person and waking him up quietly and politely instead of exacting some petty revenge that might end up with him chopping her into pieces.

His room was much more muted than she had thought it would be for some reason. Calm, neat, masculine, clean. Maybe she had expected something different because of his apparent fondness of bright yellow and his bold, furry hat fashion statement.

There was no wooden panelling as in his study, that halted at the archway leading into his bedroom. The walls here were adorned with dark grey, thickly textured wallpaper. A very large, black, diagonal, repeating, print of the Heart Pirates' Jolly Roger only subtly visible against it.

The short span of wall from the archway she stood at to the nearest left corner of the room held nothing more than a standard, wooden chest of drawers, the deep colour and style of all the wooden furniture in this room matching that in his living quarters behind her.

The left wall of the room held what she guessed, was now her 'bed' so to speak. A large three seater sofa lay against it, under the large porthole. A space was left to allow the heavy, floor-length curtains to be drawn and opened, the rich, excess fabric spilled onto the floor on either side.

Thankfully, this sofa wasn't leather as the ones in his living quarters but a more comfortable looking, dark blue fabric, framed with decorative, polished wood. She wondered if Law would bother giving her proper pillows to sleep on or if she'd be using the assortment of dark and light blue cushions on it. Thankfully they looked like they'd be really cosy to snuggle up with, she wouldn't mind too much if he didn't get her a real pillow but she might just 'accidentally' be ruining those covers with makeup out of vengeance if he was an ass about it…would be a shame though, they looked expensive.

The wall opposite the archway was the one the head of Law's large double bed leant against in its centre. This was the only different wall in the room. It didn't share the same wallpaper as the other three; instead it was painted in a slightly lighter shade of the dark grey theme and hung proudly against it over the bed was a domineering, black flag boasting Law's mark in a deep shade of blue. It had caught her eye earlier, naturally. It was hard to miss due to the sheer size of it and how it was displayed front and centre as you entered this room.

Looking at it reminded her that one thing had niggled at the back of her mind during her tour of the sub with Connor earlier. If this was a pirate ship, where did they keep their loot? Obviously, Connor wouldn't have been stupid enough to outright show her but he had openly pointed out all storage was on level three and had been shown the non-flooded rooms. She'd now also seen inside the rooms that had been flooded when they were sliced open on the beach. No loot, cash stacks, chests, treasures, nothing of the sort.

She'd bet anything that if their money and valuables weren't kept in a storage room that they'd be kept close to Law. She wondered if there were a large safe built into the wall underneath this grand flag. Nayla had seen quite a few of her paranoid, wealthy clients hoard their most precious items in such a way before, many times. It was a predictable hiding place but then, in this instance, it didn't matter. No one would be stupid enough to barge onto Trafalgar Law's submarine to rob it let alone waltz into his quarters and try to loot a safe above his head whilst he slept. 'I'll have plenty of time to see whether I'm right during my stay I guess…preferably, when _that_ thing isn't around.' She turned her gaze back to the man on the bed beneath the flag.

The bed was undoubtedly king size. The large headboard was smooth, black leather, the dull shine evident even in the currently dim lighting. Noting the four pillows on the bed, she inwardly promised to put up a fight with him if he didn't at least spare her _one_ to sleep on later. They and the sheets were a plain cream, the two upper pillows and the duvet a dark, textured blue. A thick strip of black ran across the ends of the blanket and pillows, a familiar, spotted animal print running along them.

There were a pair of dark, wooden bedside cabinets on either side of the bed, a small wall lamp resting over each one of similar, curled, black metal design to the lighting fixtures of the adjoining room. Each cabinet contained a single drawer and a hollowed out space below, the one nearest to Law held a few books. It was probably safe to assume this was 'his side' of the bed, he'd laid his hat on and propped his weapon against this cabinet as well.

There was a dark, wooden trunk at the foot of the bed; its intricate carvings reminded her of the desk sitting in the other room. The thick, beige carpeting from it followed through into this bedroom but the monotone was broken by a woven, enormous rug that lay beneath the large bed. The blended pattern of blacks, browns, blues and creams pulling the colours of the room together as it peered out from beneath the bed and trunk.

The door that led to the room's En Suite was against the back wall, in the furthest right corner of the room and the right wall was mostly taken up by a large, wooden wardrobe. She was a little surprised by the size of it, it was generous. She wondered if Law would spare her any space in it to place a few items of her clothing somewhere during her stay.

She glanced at the decorative bureau to her right from the archway; a large mirror adjoined it, resting against the wall with light fixtures on either side. 'Even one drawer from that will do, I don't really want to have to live out of my suitcase for this long. Guess I'll ask him about it later.'

Nayla looked back at the man in question, he hadn't moved since she had taken her leisurely visual detour. She bit her lip and curiously, quietly, approached him, wondering if he smirked in his sleep. She nearly scoffed aloud at the thought but fought the urge back so that she wouldn't wake him prematurely.

She carefully stepped over his discarded boots as she approached the side of his bed. Her eyebrows rose at how handsome he looked when his facial features were totally relaxed. His bed head was even wilder than usual, his fine brows weren't knitted, those piercing eyes of his weren't boring knowing holes into her and without the mocking upturn of the corner of his lips he looked…well he looked deceptively harmless. 'Almost sweet.' She thought as she glanced down his chest to the hands resting on it, taking in the threatening promise printed across his fingers once more. 'Almost.'

His left hand was resting lower than his right, much lower. Really it was more across his stomach than on his chest. Her eyes slipped down a little further, noticing that hand had pulled the fabric of his hoodie up quite a bit, a slither of exposed skin peeking out between its hem and the waistline of his jeans.

'No. Face…Face.' She managed to pull her gaze off of the rhythmic moving of the tantalising strip of exposed, toned muscle and back up his body towards his face but hesitated at his chest, then faltered completely, turning to look back at his slightly exposed stomach. 'No. Bad. Bad Nayla. Face…Faaaaace. Wha-don't look any further downwards, pervert! Focus!'

She furrowed her brows with determination, turning away with a fair amount of effort back up at his face to make sure he was still asleep. Glancing up at the flag hung on the wall behind him as the edge of the black material caught her eye.

Nayla knew better, definitely. If she were going to be staying in this room then she'd have plenty of chances to take a peek under it…but she was right there anyway. Maybe she'd take a quick look, then wake up sleeping beauty, run the outside lunch idea past him for a quick 'ok' and then be on her way.

She leant over, reaching up to peel the thick fabric away from its surface but bit back a shocked squeal as she felt a warm hand quickly slide up her exposed thigh to snake around to her lower back and pull her down towards the bed.

"A beautiful, young woman coming into a pirate's bedroom, all alone, hovering over his bed as he sleeps. What a dangerous thing to do, Nayla."


	30. The intimacy of kissing

"How long have you been awake?" Nayla looked down at the hand she'd pressed to Law's chest to stop herself from being pulled on top of him, kneeling her right knee between him and the edge of his bed to halt her fall.

"Long enough to know that if you stared at me any longer I'd need to start charging you for it." A sly smile had taken his lips, his voice a little deeper than usual due to his sleep.

"W-Well...then it'd be like paying to see a freak show." She was thankful it was dark in his bedroom; she could feel the heat of a blush at being caught across her cheeks.

"A freak?" Law sat up, gliding his free hand to the back of her left knee, pulling her leg across his waist and onto the bed in one swift move. "You have no idea." He purred dangerously lowly, close to her face, pleased with her new position straddling over him.

"You-" She looked down between them at his hand as he slid it around to the front of her thigh, gliding it slowly up her skin. She wondered if he could feel the goosebumps he was causing under his palm as his hand slid to a stop at the hem of her shorts, the tips of his fingers just breaching the material to tease the skin beneath it. The tingling sensation he had ever given her before with his contact paled in comparison to the one he was giving her now.

"Yes, Nayla-ya?" He looked at her lips, his attention drawn to them by her subconsciously biting her lower one, feeling strongly tempted to assist her.

Seemingly coming to some kind of decision on how to react to her situation, he watched with amusement as she pulled her gaze back up to his own, awaiting her undoubtedly violent and angry outburst.

His eyes widened in surprise as she settled her weight onto his lap fully, her thighs hugging his waist all too comfortably. Nayla watched with interest as his playful, taunting smirk fell as their bodies contacted, looking at her in shock.

They held each other's gaze, seeming to contemplate each other before she broke it with a sly smile of her own as she made to get up. Satisfied now that she had called his bluff _and_ confirmed to herself that the attraction between them was not as one-sided as he would have her believe. Her pride and ego from his relentless teasing today were both feeling a lot less bruised.

Her breath hitched when he firmly tightened his grip to stop her from moving off of his lap. Nayla looked warily from his hand back up to his eyes but couldn't read his neutral expression or his piercing, blue gaze.

The playful air had dissipated from the room; there was an odd tension in the atmosphere now. Just as Nayla wondered if she had gone too far with her tease she felt him pull her body into his own by the hand on her lower back.

"We sh-" She was silenced as she felt him slide that hand up the hem of hoodie onto her bare flesh. He found himself holding back an unintentional vocal response as her back arched to his touch, the motion pressing her chest tightly against him and tilting her hips to grind provocatively against his own.

Nayla felt the quickening of the strong, steady heartbeat under the hand she still had rested on his chest between them. The warmth of his body pressed flush against her own was incredibly inviting.

She wrapped her arms around him, slowly trailing her hands over him, enjoying the feel of his firm, defined muscles beneath the fabric of his top. She slid a hand up his back to rest at the base of his neck, threading her fingers through his soft, thick hair and pulling him down gently to her, licking her lips invitingly.

Law took her invitation, keenly watching the path her tongue took across her lips as he leant forward...but paused hauntingly close to her mouth. She felt him smile, a hair's breadth away from her before lifting the hand he had rest on her thigh up to the side of her face to gently push her hair back over her shoulder.

He leant forward, brushing his lips past her own, across her cheek to rest teasingly against her ear. He spoke in a hushed whisper that tickled her sensitive skin pleasantly. "Why are you here, Nayla-ya?" Earning a small gasp from her as his warm tongue contacted her skin.

"I-" Her response caught in her throat as she felt him nibble her ear lobe gently, placing his hands on either of her hips and pulling her to press against him even more tightly.

"Hmm?" He hummed in a questioning tone as he sucked the soft flesh between his lips, running his tongue along its edge within his mouth.

"J-Jake sent me." She managed to breathe out griping the fabric of his top more tightly and threading her fingers more deeply through his locks as he gently teased her skin. A delicious contrast to the rough, hard hold he had on her hips as if he were fiercely demanding the contact between their most intimate parts.

Law hummed again at her response, the low pitch rumbling deeply from his chest pressed against hers as he released her flesh to trail his tongue agonisingly slowly along the edge of her ear between her piercings. "How thoughtful, I'll have to thank him." He breathed out huskily, the warm breath tickling as it ran over the moist skin he left behind.

Nayla could feel Law smirk against the side of her face as he kissed and sucked gently back down to the corner of her jaw.

"Not for this." She grumbled, making him chuckle.

"Then what _did_ you come back up here for?"

She opened her mouth to respond only to have that thought leave her completely as Law's lips contacted her neck over her pulse. She was sure he had paused there to enjoy the skyrocket in her heart rate before resuming his slow trail of kisses, licks and sucks down her skin. A small sigh left her against her will as she closed her eyes and savoured the sensation, subconsciously tilting her head to give him more access.

"You're so responsive." He teased, looking up at her as he reached the end of the limited, exposed flesh her hoodie allowed. "Though three months _is_ a long time…or maybe it's just because of your, apparently, _very_ intense attraction to me."

She narrowed her eyes at his cocky smile as he sat back up. "Definitely the former and it's been two months." She corrected, tightening the grip she had on his hair threateningly at his cocky attitude, the action only making his smirk widen.

Law leant his face close to hers, his tone slipping back into a soothing, seductive melody. "Three months since you last had a _man_ , Nayla."

He punctuated his point by holding her hips firmly in place as he rolled his own, enjoying the shocked gasp that left her as she felt him press his hardness against her openly.

She tightened her grip on him to steady herself through the intense wave of want the unexpected friction had caused to course through her, looking at him in annoyance as he chuckled. "Then I should go find one as soon as we hit the next island then, shouldn't I?" She hissed.

"What a cruel thing to say." He cooed mockingly, sliding one of his hands from her hip up her side.

"I prefer women anyway…and your arrogance is such a turn off." She muttered breathily, watching his moving hand cautiously.

"Oh, I can assure you, it's well founded and I'm sure I could change that preference." He challenged confidently, moving the hand she watched to hover across her chest. "Besides, smelling like one of my men isn't exactly a turn on for me either. I guess we'll both just have to settle." He taunted, gripping the zipper of her hoodie.

"You! I wouldn't if you'd just let me shower up here where my stuff is! And settle?! Please, you should be so lucky! Plenty of men would kill to be with me!" She slapped his hand off of her zip in irritation.

"There's that temper, I was beginning to wonder." Law chuckled.

"They want to eat outside." She deadpanned at him.

He blinked at her. "Hmm?"

"That's what Jake sent me up here for. They want to be sure it's ok with you to serve lunch outside for the crew."

"It's fine."

She held his eye contact for a long moment before clearing her throat and looking down at his hands holding in her place by her hips in an unsubtle hint as to what she was waiting for.

He raised a brow at her, his smile returning as she sighed and crossed her arms impatiently. "Is there something wrong with your throat, Nayla-ya? Would you like me to examine that for you?" He teased, leaning back in to kiss her neck.

She uncrossed her arms and hurriedly placed her hands on his chest to stop him "With your lips? That isn't how it's done but I'd expect no less from a _quack_."

Nayla huffed at the chuckle she got from him, feeling a small smile tug at her own lips as he looked at her in amusement. "I got what I came here for, you can go back to your nap."

Law allowed her to push him back down to the bed by the hands she had placed on his chest, immediately gripping her wrists before she could sit up from leaning over him. "And will you be taking me up on that offer of joining me, Nayla-ya?"

"As much as I'd just _love_ to, no. I'm the one taking stuff outside for lunch. Let go of me and go back to sleep."

"And if I don't feel like doing either?" He threatened with a dark smirk, making no move to release her.

Having learnt how stubbornly he'd keep his grip on her earlier, she didn't hesitate to use her ability to break his hold and sit up. The brief discomfort fleeting across his features as she inadvertently pressed herself against his firm denim as she did so didn't escape her notice.

Nayla took the opportunity to quickly stand from his bed, straightening out her clothing as she smiled down at him. "Now now, it's time for all horny, psychotic, little pirate captains to have their nap." She cooed, enjoying but ignoring the edge of warning in the look he gave her at her patronising tone.

She stood straight, returning his smirk before making a swift retreat from his room. Law watched her disappear through the archway and listened to the door of his quarters close behind her as she left.

He released the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding, placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. He had been fortunate he'd managed to provoke her temper; he hadn't been far off of rolling her onto his bed and having her.

What was she trying to pull, giving in to him like that so suddenly after doing nothing but rebuffing his advances all day? It had caught him off-guard completely…though he was thankful for it; he needed that wake up call.

They'd had a perfectly neutral, if not slightly stand-offish relationship until yesterday. Up until he'd appreciated how enticing she looked when she was furious, up until he'd lost his temper with her and grabbed her between the bars…apparently doing that had broken a dam he hadn't realised he'd put up between them, mutual lust was flowing freely now and he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to manage to stem that for another week.

…He couldn't help but wonder how much more he'd have enjoyed that if she'd had her own usual delicious, feminine scent; a mixed allure of the exotic flowers and fruits in her products and her perfume…She'd looked so good on top of him…better yet, how good would she have looked below him on his own mattress? He wondered what her moan sounded like. He wondered how his name would sound falling from her lips, quietly whimpered into his ear or between pants or loudly as she writhed beneath him. Even the few gasps he had earned from her had sent a shiver down his spine that he wished he hadn't felt.

Law sighed, sitting up and forcibly halting that train of thought as he tried to ignore the dull throb in his jeans. With thoughts like that flitting through his mind he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep right now, that was for sure.

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced over to the open door of his En Suite. Maybe a cold shower would be a good substitute for the nap he had wanted. It would hopefully be enough to perk him up for the rest of the day…and deal with his other problem.

* * *

Nayla took a deep breath as she made her way down the stairs towards the storage rooms, trying to settle her racing heartbeat. She'd managed a somewhat calm demeanour as she left Law's room but was far from it on the inside.

The attraction definitely _was_ mutual; his body had betrayed him as soon as she had settled herself onto his lap. He was conflicted about actually doing anything about it though, that much had been clear. If she were honest with herself, so was she. It wouldn't exactly be the wisest move she'd ever made.

As much as she may want Law, she did have a little pride, even if she sorely lacked some self-control. She was thankful she walked away, staying would have only been saying; "Oh you knocked me cold yesterday, kidnapped me and have been nothing but a jackass since? Oh that's ok, you can do whatever you like, no consequences. All is forgiven, here's your reward!"

Honestly, what would he think of her? She paused on the staircase at that. She'd never cared what other people's opinions of her were, especially not when it came to her sex life. Nayla found herself a little shocked and annoyed to realise that she actually did care, at least a little bit, of what Law thought of her. 'Nah it's fine, you shouldn't care, just go back to his room and jump him. You know you, you'll slip away the first chance you get and never see him again anyway so why not?'

She tutted aloud to herself at the selfish, horny part of her brain that never gave her any helpful advice as she reached the second floor landing, noticing she could now hear the crewmembers working on the floor below.

Law's ego was already huge, – 'So was something else, by the feel of it' – having sex with him would probably inflate it large enough to sink the sub – 'So would something else, by the feel of it. – Are you done? Or you got anymore crude jokes you wanna crack? - …No it's fine, I'll save 'em for later, preferably when you're in the same room as him again for maximum embarrassment. – What kind of idiot would want to have sex with a pirate that abducted them within the last twenty-four hours? – What kind of idiot would push Trafalgar Law away and leave his bed? – …Shut up, have a little dignity. - …None. No dignity. Do what feels good, that's what I always say. – I've noticed, try to evolve a little bit and get back to me. – No, _you_ devolve and get back to _me_.'

She swore under her breath as she reached the third floor walking towards the storage rooms, she could hear the loud whirr of power tools and the voices of the men more clearly now, not that she was paying any attention to what was being said.

No, she had no plans of actually having sex with Law…well, at least not any immediate plans. Maybe when her job was coming to an end, or maybe when she was going to be escaping soon. Then she _might_ indulge in some fun with him when her time of having to stay on this sub was limited and she wouldn't need to continue living with him for much longer but right now, when having to share a bedroom with him would just make things…awkward…

"Hey, Nayla-chan." She forced a smile and a small wave at the crewmember that passed by her as she walked down the hall, seeing the way up ahead blocked by the group of men working on the compartment-sealing wall.

It had almost seemed Law had been relieved when he had started to get under her skin; it was as if he had purposely annoyed her away from him in the end. Was he too cowardly to break that up himself or just lacking the self-control to do it and hoping she would? Maybe this was another of his weird streaks of kindness, maybe he could stop but decided to spare her the feeling of rejection by allowing her to be the one to pull away?...Or maybe he really _was_ just that infuriating and that smug of a jerk?

The last though made her growl aloud, reaffirming to herself she had definitely done the right thing by walking away. Nayla suddenly noticed the silence in the hallway, looking up to spot the men ahead had stopped working to turn and look at her worriedly.

"What?" She asked as she came to a stop in front of them.

"Uh…nothing, Nayla-chan." One of them responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Something bothering you, lil lady?"

She turned to Jeff in surprise; only just realising he was there. He'd probably left his hat off somewhere to dry, it was gone, his long brown hair still a little damp. She ran her eyes over the large tattoo that spanned his right shoulder to his chest that was now in full view, seemed he'd forsaken the black undershirt she'd seen him with earlier on the beach as well. "Uh, no not really, why?"

"Well, the feral growl…and if looks could kill…You aren't still mad about earlier are you?" He laughed nervously.

Realising she must have been scowling pretty deeply she relaxed her expression. "Oh, sorry. No, not at all. Was thinking about something else." She muttered, looking at the large, missing part of the compartment wall behind him. Seemed they'd removed the panel of it that she had broken through earlier.

The tension from the men eased a little as they turned to resume discussing the repair ahead of them.

"Ah good, wouldn't want princess-packsa-punch to get too upset with me. Especially not considering what you did to that." He nodded at the removed part of the wall propped against the side of the hallway near them.

"That nickname better not stick." She laughed; it really took the men on this crew virtually no effort to make her smile again in no time.

"No promises." He grinned.

Nayla paused as she tucked her hair back behind her ear, feeling the faint moisture still on her skin from Law's tongue touch her fingers.

Jeff tilted his head in question at the change in her expression. "You ok?"

'Oh just fine, just wondering if it's worth going back upstairs and washing your bastard captain's filthy saliva off of me with bleach.' "Yup, fine. Sooo, how are the repairs going?" She asked cheerfully, peering behind him.

"Not bad actually, patching things up from the inside will be no sweat for those guys. They're just trying to work out whether they can replace the panel in that wall or if they have to replace the whole thing…You really did a number on it. If I hadn't been here to see it, I wouldn't believe for a second a cute lil thing like you coulda done that." He mumbled looking over at the removed, mangled slab of steel.

"…Sorry about that."

"Ah no, no you did what you had too, no one's blaming you." He retracted quickly, looking back at her guilty face. "So! What are you doing down here, lil lady? Something I can help ya with?"

"Actually yeah, we're having lunch outside. Jake sent me to get the stuff out onto the beach for him, grill and prep tables? Said you guys would know where to find them."

"He sent you down to take everything outside by yourself?" He asked crossing his arms and raising a brow at her.

"I volunteered, happy to help." She quickly added, seeing him take some offence on her behalf.

He relaxed a little. "Alright, follow me. Excuse us a sec lads."

The other crewmembers moved aside as Jeff walked through the cut-out panel, reaching a hand back for her as she followed him unsurely.

"Be careful getting though here, the edges of the metal are sharp."

Nayla took his hand and slipped through after him carefully, following him as he led them past the open brig door. She could hear a few men downstairs in it as they walked past; no doubt trying to fix the cell bars she'd broken to escape the flooding.

Jeff laughed at the guilty look on her face. "Don't worry about it."

"But I've given them so much extra work to do on top of the hull damage they need to repair…they must be so pissed off with me." She sighed.

"They aren't mad about it." He reassured, letting her hand go to push open the door to the storage room they'd stopped in front of. "Do you think they'd be happier if you'd died instead?"

"Geez, I'd hope not." She mumbled, walking into the room as he gestured she enter ahead of him.

"Of course not, idiot!" He slapped her back playfully, making her stumble forward into the unlit room.

"Oi! Jeff!" Nayla turned to peer around the doorframe to look back down the hallway at the other crewmembers.

"You heard what Captain said." One of them warned, waving his spanner as he would an index finger when scolding a child.

"Geez! Lay off, I was ju-"

"Don't worry, we'll keep the door open, mom!" Nayla yelled back, tugging Jeff inside the darkened room with her by the arms of the boiler suit he had tied around his waist with a cheeky grin.

He allowed her to pull him inside, flicking the lights on as he passed the threshold, laughing at the displeased sounding murmur from the men in the hallway.

"They really do not give you much credit, do they?"

"Well, I guess I don't blame them, considering my track record, I-" Clearing his throat at the raised brow she gave him he decided to move on. "Anyway, grill's over there and probably need the usual three tables from over there." He said, gesturing to the items stacked and secured neatly against the right wall, tucked snugly between the other large items and crates held in this room.

She walked over to the large grill, spotting the wheels on its legs gratefully as she bent to unlock them. "Thanks, this'll be easy to roll out. I'll come back for the tables on my next-what are you doing?"

"Helping of course." Jeff neatly pulled three of the flat, folded tables from their stack, effortlessly holding them to his chest with both hands and heading to the door.

"You don't need to...I don't want Law to get mad that I'm pulling you off whatever work your supposed to be doing." She followed him unsurely, rolling the grill behind her to the door of the room.

"You don't really expect me to watch you carry these by yourself do you?" He scoffed. "Besides, I'm done in here, I was heading back outside anyway."

"Thanks." Nayla smiled, pausing when a flash of pink caught her eye from behind a stack of crates against the wall. She peered around the large, wooden boxes curiously, reaching out to touch the familiar-feeling, pink fabric.

"Ah, you found Holly."

"Holly?" She asked, tugging firmly to pull the item out from between the confines of the crates and the metal wall to reveal the pink boiler suit-clad mannequin she'd seen in the photos upstairs in the messdeck.

"Yeah, Holly Heart. Our honorary crewmember, only other female on board." He grinned.

Nayla laughed, adjusting 'Holly's' wig and propping her back into her storage space. "Where on Earth did you guys get a pink boiler suit made anyway?"

"Well actually it's one of our own, just ran it through the wash with tons of our red clothing to stain it. Captain was kinda pissed we ruined one on purpose just for pranking though." Jeff said a little guiltily as Nayla walked back towards him, grabbing the handle of the grill to tow it behind her.

"Oi, Jeff! Taking your sweet time, you're being a good boy in there, right?!" They both turned to look towards doorway at the snide taunt, Jeff sighed as he heard the snickering of his crewmates, opening his mouth to yell back at them but found himself looking down at Nayla curiously as she slapped a hand to his mouth and held a finger up to her own to silence him.

"..."

"Jeff?"

"..."

"…Jeeeeeff?"

Nayla smiled removing her hand. "How worried will they get if we don't say anything?" She asked him quietly as they called for him again warily.

"Very." He chuckled, as she reached up on tiptoes to ruffle his hair.

"Jeff, that isn't funny! We'll tell Captain you're disobeying his orders!"

"Nearly done, keep your caps on!" He yelled back as they walked to the doorway. "Lil lady?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at him as she ruffled her own her to match his.

"I am _loving_ this side of you." He beamed, walking out into the hallway and waiting for her.

"Then me and you are gonna get on juuust fine." She grinned, reaching back into the room after she tugged the grill out to flick the lights off and pull the door shut.

They walked back down the hall, Jeff carefully squeezed through the removed panel of the compartment wall with his load, turning to make sure Nayla got through it behind him with her own.

The crewmembers moved aside to let them through, giving them both dubious looks, one of them eying Jeff's hair suspiciously before turning to look at her in question "Quickie." She supplied, winking up at him.

"...They better be kidding."

"Ah you know Jeff, they are…probably."

"Lucky asshole."

They laughed at the disgruntled grumbling of the crew as they made their way back through the hall. "They really do think you're some kind of animal with no self-control, don't they?"

"So it'd seem…This way, lil lady." He said, halting her move to the main stairwell. "No need to go back upstairs to get out, we can take the exit to the lower deck, they put out the second gangplank."

"Oh great…By the way, speaking of you being an uncontrollable animal, Jake told me how he joined the crew." She said, stealing a side glance at his expression.

Jeff looked up in thought for a moment before a devilish grin broke out across his face. "Ah, yeah! Lisa, damn she was a wild-…"

She furrowed her brows at him as he suddenly clammed up and paled. "You slept with Jake's sis-mmph?!" Jeff quickly pulled a hand out from under the folded tables he was carrying to clamp a hand to her mouth, looking up and down the hallway nervously.

"Not so loud! You trying to get me killed?!"

She pulled the hand from her mouth looking up at him in shock. "I thought she turned you down! Jake doesn't know?"

"She did...the first few times. Changed her tune before we left the island though. Changed her tune plenty of times… " He re-secured his hold on the tables as he seemed to drift off into some pleasant memory. A particularly perverse one if the sleazy grin spreading across his face were any indication.

Nayla sighed and snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him back from his lecherous recall. "Oh right…and no, Jake doesn't know. Only Connor does…and well I guess you. And it stays that way." He warned looking at her as they resumed their walk to the deck door. "That is NOT how I want to die. Man may look like a pudgy, overgrown teddy bear but he packs a serious fucking punch." He muttered, walking through the open exit onto the lower deck.

Nayla shook her head in disbelief, walking through the bright, open doorway after him, back into the warm, late morning sunlight. "How the hell…I mean you were the reason her brother nearly got _killed_ by Law. Why would she sleep with you?"

Jeff grinned at her deviously. "Ah, easy. A sober apology in the morning, beautiful flowers, promising to look after her brother out at sea-oh, and nothing brings out a woman's sappy side more than a good bruising – you shoulda seen the black eye Jake gave me." He laughed.

"So basically you gave her a fake apology, cheap flowers, played to the love of her sibling and looked so pitiful that she felt guilty and wanted to kiss your boo boos better?" She deadpanned at him as he carefully set the tables onto the deck to lean against the railing beside the gangplank.

"Wasn't all she kissed." He said, walking over to take the grill from her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"The guys are right. You _are_ a total pig." She sighed, allowing him to take it from her and following him to the edge of the gangplank.

He laughed at her expression, holding his hand out to help her up onto it. "Aww come on, I'm not _that_ bad." He said, waiting for her to move down it a bit before lifting the grill onto it next to her. "Roll this down behind you carefully now, lil lady."

She watched him bend and lift the tables he'd set down, moving to the gangplank to follow her to the beach below.

"You really are a manipulative manwhore." She said looking back at him.

"That bad, huh?" He said, looking a little guilty as he climbed onto the wood behind her.

"Yep…that's ok though, totally my type. Good boys are so boring." She smiled slyly, enjoying the stunned look on his face before walking down the gangplank ahead of him.

She carefully reached the sand, tugging the grill onto it, pouting as she realised that was as far as the wheels on it were going to be useful, she'd need to carry it the rest of the way.

Nayla looked back at the underside of the sub as she heard the loud whirring of power tools start up again. There were at least ten crewmembers underneath it, some looking at the schematic, now laid flat onto a small fold-out table they had brought outside, its corners weighed down by heavy looking tools. Some were hovering around the bottom of the few ladders they had propped against the framework supporting the sub, holding them steady and passing tools to the crewmembers atop them.

She looked at the area of hull they had opened up, the tops of the ladders reached into it so deeply that only the waist down of the crew members on them could be seen as they worked on the repairs.

"Oh, hey Nayla-chan!" Shachi called over to her from under the sub as he spotted her.

"Hey Shachi, how's it going over there?" She greeted brightly as he trotted over to her.

"Pretty good, real good actually-oh! We eating barbeque?!" He asked excitedly, glancing at the grill behind her.

"Yep." She grinned.

"Nice, Jake's barbeque sauce is the best, wait 'til you try it! Need a hand getting the tables?"

"No, Jeff's got th…" She glanced behind her then back up the gangplank, looking for the man in question, finding him still stood in the same spot, holding them.

Shachi followed her gaze, tilting his head up to look at the frozen man. "…What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know…"

"Nayla-chan!" Penguin jogged up to meet the two, following their gaze when they didn't turn to greet him. "What's up with him?"

"Dunno, think she musta broke the idiot." Shachi muttered, crossing his arms.

"Move moron, its dangerous just standing up there!" Penguin yelled up at him through cupped hands. It seemed to do the trick as Jeff looked down at him angrily.

"Who you calling a moron, moron?!" He yelled back as he made his way down to the beach.

"Speaking of morons." Nayla said quietly, making the two beside her turn her way. "I know what you did, Shachi."

"Wha-…what do you mean Nayla-chan?" He asked innocently.

"You have twenty-four hours to return them, subtly. If you do, I won't tell your captain."

"You…you wouldn't." He paled.

"I don't want to have to but I will if I don't get them back."

"What's going on?" Jeff asked as he neared them, catching the last of the conversation.

"Nayla-chan's blackmailing Shachi about something." Penguin filled him in, eying his heavily sweating friend suspiciously. "What you zoning out about up there anyway?...And why is your hair so messed up?" He asked taking in the man's appearance fully.

Jeff sighed dreamily. "I think I met my soul mate."

"Soul mate? I'll bet you say that to all the girls." Nayla stopped staring Shachi down to look back at him sceptically.

"Oh, he does." Penguin cut over his reply easily.

"Anyway, if you aren't busy at the moment, mind giving us a hand with putting this stuff up somewhere?" Nayla asked gesturing to their loads.

"Sure thing, Nayla-chan." Penguin stooped and lifted the grill with ease, heading up the beach beside her.

…

"…What the hell are you doing?" Shachi asked Jeff in disgust.

"Batting _my_ eyelashes at you so you'll take the tables from me and carry them." Jeff mocked.

"Well don't! God damn gross." Shachi grumbled as they followed behind Nayla and Penguin.

"Are you making fun of me or Penguin, Jeff?" She asked, turning to look at him over her shoulder.

"Lil of both." He grinned, earning a glare from Penguin.

"Hmm, I'd keep making fun of me to a minimum…if you want me to keep quiet about that secret of yours." She taunted slyly.

"What? Aww come on! Have a heart!"

"Fresh out. You steal so many, lend me one." She laughed.

"What she got on _you_ now?" Penguin asked turning to him in surprise.

"Never you mind, you nosey bastard." Jeff grumbled at him.

"Must be good. What did you do?" Penguin teased.

"Nothing! Mind your own business!"

Shachi cleared his throat ignoring the other two as he spoke. "Uh anyway, where do ya want this stuff, Nayla-chan?"

"Well up to you guys too but what about there?" She pointed ahead of them at a grassy spot beneath some of the trees. "Ground is pretty flat, plenty of shade, can use those for seats." She said gesturing to some of the trunks Law had cut down earlier that had been left unused nearby.

"Sounds good…Would you two knock it off already?!" Shachi yelled as the other two continued arguing, only getting himself baited into their bickering as they insulted him.

Nayla smiled to herself, listening to them as they squabbled mindlessly amongst themselves as they helped her place the grill, unfold the tables and roll a few of the logs over. It wasn't a lot different to the way she'd seen Zoro and Sanji go at it daily during her brief time aboard The Sunny.

Satisfied they had a comfortable set up for the chefs to cook lunch and for the crew to enjoy she wondered what she should do now.

Maybe she should go back to the galley to see if Jake could use a hand with something else? Maybe grab some stuff to clean the grill and tables? Or bring out plates, cutlery and drinks for them?

What she _really_ wanted was to go back inside for a sleep, even if it was just on a couch…but Law was in his quarters right now. Maybe the rec room?

She looked at the sub, suddenly not feeling much like going back on board as the thought of running into a certain pirate captain crossed her mind. Her gaze drifted downwards at the crew hard at work underneath it, maybe she could be of some use there? Not that she was mechanically adept at all…or physically strong enough to help holding any of the large tools or metal panels of the hull…ok scratch that idea…

She wondered if maybe she could just sneak into one of the crew's cabins and use their bed for a sleep. Most of them were working right now…but she could only imagine the uproar it would cause if one of them came in and found her in their bed…Law would probably be pissed, it wouldn't look good at all and she'd probably land whoever's bed it was in big trouble too.

"-Isn't that right, Nayla-chan?" Penguin turned to ask her.

"Hmm? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She rubbed her forehead, feeling a small headache coming on.

"You ok?" Penguin asked giving her a concerned once over.

"Yeah, just…wondering what to do with myself now."

"You look tired lil lady, take a break would ya?"

"Would love to but where?" She muttered bitterly, crossing her arms.

"Captain's in his quarters I'm guessing." Shachi said knowingly, crossing his own arms.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"Well…if you really are gonna be staying there you may as well just bite the bullet and get used to it. Him having you sleep in his room instead of anywhere else is for your safety ya know, so that none of the scumbags on the crew put their hands on you." Penguin gestured unsubtly to Jeff.

"Oi!"

"It'll be fine, you can trust Captain. Go back inside and have a rest." Penguin smiled reassuringly.

Nayla closed her eyes, fighting every fibre of her being not to deadpan at Penguin. "…I think I'll just rest out here."

"Outside?"

"Sure, why not? Weather is nice, view is peaceful, grass is soft. Right here is juuust fine." She mumbled, settling herself down onto the ground.

They exchanged looks before Jeff shrugged. "Well, alright lil lady. We need to get back to work so we'll be right over there, yell if you need us."

"Yeah, rest well Nayla-chan." Penguin said waving as he turned to follow Jeff back down the beach towards the sub.

"Yeah, take it easy…" Shachi started to follow before hesitating and running back to her, leaning down to speak quietly. "Is that twenty-four hours as in this time tomorrow or do I have all day tomorrow or?" He asked nervously.

"…Just how much time do you need with them you pervert?" She asked incredulously, the rise in volume and pitch of her voice making the other two turn back curiously.

"No, no! It's not that I just…it's difficult to hand them to you without someone noticing so I'm just-I wanna wait 'til the right time tomorrow is all. I dunno what'd be worse, having Captain or _them_ find out." He said flustered, watching Penguin as he tilted his head, trying to work out what was being said between them.

"Fine, by the end of tomorrow." She sighed, watching Shachi sweat under the pressure of his friend's suspicious stare.

"Thank you, Nayla-chan!" He hugged her. "Um…by the way…you aren't mad about it are you?" He asked sheepishly

"No, not really. Just stop squeezing me." She wheezed out.

"Ah, sorry." He grinned guiltily, releasing her from his tight grip.

"Geez, you guys are freakishly strong." She gasped.

"Coming from someone who smashed a steel wa-?"

"Get a move on Shachi! What's taking so long?!" Jeff finally yelled at him impatiently.

"Ah right yeah, later Nayla-chan!" He got up to trot after the other two, sparing her a small wave over his shoulder as he left.

Nayla smiled to herself watching the other two immediately round on Shachi as he caught up to them, no doubt badgering him to tell them what he'd doubled back to speak to her privately about.

She settled herself more comfortably onto the grass, lying on her back and resting her hands behind her head. A deep breathe leaving her as she found herself immediately missing their company. Without them she was left with nothing to distract her from her own thoughts again.

Those few moments with Law on his bed replayed immediately in her head. He'd done virtually nothing to her and she'd been so incredibly turned on by him…Maybe he was right, it probably had just been too long since she'd last been with a man…She really wanted that to be the reason he'd so easily set her skin alight with his touch or why she could still feel the shivers down her spine at the thought of his hot, wet tongue on her, or that incredible wave of lust that had hit her when he had rolled his hips, grinding his- 'Geez, stop. Stop it. – Imagine how big he must be when fully aro- Stop. It. – No wonder he's always so cocky. Get it? Cocky? Ha, I crack me up.'

She groaned in frustration and rolled onto her side, deciding to watch the crew work instead to keep her mind preoccupied. Leaving it to its own devices was obviously not wise.

Nayla spotted Connor climbing down one of the ladders, hopping off of it to the sand from halfway and wandering over to the men gathered by a cooler of drinks, wiping his hands on a towel one of them tossed at him before he reached in for one.

He relayed something to Penguin as he approached, removing and handing him his tool belt before pointing up the ladder he had just come from. Penguin made his way over to it, buckling the belt around his own waist before climbing up the ladder in Connor's place.

She wondered how things would go with Law from now on, it wasn't like they really were friends and had just made their personal relationship with each other complicated…'Kinda hard to mess up a relationship that's already so messed up. Doesn't really get much weirder than a relationship between abductor and abductee.' She scoffed aloud at that, turning her attention to the ocean. The waves seemed a little higher than they had earlier though it was still eerily peaceful for Grand Line waters; she wondered if it had anything to do with their closeness to the Calm Belt still.

"OI!" Nayla looked back at the sub as one of the crewmembers ran out from under the ladder Penguin had climbed up, a heavy looking wrench hurtled into the sand with substantial force where he had just stood.

"THE NEXT PERSON THAT ASKS ME IF I'D 'PREFER IT FROM BEHIND' WHEN I ASK FOR A TOOL IS GONNA GET THEIR ASS KICKED!"

Despite herself Nayla found herself laughing as the crew cracked up at Penguin's outburst. He hadn't been wrong; they really were giving him a hard time.

She watched Penguin climb back down the ladder, his unimpressed expression becoming apparent as he emerged from the hole in the hull. He zeroed in on Shachi who was wiping tears away from under his sunglasses, pulling another tool out of his belt to hurl at him.

She giggled to herself watching Penguin reach the bottom of the ladder, Shachi trying to settle his temper down as he picked up and returned his tools in a peace offering. Which, judging by the grumpy way Penguin snatched them from him and climbed back up the ladder, seemed to be grudgingly accepted.

Nayla sighed to herself as the entertainment at poor Penguin's expense subsided. She watched the crew for a while, her eyelids growing heavier as her thoughts seemed to have run their course, allowing her to enjoy the soothing scenery and sounds of the small island and its gentle, warm weather.

It didn't matter in the end, over thinking never did get her anywhere and she was probably reading too much into things. Nothing would change. All that had happened was a simple tease gone a little too far, courtesy of her own curiosity. Law hadn't even kissed her.

She tiredly closed her eyes, wondering why that pissed her off so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Smut warning for future chapters*** There will be more and more encounters between Law and Nayla that will gradually get worse and worse (or better and better, depending on how much of a pervert you are) in terms of how explicit things become. I did rate the story M from the start because although I do love writing for humour, the story will start to have some pretty smutty bits from this point onwards. I consider the start of this chapter very tame by my standards, if that helps to gauge the level of impending filth and whether you will want to skip through those parts.


	31. French maids and frostbite

Nayla woke to an appetising aroma as it wafted by, the familiar sound of food sizzling on a hot surface and the warm voices and laughter of the men she'd come to know over the last couple of weeks.

She opened her eyes and looked over to her side to find Jake and Ichirou were standing by the grill, Jake was carefully turning meat on its surface with the tongs he held, the other chef was busy placing the items he held in his arms onto the table beside him. Side dishes and condiments by the looks of it. She could already see drinks and a stack of plates on the table, making her wonder how long she'd been asleep.

"Well our very own sleeping beauty is finally awake. Rise and shine hun, lunch is up." Jake greeted, pulling her gaze back to him as she sat up slowly and stretched.

"How long have you guys been here?" She asked, surprised she hadn't been woken by the noise they must have made.

"Quite a while, you were in a pretty deep sleep, guess you needed it."

"Mmm, guess so. You shoulda woken me though, I could have given you a hand." She yawned; blinking away the tears the action produced as she stood up and dusted the stray blades of grass from her clothing. Her attention moved back towards the beach as another round of laughter rang out into the bright, sunny afternoon. The crew were on their way over to them, walking up the beach towards the grassy, shady area they were on.

"Better grab a plate before they get here and the feeding frenzy starts, Nayla-chan." She looked back towards the chefs to find Ichirou holding out a plate for her.

She smiled at the gesture, walking over to take it from him with a thanks. Nayla quickly grabbed a skewer and some salad from the food on the table, stepping aside for the hungry crewmembers as they approached.

Jake raised a brow at her plate as she moved closer to him beside the grill to get out of the way of the excitedly chatting men. "Don't eat much, do ya?"

"No, guess not." She lifted the skewer, blowing on the steaming meat before taking a bite, her eyes widening as soon as it hit her tongue.

"That good, huh?" He grinned proudly.

She nodded happily taking another, bigger bite. "Geez, I'm gonna get fat if I stay on board with you guys too long. Shachi wasn't kidding when he said you made amazing sauce."

"Speak of the devil." Jake looked up.

"Nayla-chan, feeling better?" Shachi asked over the rabble of the crewmembers as he and Penguin got closer to the table, grabbing their own plates and helping themselves to the food laid out for them.

"Yeah, a lot better." She looked up at his head with an amused smile to find he and Penguin were back to wearing their caps already, despite them obviously being too hot working in this heat; their upper halves of their boiler suits were still tied around their waists.

"Hey, where's Captain?" Penguin asked Jake.

"You let Captain know about lunch outside, right hun?"

She nodded at Jake, chewing away at her lunch and inwardly hating being reminded so soon after waking about the last encounter she'd had with their captain.

"Guess he'll be taking lunch in his quarters then." Penguin shrugged, placing a burger onto his plate as Shachi moved up the table, pouring and taking a glass of water.

"Guess so." Jake sighed, flipping the burgers on the grill over.

"Come take a seat, Nayla-chan." Shachi said, nodding his head over to one of the logs.

"Sure, thanks Jake, Ichi." She waved before following Shachi over to the nearest unused trunk, taking a seat and placing her plate on her lap.

"Anytime, enjoy." Jake called after her, handing Penguin a glass of juice that had been on the table as he passed by in an unsubtle hint, making the man roll his eyes as he took it from him.

Penguin handed it to her before he sat on her other side, sighing as he rest his plate on his knees, set his own drink down onto the grass beside his feet and stretched.

Nayla glanced at his bare torso as he stretched out his muscles, forcibly moving her gaze to his forearms as he lowered them back down. She took in his tattooed forearms before looking over at Shachi's on her other side.

"Hmm?" He questioned around his mouthful of hotdog.

"Nothing, just noticing a trend. They look familiar." She smiled, indicating to his arms before taking a sip of her drink and setting it down onto the grass in front of her.

"Oh these, yeah." He said returning her smile as he swallowed his food down.

"I take it you guys have similar tattoos as homage to your beloved captain?"

"Wel-"

"Heads up, ginger!"

Shachi quickly dropped his hotdog back to his plate to catch the bottle being hurled at him. "Oi! Watch it!" He yelled at the snickering men as they turned back to their meal.

Nayla eyed the bottle curiously as he set it down with a huff beside him. "Is that…sun cream?" She asked in surprise.

"Mhmm, Captain gets annoyed if we get burnt." Penguin said around his own mouthful, watching as she picked the bottle up and turned it in her hands, reading the label.

"Oh…yeah, Connor was saying Law isn't much of a fan of 'self-inflicted stupidity.' I'm guessing working topless outside in the sun and getting burnt because you didn't bother using cream falls under that category?" She set the bottle back down, inwardly laughing at how much of a grumpy doctor Law was.

"Yup, though I think Captain prefers to call it 'easily preventable problems that use up our medical supplies unnecessarily.'" He laughed, glancing at Connor as he and Jeff got their own lunches. "The crew love picking on Shachi when it comes to burns. Isn't that right, freckles?"

"I don't have freckles and I'm not pale. I don't burn any more easily then you, bird brain." Shachi grumbled, making him laugh.

"Hmm." Nayla tilted her heard curiously looking at him.

"Wha-What are you doing, Nayla-chan?" He stuttered, blushing as she leant in close to his face and lifted his sunglasses up.

"Nope, no freckles…Oh wait, maybe a few tiny ones right here on the bridge of your nose. Cute." She grinned, poking them gently with the tip of her finger.

"Oi oi, we interrupting an intimate moment here or what?" Jeff teased, nudging a grinning Connor as they approached.

"Hey guys." Nayla greeted, lowering Shachi's sunglasses back to his nose and turning to them.

"Yo, lil lady." Jeff sat himself onto the grass in front of them minding their drinks, Connor following suit beside him. "Ease up on teasing Shachi, dunno what you said to him but the poor guy's nearly as red as his hair." He laughed.

"Speaking of which, lemme have some of that when you're done ginger. Can feel my shoulders getting a lil raw." Connor asked, nodding towards the bottle beside Shachi's feet.

Nayla was sure she saw Shachi's brow twitch before he lifted a hand to casually flick a piece of food off of his plate at Connor's face, making the other two men laugh as it splattered against his cheek.

"Why you! I-"

"How are things going with the sub?" Nayla asked him over their laughter, leaning over to wipe his face with her napkin, trying to diffuse the potential fight or food fight she could see rapidly approaching.

Connor reluctantly settled back down to the grass, glaring at Shachi angrily. "Real good, we'll be done long before our estimate of tomorrow evening so we should be able to get out of here pretty soon. I'll send someone up to let Captain know when we're done with lunch." He mumbled as she pulled her hand away, folding and tucking the napkin back under the plate on her lap.

"Speaking of seeing Captain, can you ask whoever you send up to take his lunch for him?" They looked up at Jake as he walked over, wiping his hands on a small towel before slinging it over his shoulder.

Nayla looked past him at the grill and tables, raising her brows at how quickly the food had dwindled down to what was left, Ichirou hadn't been wrong in advising her to grab a plate fast. Considering most of the crew had been doing hard, physical labour all morning, it wasn't surprising she supposed.

"Why don't you do it?" Jeff asked looking up at him.

"'Cause I'll be busy carrying this lot back inside, Ichi too." The chef gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Why don't we have dinner out here too? We can make a fire and have a proper roast. That way you can keep most of this stuff out here and not need to take it back." Shachi suggested.

"Yeah, actually Ichi had the same idea. We still have some of those large slabs of meat on the bone the Amazonians gave us. Thinkin' an open roast would be a nice treat for you hard working lads today but I still need to take some stuff back inside with me first and don't wanna keep Captain waiting for his meal." Jake said looking between them for a volunteer.

"We really don't mind, one us of can do it but we're all greasy and messy. Captain won't appreciate us dirtying up the carpet in his quarters to bring him lunch." Penguin said matter-of-factly, gesturing down at his own heavily dirtied pants and boots.

Nayla looked up from her meal as the men fell into silence and looked at her expectantly one by one. "…No."

"You can't avoid Captain forever, you may as w-"

"No." She said firmly, cutting off Penguin and taking an aggressive bite of the remaining meat on her skewer.

They exchanged silent, curious looks at her blatant and stubborn refusal. "Sweetie…" She looked up at Connor's cautious tone. "Is there maybe something the matt-?"

"If you need to free up someone to take that _bastard_ his food then I have a better idea."

* * *

"Enter."

"Captain, brought you some lunch." Law glanced up at Jake as he entered before returning his attention to the wanted posters on his desk.

"Don't wanna join us outside? Weather is fine." The chef asked, walking across the room towards him.

"I'm busy." Law mumbled, not taking his eyes off of the papers in front of him as Jake set the tray of food down on his desk carefully.

"Well, alright…The boys are enjoying themselves out there, was thinking of doing a roast over an open flame tonight for dinner, break out the booze under the stars to reward 'em a lil for today. That ok with you, Captain?"

"Yeah." He replied half-heartedly, reaching over to a stack of recent newspapers to pull the top one over to himself. "How are things coming along?"

"Good, they think they'll be done much earlier than expected, hopefully by late morning. Connor'll send someone up with a full report when they call it a night at dinnertime."

Law hummed in approval, flipping the paper open to the page of interest. "And where is the woman?"

"Nayla-chan?"

Law paused his perusal through the article to look up at him. "Do we have another one on board that I'm not aware of?"

Jake lowered his raised brow and chuckled. "No, I suppose not. Well she's outside eating with the crew. She'll be in soon though, offered to bring in the stuff from lunch with Ichi in my place."

"She's been outside since she left the galley earlier?" He asked, reaching over to his plate to grab one of the skewers from it as he thumbed through the rest of the paper.

"Yeah, think so. Aside from coming up here to talk to you first that is, Captain." Jake said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"Is she behaving herself?" He asked warily, looking up at the man as he took a bite of his food.

"Yeah, no problems as far as I know. Good as gold." He smiled.

"So far." Law muttered, resuming his flick through the newspaper for the next article he was looking for.

"You really do work too hard Captain, take a break and come outside with us for a lil, it'll do ya some good."

"Maybe later."

Jake sighed, already knowing from that response that it'd be unlikely he would pull himself away from his desk long enough to do so. "Well alright, Captain. Holler if ya need anything."

Law hummed in acknowledgement as Jake walked back towards the door, glancing up at the clock on his wall as the chef started to step out of his quarters. "Jake."

The man turned back to look at him from the doorway. "Have Nayla-ya come back inside to take her medication. Let her know it's not a request." He added sternly, anticipating a possibly stubborn reaction from her.

"Aye aye, Captain." Jake affirmed before closing the door.

Law went back to scanning through the most recent article related to the pirate whose wanted poster he had just been examining. With Whitebeard dead, most of the big fish had flooded into the New World looking to take pieces of the territory he used to claim. That left the lesser pirates on this side of the Grand Line plenty of room to start up their own storms and strut around making names for themselves now that the majority of their stronger opponents were out of these waters. There was also a new wave of upstart pirates, inspired by Whitebeard's claim about One Piece being real.

It was all beneficial. There were a lot of new and climbing bounties in the news these days, plenty of targets for him to choose from. The pirate in this article was last reported to have been causing problems around the island they were already heading for and he had a decent eighty million berry bounty.

Frankly, it didn't matter which island they next headed too. The sheer amount of these pirates running rampant right now meant it'd be virtually impossible _not_ to run into at least one crew with decent looking bounties and noteworthy names at each stop. The seas were chaos and the Marines were stretched far too thin between the waters they were currently in and the New World trying to suppress the fallout from the war.

Now what kind of good Samaritan would Law be if he didn't see fit to take at least, oh let's say, one hundred of these pests out of commission for them? Law smirked at the thought as he sipped the coffee Jake had brought him.

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru." He glanced up at the ringing Den Den Mushi; Nayla's again, placing his drink back onto the tray.

When he'd answered it earlier, he'd hoped he'd see the snail pull a twisted grin and to hear the snide voice of Doflamingo emitted from it. Law hadn't spoken to the man in over a decade but he'd still recognise his demented smile and sickening voice anywhere.

It had been a small, unrealistic hope; Nayla herself had never spoken to him directly. She'd only been hired on his behalf once by someone lower down within his underground network after all, assuming what she'd said was true. The chances of him calling her directly were slim to none…at this stage anyway.

Law leant over and lifted the receiver, remaining silent and waiting for the caller to say something but as earlier, the caller remained silent too. He stared at the stoic face of the Den Den Mushi patiently as it stared back at him, giving away nothing…and as before, the caller hung up.

He sighed and replaced the receiver. Seemed whoever was calling her was smart enough to not say anything either. He'd hoped to have gotten something useful from them before telling Nayla someone was trying to contact her but it looked like that wouldn't be happening.

He resumed sifting through the newspaper articles of notable pirates within their area of the Grand Line but it wasn't long before he heard small, tentative footsteps in the hallway outside of his quarters.

Nayla no doubt, no one on his crew was light enough to sound that delicate on their feet. Seemed she was trying to sneak past and had apparently been trying to avoid him since their…'interaction', earlier by staying off the sub all day.

Law heard her gently creak the infirmary door across the hall open and enter it. He smiled to himself thinking that perhaps he should take up Jake's advice; maybe a little break _would_ do him some good.

He got up from his desk, crossed the room and left his quarters quietly. He walked across the hall to the infirmary reaching for the door handle but the door swung open before he touched it.

Nayla all but choked down a scream as she suddenly found herself face-to-face with the one person she had been trying to so hard to avoid. "Fucking…dammit! For the love of God, Law! Don't do that!" She yelled, clutching the box of pain medication and mug of water she'd retrieved from his infirmary desk.

"Do what, Nayla-ya? Enter my own infirmary?" He smiled at her as she held her free hand to her chest in an attempt to calm her breathing.

"No, I mean stand outside waiting to spook me on purpose!" She narrowed her eyes at the obvious enjoyment he was getting from making her nearly jump out of her skin.

"I did no such thing, you simply opened the door before I could."

"Bull, sadist." She muttered, looking away from him.

"So they say. Did you take your medication?" He glanced at the small box she was nearly crushing.

"Yes mo-" She dialled back her sarcasm as she watched the annoyance flit across his face. "-Dr. Trafalgar?" She offered quietly with a forced smile.

"I'm not going to keep reminding you to take it on time." He chided, watching her as she stepped closer to him to leave the room, closing the door behind her.

"I got it, I got it. I didn't realise what time it was, no clock outside." She mumbled, turning to walk back down the hallway.

"Speaking of which-" He placed his hand to the wall beside the doorway, blocking her from walking away. "-are you avoiding me, Nayla-ya?"

She warily dragged her gaze up the tattooed forearm in front of her to his face. He was taunting her, again. That damn, arrogant, lazy smirk.

"No, why do you ask?" She couldn't help but notice his hair was a little less wild than usual, a little damp.

"Apparently, you haven't been in the sub all day. Since you left my room." He bent his arm to lean himself in a little closer to her to speak in a lower tone. "…Since you left my bed."

"I just didn't want to disturb your sleep." She was surprised when she felt the door of the infirmary press against her back; cursing herself for the unconscious step backwards she'd apparently taken from him.

"Is that so?"

"Yes." She answered firmly, trying to ignore the low tone of his voice, proximity of his body and the practically predatorial smile on his face. "In fact, I'm glad to see you're awake. I'll shove these into my suitcase with the others before I forget them again." She swiftly escaped his slow encroach of her personal space by passing his other side and walking across the hallway to his quarters.

Law watched her enter through the door he'd left open, nose in the air, like she owned the place. He smiled to himself, pushing off from the wall to turn and follow her inside at his leisure.

She had set her mug down on the coffee table and was now kneeling at her suitcase, looking up at him only when she heard him close the door.

He watched her look between it and him, the unease of being in a closed room alone with him again obvious on her face. Law couldn't help but grin widely at her discomfort. "What's the matter, Nayla-ya?"

She huffed, pushing aside some clothing in her case violently at his mocking tone. "So how was your shower, Law? Cold?" She sniped, sparing him a sly, knowing smile as she searched through her vastly rearranged items.

"I prefer the term 'refreshing.'" He chuckled as he walked across the room to his desk and took his seat. He leant back and watched her casually as she finally found the box of medication she had 'boarded' with and pulled it out, adding the blister packs of her new box into it before placing it back into her case, zipping it closed and standing up. He didn't miss the one that she slipped into her hoodie pocket, assuming she was making sure she had no reason to come back up here or for him to call her.

"I'll be outside watching the crew work, I take it you won't be joining us out there for dinner either?"

"Unlikely." He eyed the now empty box in her hands as she glanced around the room for a trash can. "Why do you ask, will you miss me?"

"Like a rash." She said, halting her visual search to look at him with a frown of disgust, making him chuckle.

He leant forward to lean on his desk extending his hand out for her in indication for the item she held. "That's fine, but let them work. Don't distract them, Nayla-ya."

"I'm not." She grumbled, moving towards him hesitantly, staying at arm's length from him as she gently placed the box into his open palm. He smiled at the amount of caution she seemed to be exercising around him now.

"And Nayla-ya?" She jolted when he suddenly closed his fingers around the slender box, trapping her fingers in his grasp before she could pull them away.

She hesitantly raised her gaze from the hold he had on her hand to his eyes. Nothing but dark playfulness, the same look he'd had on his face when he'd pulled her into his bed. There was a long, tense pause that he seemed to revel in as her discomfort and unease grew.

…

"Take that with you." He said, nodding towards the tray of now-eaten lunch perched on the edge of his desk.

"…What? Why should I? I'm not a maid, Law!" She snapped, snatching her hand back from him. Her temper flaring easily at the laughter in his eyes, obviously pleased at the high level of tension he'd managed to achieve in her with his minimal actions.

"Oh, you aren't? Easy mistake to make, given the uniform." He said, casually tossing the empty box into the trash can behind his desk.

Nayla furrowed her brows for a split second before she realised what he was referring to. She clenched her eyes shut to block out the view of his growing, devious, dirty little grin as he leant back in his chair, placing his elbows onto the armrests.

"It's just a costume." She ground out.

"A very nice one, amongst others. When _do_ you wear them I wonder?" He leant his cheek onto his hand, enjoying the small, telltale flickers of embarrassment flit across her features. No different to when he had brought up her 'livestock rearing' equipment earlier.

"At _costume_ parties. It's one of those things that normal, fun-loving people in their twenties tend to go to a lot of. Ya know, the non-psychotic pirate ones?"

"For someone who lives out of their suitcase, I can understand why you'd put aside your vital, limited space in there for costumes to attend those _very_ frequent events that someone as 'normal' as you must encounter when constantly travelling." He remarked dryly.

"There's Halloween too, heard of it?" She ground out in irritation, narrowing her eyes at his tone.

"Yes. Wearing it for _that_ occasion would make just as much sense. Maids are terrifying." He watched her grit her teeth and take a deep breath before seeming to reign in her temper. He raised a brow suspiciously as she placed her palms onto his desk and leant over slowly.

"What is it that you want to hear exactly, Law? That I enjoy role-play? You want to hear that I wear fantasy costumes to entice my sexual partners?" He watched her guardedly as she leant her elbows onto his desk, leaning her face closely to his as her voice continued to descend into a honeyed, seductive tone with each word.

"Do you want me to admit that I engage in wild, hot, kinky sex so frequently that I would use vital suitcase space for slutty costumes? Would you like me to confirm that I _have_ worn that maid costume for and during incredible, mind-blowing sex? Would that make you happy?" She asked in a low whisper, trailing her fingers up his chest lightly as she held his gaze.

Nayla watched him, impressed as he maintained a relatively neutral expression aside from the brief look down at her hand with slightly raised brows before resuming their eye contact.

He cleared his throat quietly, grasping her hand to push it away from him. "I asked you to take the tray with you because you seem to be going to the galley to return the mug anyway, seeing as you bothered to remove it from the infirmary. It would be kind of you to save Jake the trip up here to collect it."

She smiled in satisfaction of his neutral topic change as she stood up straight from his desk. "Why not stop being so damn lazy and take it yourself instead?"

"Because I'm busy." He leant his elbows onto his desk, watching as she picked up the tray despite her words. He already knew she'd take it if it meant being helpful to someone other than himself.

"Doing what, plotting like a villain?" She asked, glancing briefly at the papers on his desk.

"A villain?" He asked as she turned and started to walk towards the coffee table.

"What, do you think you're a hero? Yes, a villain. You're the classic plotting-evil-villain type, ya know. Dark, quiet, calculative, kidnapped a helpless, beautiful young maiden-" She shot him a warning glare over her shoulder at his derisive snort and eye roll as she placed the mug onto the tray. "-and the high-back, black, leather chair doesn't help. Wouldn't be surprised to walk in one day to have you swivel around to face me with tented fingers or stroking a white, fluffy cat on your lap."

He blinked at her as she reached his door and opened it before turning back around to face him. "…You have an interesting imagination, Nayla-ya….and by 'interesting,' I really just mean 'stupid.'"

She smiled at his throwback of her earlier words on the beach. Seemed he had a good memory…and a vindictive streak, she'd remember that. "Right, well. I'll leave you to your maid fantasies and ingenious plans to take over the world. Later." She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Law sighed to himself, resuming his read of the paper on his desk and refusing to allow even the slightest hint of stray thought to linger on the images she'd purposely left him with.

* * *

Evening settled quietly. The men had worked until visibility started to get too poor to continue, had their dinner and had gone inside to shower up for the night.

Nayla had spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the beach, watching them, chatting with them as they worked and enjoying their cheerful company.

She looked over the railing at the sunset on the horizon. With so much open space over the water the view was completely unhindered. It was one of the very few things that she _did_ enjoy about travelling by sea. Being so far out from civilisation meant the sunsets, night skies and the stars were unimaginably bright and beautiful to look at.

"Yo! Hurry up, you two!"

She turned back towards the beach at the loud agreements of the other men sat on the logs around the large campfire they had made. "Sure, sorry, coming!" She readjusted her grip on the crate of bottled drinks she was carrying and made her way down the gangplank after Ichirou who had gone ahead of her.

He and Jake had outdone themselves, they'd had an open roast dinner that was unbelievably delicious, she couldn't remember the last time she'd actually enjoyed a meal like that around a campfire. Up until now, whenever she'd had to eat around one it had usually just been bland stews in battle camps on war fields. Rations were never pleasant and the men were either in dismal spirits over their personal losses or harassing her. It never did matter how far away they camped from the fighting grounds, the smell of the ones that had lost their lives would always find a way over to ruin an already barely palatable dinner. She never thought she'd find herself having such a wonderful meal by a fire in such good company on a scenic island. This experience had been a very different and really welcome change to what she had become used to.

"Don't mind them, take your time." Ichirou grumbled over his shoulder when he heard her catch up behind him, carrying his own crates down to the beach.

"Its fine, I don't mind." She smiled, walking beside him as they made their way across the sand towards the ruckus.

He side glanced at her, raising a brow at her happy face and bright smile, a lot different from the snarky, snide little woman he'd seen in the galley earlier. "Well, word of advice if you're gonna drink with them. Don't let them talk you into over doing it. These idiots are really talented at egging each other on." He mumbled.

"So I've heard. Don't worry, not planning on over doing it." She laughed as they stepped onto the grass.

"Oi oi! Back off you rabid bastards!" Nayla watched in amusement as some of the crewmembers all but ambushed the poor man, eagerly looting the crates from him with cheers and pulling the bottles out with the joyful sound of glass on glass.

She gladly handed her own over to the nearest crewmember, watching as they gave them over to the men sat on the ends of each log before looking around for a free seat.

"You were inside getting the drinks? Why you making the lady do _your_ job again, fatty?" Connor asked, yelling past Jeff beside him on the log at Jake.

"I didn't, she offered. Would be nice if some of you lazy bastards did the same once in a while." He grumbled, pulling a bottle from the crate that was passed to him.

"Tell her no, making her do work, geez. Is that any way to treat our guest?" Jeff scolded from beside him, taking a bottle for himself before passing the crate on.

"She's not a guest." Ichirou reminded as he squeezed himself into the last seat on the log opposite them, beside Penguin.

"Aww come on, don't be like that Ichi." Jeff scolded.

"Been like that all day." Jake muttered to him rolling his eyes.

"I'm not being mean, I'm just stating the facts. You guys get too carried away around women, you especially." He reminded, pointing at Jeff.

"Lay off the poor thing, she doesn't mean us any harm." Jeff easily dismissed as he looked up at her. Realising she was looking for a spot to sit he started to move over but she motioned for him to stay put before walking over to where Ichirou and Penguin sat.

"Yeah cut her a lil slack would ya? She's had a hard enough time without you sniping at her." Connor agreed.

"You guys are way too soft on women. It's all rosy cheeks, drooly mouths and sparkly eyes whenever one is around, honestly." He sighed, getting up as Nayla walked over to him. She sat in his place as he took a seat on the grass in front of her instead.

"… _Who's_ soft on women?" Connor grinned.

Blinking in realisation then furrowing his brows, Ichirou looked up over his shoulder at her.

"Thank you." She said sweetly.

"…Don't mention it." He ground out in irritation, ignoring the laughter of the other men as he wondered what had made him get up without even realising he was doing it.

"Could use a foot rest though, scoot back a lil." She extended her legs to emphasise she wasn't able to reach his back with her feet, giving him a sweet, though obviously fake, pout.

"Not on your life!" He growled at her, shuffling further forwards as the men laughed harder.

She giggled at his annoyed posture as he turned away from her in a huff, the case of beer being passed to Penguin beside her catching her eye.

"Want one?" He offered, tilting the bottle he pulled out of it towards her.

"Sure, thanks." She grabbed the one he held and another from the case before leaning over to the grumpy chef in front of her. She set the extra drink down beside him, giving him a good-natured, apologetic smile as he turned to look at her in surprise.

"T-Thanks."

"Isn't that cute, you blushing Ichi?" Jake grinned.

"What? No. Bastard, shut up." He grumbled, pulling his hat down a little before popping the top on his bottle.

"Yo! We got drinks out?"

They looked over as Shachi approached, still with a towel around his neck, rubbing his hair dryer before replacing his cap.

"Yup." Jeff answered tossing him one as he walked over to the log Penguin and Nayla sat on, eyeing the man on her other side in annoyance.

"You took my seat whilst I was showering?" Shachi complained.

" _She_ took your seat." The man quietly corrected, taking a sip of his own bottle.

Nayla raised a brow at his ice cold tone, wondering if he had a problem with Shachi or with her. She'd been introduced to him once on Amazon Lily but hadn't actually spoken to him since then, she couldn't even remember his name.

"Oh, sorry Shachi, I didn't realise."

"No no don't worry about it Nayla-chan it's fine." Shachi quickly reassured, motioning for her to stay seated as he saw her starting to get up.

The man beside her scoffed at him, making Shachi turn back his way with a sour look and crossed arms. Nayla turned to look at him too, trying to remember if she'd maybe done something to offend him over the last two weeks but couldn't think of anything.

All she could recall was that he was a quiet man and usually sat alone but had stood out to her because he was the only other red head on the crew beside Shachi. A feature she couldn't help but notice, seeing as it had been the only lead she'd been given on her heroic hospital carry. His hair was much shorter though, barely visible from under his hat, she'd really only been able to tell the colour of it because of the goatee he had.

"Oh here we go, Ichi version two." Connor rolled his eyes.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" The chef on the grass snapped, lowering the bottle he'd lifted to his lips.

"It means you're the only other guy on board that behaves like a moody bitch on her peri-OW!"

"I _know_ you have more sense than to crack that joke when there's a woman around!" Jeff yelled from beside him.

"Not so hard, that hurt, geez!" Connor rubbed the ribs he'd been jabbed in.

"Be grateful, I saved you a _world_ of hurt!"

"How do you figure that? Idiot."

"You have any idea how crazy chicks get over that stuff? You think a punch from her is gonna hurt you less than an elbow to the side?"

Connor spared a glance towards the beach where he'd seen the others bring out and toss the destroyed metal panel beside the ruined cargo before looking at her nervously.

"I'm not that sensitive about it, feel free to crack your gross jokes. I personally got more offended over Jeff thinking 'all chicks get crazy' over it." She said shooting Jeff a look.

"Oooo, do it!"

"Yeah! Kick his ass Nayla-chan!"

"Fire-side entertainment, front row seats!"

Nayla turned away from the laughing men Jeff was trying to shush from encouraging her to look back at the one next to her, him and Shachi were still having a quiet stare off.

He didn't actually seem angry at all, entirely neutral features as he kept his eyes on Shachi, a beautiful pale blue colour, though not as striking as his captain's.

"Shachi, its fine. I took the free seat, here." She wasn't sure what the weird tension between them was about but she wasn't comfortable being the cause of it. She started to get up but Penguin held her in place by the back of her hoodie.

"Shachi, quit whining, sit on the grass like the others and Kotta…" The man turned to look past her at Penguin. "Stop being an ass about this would ya? She's not here on purpose." He said quietly.

It was obvious from his tone and from the looks they were exchanging that there had been some discussion about her between them already. She furrowed her brows at that and at the man's name, she'd heard it recently…

"Ah, Kotta. You leant me that hairdryer, right? I'd been meaning to ask Penguin to point you out so that I could thank you for that." She smiled and held a hand out to shake with him, hoping to break whatever strange ice was between them. He looked at it silently for a moment before standing up and walking away, not once looking at her face.

Some of the men near enough to them to hear the exchange over the noise of the other crewmembers whistled lowly at the snub as they watched him walk back down the beach towards the ship quietly, sipping his drink.

"What's his problem?" Jeff had apparently seen it, yelling loud enough for the man to hear, starting to get up only to have Jake grab hold of his boiler suit to make him sit back down.

"Damn, that was cold." Connor muttered, sipping his own drink as he watched the man walk away.

"Geez, no kidding…I think my fingers got frostbite." Nayla mumbled, lowering her hand back to her lap as Shachi sat in the now-vacant seat next to her. "Did I do something to upset him?" She asked, turning her attention to Penguin who seemed to know what the man's issue with her was.

"No Nayla-chan, nothing at all."

"Ah don't mind him, Nayla-chan. He's usually ok but has a lot of quiet, moody streaks, he'll get over it." Shachi reassured, nudging her shoulder playfully and giving her a smile. "Forget it, we're gonna enjoy our evening after a long day's work. Right fellas?"

The crew cheered loudly, raising and clinking their bottles together, happily resuming their excited chatter. It wasn't long before more crates of beers were brought out from the ship and the crew were relaxing, talking, joking loudly with one another and singing sea shanties that she wished she knew the words to. She silently promised to try to learn a few so that she could join in next time but had to sadly remind herself that there may not be a next time. She might have left by then.

The evening drifted by easily, their effortless smiles and banter were a pleasure to watch. On the surface she envied them and deep down she hated to admit that she resented them. How was it that people, who by all accounts were doing the 'wrong' thing and were violent criminals, got to experience this level of happiness when people like herself who had tried to do everything 'right' in life didn't? The world was just unfair if a crew of pirates could obtain more sense of joy, family and belonging than she did...but, she was happy for them and she could already tell she was really going to miss them when the time came.

Nayla snorted in disgust at her selfish, jealous thoughts, setting her empty bottle down on the grass before leaning her hands back on the log and looking up at the sky. She wondered when it had become pitch black and how late it was now.

"What's with that look?" Penguin asked her.

"Just thinking." She glanced at the bottle by her feet, inwardly blaming its contents for her ironically sobering line of thought.

"About?" He prodded.

"Nothing much, just how easy it is for you guys to be so cheerful, no matter what's going on." She somewhat lied, watching the concern on his face melt away as she smiled at him.

"Yeah, hard to ever feel down with these goofs around. Call it a gift." He chuckled.

"Oh yeah! That reminds me."

"Hmm, where you going Nayla-chan?" Shachi asked, watching her stand up and brush the seat of her shorts off.

"Just gonna go pay your Captain a quick visit, I'll be back soon." She grinned, waving to them as she trotted back towards the sub.

* * *

Nayla walked down the stairs to the first floor landing, heading towards Law's quarters, hoping that for some reason he wouldn't be there.

After everything that had happened, she'd completely forgotten the presents she'd meant to give yesterday until Penguin had used the word 'gift.' She wasn't sure she really wanted to give Law anything now, all things considered, but his crew had definitely done her no wrong.

She reasoned Law probably knew about the gifts, 'smartass seems to know everything _else_ in my damn suitcase,' she thought angrily, recalling the amount of snide pokes at her personal belongings he'd been making. Maybe she'd get a chance to do the same if she ever found herself alone in his quarters with his own wardrobe.

It would be pretty cold of her to give out the gifts to the others and not give him his…but then she immediately wondered why she should give a damn, scoffing at the thought of hurting Law's feelings. He was sorely lacking those if what he had done to her was any inkling.

He hadn't mentioned anything about seeing the gifts to her but she sincerely hoped he felt like an ass when he saw his own. It was doubtful though and he probably didn't bring it up because he didn't care or he was just going to wait for the right moment to tease her about it, like he'd been doing so far. That seemed most likely to her.

She sighed, here she'd been starting to feel a little guilty about waltzing into his quarters right in front of him, taking the gifts out of her suitcase, minus his own and walking away but that feeling was quickly disintegrating.

"Oh, Nayla!"

She looked up to find a polar bear in an orange boiler suit waving to her as he walked down the hall. That wouldn't be sounding any less weird to her no matter how many times she said it in her mind. "Bepo! Where ya been all day? Hard at work?" She asked as she returned his wave in greeting.

"Yeah, went over some stuff with Jean Bart when he woke up, took Captain his dinner and did some work with him."

"Work this late? You just finished?" She asked in surprise looking at the door to Law's quarters down the hall behind him.

"Yeah, was going to head to bed now. You're here to see Captain?"

"Yeah…hey do me a favour Bepo and wait here for a sec? I won't take long, I'd like to give you something before you go to sleep."

"Sure." He watched her confused as she trotted past him to his Captain's door. She conceded, with some irritation, that she'd need to be polite and knock on it like anyone else if he were in there and did so, waiting for his permission.

She heard him sigh before speaking. "Enter."

Nayla peered in, finding Law standing at the dining table where the navigational maps had been laid out. He didn't turn to look at her from the map he was examining, running his hand through his hair. "What do you want, Nayla-ya?"

"Nothing, just grabbing something from my suitcase, won't be a minute." She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved he was paying her so little attention that he hadn't bothered turning around or a bit insulted by it.

She left the door slightly open behind her as she stepped in. Knowing Bepo was outside and could see her, even if she knew deep down he wouldn't make any move against anything his captain did to her, made her feel just a little better. If nothing else, she was sure Law was less likely to act inappropriately with her in the presence of his men…or, at least act less inappropriately.

Nayla quickly knelt down, unzipped her case and grabbed the gifts, glancing up at Law to see he was still turned away from her before pulling them out.

She moved back to the door, inwardly relieved she'd managed to take them discretely and without any trouble from the pirate. She turned to close it behind her looking at him one last time before leaving. She wondered what he was working on so late when it was obvious he was tired but quickly shook it off, deciding it was none of her business and one rat's ass, she did not give.

Law glanced at the baggage on the floor after he heard his door click shut softly behind her. Nayla hadn't taken the gift that had been intended for him out of it. He pushed the observation away and re-focused on his task of finding pirates in the area worth taking down.

She'd tried to be discreet about it, he wondered why. Truthfully, it pissed him off a bit that she felt the need to. Did she really think he cared enough about her for something so trivial to bother him? It was insulting but he'd let it slide as some ridiculous, female, touchy-feely notion that he just didn't care enough about to address. He absolutely refused to spend any energy on deciding if he were relieved or disappointed about it either.

Law didn't blame her for changing her mind in giving him whatever that gift had been, he'd anticipated she would. It was safe to say that outside of physical attraction, she probably didn't like him very much and that was fine, he'd given her no reason to. It was probably for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit of a rare find but there are manga images of Penguin where he really does have tattoos on his forearms similar to Shachi's but like his, they're never fully visible.
> 
> ***Possible Manga Spoiler – Chapter 810*** It was great to see the Heart Pirates in this week's issue, wasn't it? Apparently Shachi and quite a few of the crew are swordsmen, Penguin can use a spear, Jean Bart can use a gun and there is a female member now. This is her first appearance so I'm guessing she must be a post time-skip/late recruit. Would love to learn more about her (and the rest of the crew) but we're sadly always given so little info them.
> 
> If you missed her, she's on page three on the far left of the panel of the Heart Pirates getting ready to fight alongside Bepo.


	32. Sock piracy and love letters

Law stretched as he stood from his desk, satisfied he had made a lot of progress in refining his plans. Judging by recent reports of which pirates were last seen where, how long ago and their next destinations - if they were following their standard Log Pose resets, along with Bepo's expert navigational input had allowed him to easily calculate his upcoming possible encounters well in advance.

None of the crews they were likely to come across in the near future were any serious threat. Even the few that had Devil Fruit users amongst them were not in the least bit intimidating, though he'd double check their fruit abilities in more detail tomorrow to make sure he was well informed should they be unlucky enough to cross paths with him anytime soon.

He sighed tiredly as he glanced up at the clock on his wall. He'd worked well into the night and Nayla had still not returned to his quarters to sleep. Law had heard the drunken merriment and singing of his crew on the beach several hours ago, the noise had died down a lot since then. No doubt after working that hard all day and drinking, they were passing out in droves by now.

Law smiled at the thought, knowing already as he grabbed his Nodachi and walked towards his door that he'd probably go outside to find them all snoring loudly under the stars around their campfire.

He left his quarters and strode to the main deck, taking a moment to appreciate the dark, starry night sky before glancing over at the beach. A few of his men were still awake, chatting quietly and enjoying a drink at the fire but, as he'd predicted, the majority of them were fast asleep, though he couldn't spot the troublesome woman he'd come to collect anywhere amongst them.

He made his way down the gangplank and across the sand quietly, scanning the grassy area for Nayla, finally realising why he hadn't been able to immediately spot her.

Law raised a brow at the sight as he came to a stop a few feet away. Penguin had fallen sleep with his upper back and head leant against the log behind him, an arm draped over Nayla's shoulder where she had fallen asleep on her side with her head settled onto his stomach and Shachi had fallen asleep in a similar manner settling his own head on her stomach as though she were a back rest, snoring loudly.

He blinked at them before looking at the few crewmembers sat across the fire on a log in question only to have them shrug in response.

Law looked back at the three wondering how _this_ had happened, moving forward to wake them (or at least her) when his foot caught the end of an empty bottle on the ground. The clank of the hollow glass against his boot making him look down at it. 'Right… _this_ would be how _that_ happened.'

He was unsure whether to be annoyed at her, annoyed at his men, annoyed at both or to find the whole thing amusing. Deciding annoyance would be the appropriate response he sighed, kicking the bottle aside and readying to give them a rude awakening when he spotted discarded wrapping paper next to where the bottle had landed.

Recognising it as the paper he'd seen on the gifts she had bought, he scanned around the sleeping trio more closely, catching a glimpse of the top edge of one of the small books that had been wrapped in it on Penguin's chest, tucked under his free arm protectively. A glance at Shachi's chest and he could see a similar book tucked under his arm as well. He wondered why they were both clutching them so possessively in their sleep, as if someone from the crew might come along and steal them.

Law leant down and swiftly slid Penguin's away from him, curious to see what Nayla would have bought for them. He eyed the item, its origin obvious from the rustic design. He ran a thumb over the thick, dyed leather of the cover before flipping it open to its soft felt lining. The first page held a handwritten message from Nayla and a quick flick through the thick pages revealed it to be a small photo album. It seemed she had taken dozens of photos during the two weeks she had spent on Amazon Lily. He turned back to the message on the first page:

" _I know you guys were disappointed you couldn't see the inside of this place but this is the next best thing! Now you'll have something to prove that you were one of the few men ever allowed on the Island of Women and something to remember me by._

_It's not much but it's my token of gratitude for all that you've done for me. I hope you like it, you have nooo idea how hard it is to buy gifts that men would like from Amazon Lily..._

_Thank you so much for everything, I'll never forget you. Safe travels!_

_Lots of love_

_Nayla_

_xxx"_

Law smiled a little at the obnoxious, bright red lipstick print by her signature, deciding that was so her. He leant his Nodachi against his shoulder more comfortably as he flipped through the first few pages.

There was a photo on each with dozens and dozens of the native Amazonian woman in their scandalous attire going about their business. Photos of Nayla both in and out of her own native Amazonian outfit standing in crowds of these women in front of monuments, beautiful buildings, fountains, a large arena sporting a royal looking throne...all the popular sights within the city walls it would seem.

There was a sweet photo of her holding up a peace sign eating with some of the Kuja pirates, he recognised the one next to her to be the woman he saw her first speak to after she left his sub. There was a cheeky photo of her in front of a grand-looking statue of the empress, holding up bunny ears behind one of the women's heads with her tongue sticking out. A racey photo of her and some other women swimming and sunbathing at what appeared to be a small lake…Law could only imagine the blushes on his men's faces as they flipped through these, he chuckled at the thought closing the album and leaning down to return it to it's not-so-vigilant guard.

Law looked at her sleeping peacefully against Penguin, relatively impressed. Here he had thought she couldn't possibly have found anything his men would want from a female-only island and that she'd definitely struck out by giving these two 'books' but he was pretty sure his men would be treasuring this token…for all the wrong reasons. She had _definitely_ found something they would love and appreciate.

He briefly wondered if the book-like gift that had been intended for him was something similar…it had been a different size, shape and weight though…well, he supposed it didn't matter now. Pushing the fleeting thought aside he turned back to her to do what he came out here to do.

For a woman that had practically given his men softcore porn to remember her by, she looked extremely innocent in her sleep. He'd noticed the same when she was unconscious on his sub and in the hospital but at both times he just hadn't known her well enough to know how much of a contradiction it was.

"Nayla-ya." He sighed when she didn't respond, trying to call her name again. " _Nayla-ya._ "

He lowered his Nodachi, poking her cheek with the end of it gently, making her stir. He rolled his eyes before poking her more firmly, making her wake and reach a hand up to push it away sleepily.

"Oh…oh it's you." She grumbled moodily, immediately setting her head back down and closing her eyes again.

"Nayla-ya, it's time to sleep."

"Did you really just _wake_ me to tell me it's time to sleep? I thought you were a smart man." She snapped irritably.

He raised his brows at her colourful, grumbled swearing as she tucked her face into the creases of Penguin's boiler suit more firmly.

"You don't sleep with my men. You sleep in my quarters. We discussed this." Law said levelly, propping his weapon back onto his shoulder.

"We said I don't sleep on the _second floor_ with your men, I'm not on the second floor." She whined, trying to ignore him and re-embrace the restful sleep she'd been having.

"We said you don't sleep _near_ my men with me being too far away."

Nayla didn't bother replying; hopeful he'd just sigh, give up and walk away if she appeared to have fallen asleep again. She snapped her eyes open, raising her hands in defence as she felt him grab the front of her hoodie and start to pull her to her feet.

"Whoa, wait wait wait. Ok, alright, let me get myself up. You'll wake, Shachi." She said, gesturing to the man using her as a headrest.

Law looked at Shachi then looked at her sceptically, pulling her to her feet with ease and letting Shachi's head drop with a heavy thud onto the grass below.

"Law! What a mea-!" She looked down at the man as he snored loudly from his new position, completely unaffected by his abrupt loss of pillow.

"Inside. Now." Law ordered, releasing the fistful of fabric he had and turning to leave.

"…Wait, sec." He looked over his shoulder to find her leaning down to hook a hand under each of Shachi's arms before using all of her (natural) strength to drag the man to lean against Penguin.

"Geez, he's a lot heavier than he looks." She mumbled, lifting his arm to drape it over Penguin's waist and moving the arm Penguin had draped around her own shoulder to rest on Shachi's instead.

She jumped a little as Penguin ungracefully snorted at his forced, unconscious movement before flexing his fingers around Shachi's upper arm and pulling the man in more comfortably. Nayla bit her lip in amusement; the few crewmembers still awake snickered at the spectacle as they watched Shachi nuzzle into Penguin's stomach, tightening his hold around the man's waist.

"Are you done?" Law asked blandly, watching as she trotted over to him, carefully avoiding the discarded bottles.

"No but I don't think you'll be patient enough to wait for me to do the rest." She smiled, looking back at them as they snuggled together unknowingly. "Wonder where Jeff is, I bet he'd enjoy that."

"I'm sure he'd be proud…if he weren't already passed out himself." Law muttered, motioning to a pair of legs overhanging one of the other logs.

Nayla giggled to herself quietly as she glanced over at him. "You sure do have your work cut out for you, looking after this lot." She yawned tiredly, feeling the sleepiness from her abrupt wake up – courtesy of Law, again.

He hummed noncomittantly in response as she caught up; stifling her yawns as she sleepily trudged behind him back onto the sub and back inside. "Bepo brought you dinner earlier right, did you eat?"

Law turned to look at her in surprise as they walked down the stairs to his floor, curious as to where the apparent concern suddenly came from. "Yes."

"I didn't think to check when I came in earlier but he did take the tray away when you were done, didn't he?" She asked quietly as they walked through the hallway.

Law smirked at the slight challenging edge to her voice, as if she were daring him to ask her to clean up after him again. "And if he didn't?"

"If you tell me to take it to the galley now I will literally just tell you to go fuck yo-"

"Ladies first." He cut over her as he opened the door to his quarters. "Though with language like that Nayla-ya, I use the term loosely."

"Oh and here I thought we'd made some progress on the gentleman front, until you added that last part." She said, giving him a mild glare as she squeezed past him into his quarters.

Law chuckled, closing the door behind him before walking into the sleeping half of his quarters through the archway. She halted her move to follow him as the awkward realisation of where she was going, who she was with and what had happened there earlier today woke and sobered her up entirely.

"Ah crap." She muttered to herself quietly as she remembered her other sleep issue she'd yet to address, hesitantly walking to the archway and peering into his bedroom.

Nayla watched him set his Nodachi against his bedside cabinet, as she had seen it earlier. This was definitely his side of the bed. It was the one closet to the En Suite and fortunately furthest away from the sofa she'd be sleeping on, there was only a few feet between the two pieces of furniture after all.

To her surprise, the sofa had already been made up for her. The small cushions that had been on it were pushed to one end, a pillow was set on the other and there was a folded, warm-looking blanket waiting for her in the middle. A glance past Law as he sat on his bed to unzip his boots confirmed the pillow was one of his own.

"Um, I'm just going to pop out for something real quick. I'll be right back."

He paused what he was doing to look up at her sternly. "No."

"But I ne-"

"No."

"Law, I need to get something from one of the other guys before I sleep."

"What do you need that's so important? I'm tired and want to rest, not get up and go get you again when you don't come back or have to wait until you get back to allow myself to fall asleep."

"I…need some clothing."

"...What?"

"I don't have anything to sleep in."

He was going to retort that it was untrue but quickly remembered that the only nightwear she seemed to own, he'd prefer not to see her in...probably. The assortment of ridiculously short, silk nightdresses and fine negligee he'd had the misfortune (or fortune) of having to go through crossing his mind. "…Use whatever baggy clothing you have and go to bed."

"You've been through my stuff, did you see anything remotely baggy, long and conservative that would be comfortable to sleep in?" She challenged putting a hand to her hip.

"Sleep in what you're wearing, you had no problem doing so outside." He snapped a little irritably, more at his own thoughts than at her behaviour and wondering why on Earth she didn't seem to own anything of any practical value to wear.

"What? No, it's uncomfortable sleeping in street clothing and I've been lying outside on the grass and stuff in these. I don't wanna drag grass smell, sand and dirt onto my 'bed.' I promise I'll come back, I'll just be a second. I already asked the guys if I could borrow some of their stuff to sleep in and they said it'd be fine. Shachi and Penguin's cabin is the one at the end of the hall on the second floor on the right, isn't it? They said they have some old shirts and stuff in the trunks at the ends of their beds. It won't take me a seco-"

"If you really insist on being so fussy over this then didn't it ever cross your mind to just ask me for a set of _my_ clothing?" Law interrupted her rambling in exasperation, pushing the boots he'd set on the floor aside with his foot before getting up to walk to his bureau.

"…Yes."

"And you didn't because?" He asked, pulling open one of the drawers and reaching inside.

"…"

He looked back up at her questioningly, seeing her tightly sealed lips and stubborn-looking pout as she stared back at him.

Nayla rolled her eyes as she watched realisation then a devilish smirk appear on his face. "Which was it Nayla-ya? Couldn't stand the thought of looking like you'd just slept with me and rolled into my clothing in the morning? Or couldn't stand the thought of having to put up with the crew giving you a hard time if they saw you in them and thought the same?"

"Neither. How about the cocky attitude that I'm getting right now being the reason I didn't want to ask?" She muttered grabbing the clothing he held out for her and stomping towards the bathroom to change. He chuckled to himself as he closed the drawer, listening to her lock the bathroom door behind her.

Nayla quickly changed into the plain black, short sleeve shirt. Well, plain apart from the yellow print of Law's Jolly Roger on the left shoulder. It was freshly laundered, only the smell of detergent and of the wood of the inside of the drawer it had been kept in clung to the fabric. She was thankful there was no trace of the man's scent on it, she'd had far too generous an opportunity to realise how amazing he smelt up close today, she didn't need any reminders. 'His hair smells great too, sooo sof-' She didn't need. Any. Reminders.

She pulled up the black shorts he'd given her, or well, she was sure they were shorts on someone Law's height but they easily reached her mid-calves. Especially with the loose waist, she'd need to hold them up a little as she moved to make sure they held.

Folding her own clothing up onto the side of the sink, she searched it for the toothbrush she'd left there earlier, surprised to find it slipped snugly into one of the round, circular slots of the toothbrush holder attached to the wall beside the sink, right next to his own.

Nayla wondered why that gesture bothered her a little bit as she reached for it and brushed her teeth for the night, reluctantly placing her toothbrush back next to his before gathering her clothing, shutting off the light and leaving the bathroom.

She found Law had changed into his own nightwear and was sat on his bed in a simple set of black sweatpants and a black top that was identical to the one he had given to her. It would have annoyed her slightly if the small pang of sympathy she felt for him hadn't reappeared for the hundredth time that day at how tired he seemed to look whilst waiting patiently to use his own bathroom…she smothered it brutally though as he looked her up and down as he stood, smirked smugly and walked past her to the bathroom, silently and unnecessarily closely.

Nayla grit her teeth, making her way to her suitcase to violently shove her clothing back into it. She walked slowly back to the archway that divided his quarters, biting her lip anxiously as she looked at the closed door she knew Law was behind.

All minor irritations aside, if she were honest with herself, she was a little nervous. After everything that had happened between them since he took her; between him nearly taking her head off after the flooding and the open verbal and physical flirtations she wasn't really sure what to expect from the man anymore and wasn't thrilled about the idea of falling asleep and leaving herself vulnerable around him. She didn't know him. If she did, then she damn well would have known better than to have ever turned her back to him on Amazon Lily to begin with.

She chewed her lip, wishing she had somewhere to bolt to. She wished she could go back outside and curl up with Penguin and Shachi instead, at least they hadn't given her any reason to worry around them…Maybe she could reason with Law to allow her to sleep on the second floor tonight, seeing as most of the men were outside and not in their own cabins today. She wondered if maybe bunking with Bepo would be an option he'd go for…

Nayla looked over at the bathroom door as it opened and Law re-entered the room. He spared her a raised brow at what she guessed was a look of anxiety on her face before speaking. "Turn off the light."

She looked at the wall of the archway beside her, a switch on either side of it. She hesitantly flipped the switch on her side, turning the lights off to the living area behind her, leaving the bedroom one still on.

Law couldn't help the chuckle that left him. "All of the lights, Nayla-ya." He said walking towards his bed and peeling back the covers.

She reached her hand up to rest on the light switch on the other side of the wall, hovering her fingers over it as she watched him uncertainly, silently refusing to plunge herself into darkness with him in his bedroom.

He waited a moment before sighing and walking over to her, smiling a little when his gaze dropped down to her bare feet as he caught the flicker of movement that had been her fighting the urge to take a step back from his approach.

To her credit, she did manage to stand her ground, trying not to feel intimidated by the much taller man as he towered over her with a small, lazy grin. He reached his own hand up slowly and placed it over hers on the light switch, pressing his fingers down firmly on top of own to turn the lights off.

"Let's go to bed, shall we Nayla?"

* * *

Law wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd lay down to sleep but despite being tired he found himself going over the information he'd been committing to memory all day over and over in his head. They'd be departing tomorrow and it would be time to start putting his plans into motion, which included working out kinks in the ones he had for the woman in his bedroom right now.

He shifted slightly from lying on his back to look over at her, seeing her silhouette immediately tense at his movement. She was still awake too. The moonlight coming in from the porthole above the sofa she was lying on highlighted her outline clearly enough for him to see she was lying on her side, facing him.

He'd heard her breathing slip into a light snooze several times already but whenever he so much as budged an inch she'd wake and tense immediately.

She'd had no trouble falling into a deep sleep surrounded by his men. He could easily reason it was either because she was confident they wouldn't touch her or because she was confident she could handle them if they did. He couldn't really reason why it bothered him a little she was so at ease around them and not himself because it was perfectly logical she'd be wary of him, he'd given her every right to be.

Law sighed. "Nayla-ya, go to sleep."

"You first."

"I'm not going to do anything to you. Just relax and go to sleep." He hoped she couldn't make out the small smile he wasn't able to keep off of his face at the defensive tone in her voice, finding it oddly cute.

"Why should I even believe that?" She muttered, pulling the covers up to her chin protectively, refusing to take her eyes off of what little she could make out of him in the dark.

"Because if I wanted to do anything, I'd just do it to you when you were awake. I have no reason to pounce on you in your sleep." He'd definitely failed to keep the tone of laughter out of his voice on that.

"Well why aren't _you_ asleep, weren't you the one who was so tired? Worried _I'll_ do something to you as soon as you do?" She asked irritably at his amusement.

"Hardly." He grinned at the thought, hearing her huff and watching her figure curl up with the blanket more tightly. "Stop being so anxious and go to sleep. I don't bite, Nayla."

She closed her eyes; feeling a little bit more reassured at his reasoning and laid-back tone, willing herself to try to relax even though his phrasing had forced her to replay the pleasant, playful nips he'd given her neck and earlobe earlier that day.

"…Liar." She muttered quietly, making him chuckle.

* * *

Nayla woke to the soothing sound of running water, opening her eyes slowly to the unfamiliar sight of Law's bedroom. Her moment of confusion as she looked at the tossed aside covers of an empty bed cleared quickly as she recalled where she was and why. She sighed and closed her eyes again, that's right; sharing a bedroom with the pirate that had abducted her. How did she ever manage to get into these situations?

She wondered when she'd managed to drift off to sleep, what time it was now and how long Law had been up if he were already showering. Oddly, he didn't seem to have a clock in this room and she was far too lazy and cosy to go look at the one in the other.

Nayla drifted in and out of a light doze as she waited for the bathroom to be free, perking up as she heard the water stop running and waiting patiently for her turn. The smell of breakfast was already wafting up from the floor below and it smelled amazing. She was looking forward to grabbing a plate and by the rumble her stomach gave; it was in solid agreement with her on that.

After what she was pretty sure was at least ten minutes since she heard Law turn off the shower she started to get impatient, wondering what was taking him so long.

Nayla grudgingly got up, leaving the warm, snugness of the surprisingly comfortable sofa and stretched, heading over to the bathroom door with a yawn. Maybe Law was taking his time in there because he thought she was still asleep.

She knocked on it gently. "Good morning Law, will you be done soon?" She sighed when she got no response but could hear movement inside by the sink. 'So much for trying the civil, polite approach.'

"Law? Think I could use the bathroom before going to breakfast? I'll be quick, I just want to wash my face and brush my teeth."

"I'll be done when I'm done." Came his blunt reply.

"What are you even doing in there? You've been done with your shower for ages." She grumbled, a little annoyed by the rude brush off.

"Shaving." He said irritably.

"Shaving what, your legs? You're taking forever." She scoffed, folding her arms and glaring at the door as if it had offended her.

There was a pause and a deep breath from him before he spoke. "This is _my_ bathroom, stop whining. Either be quiet and wait or go to breakfast. Do not provoke me this early." He warned quietly.

Nayla bit her lip, willing herself to be the better person and not give in to the temptation of punching clean through his bathroom door. She took a deep soothing breath of her own before turning on her heel and stomping away with a new destination in mind.

"Nayla. If you use the bathroom downstairs, I _will_ find out about it and I _will_ throw you overboard."

She paused at the archway to his living quarters to look at the bathroom door in surprise. 'How did he know?'

She scowled as she looked back at her suitcase; she'd intended to grab a pair of socks from it to walk around in before using the bathroom downstairs. Instead she walked straight to the bureau he'd given her his clothing from and yanked open the same drawer.

"Fine, but I'm stealing your socks and fuck your opinion on it you cranky bastard." She said reaching in and pulling a thick pair out. She'd be damned if she were going to ruin her own on the sub's floorboards now, the way he'd started with her this morning.

Nayla waited what she felt was a fair amount of time for a retort, another threat or for the door to open before she decided he'd given in on this and pulled them on.

Law listened to her slam his drawer shut and storm out of his quarters, slamming the door on her way out. He looked at the confused expression on his face in the mirror over his sink before sighing and resuming his shave. It wasn't often he was lost for words but he really wasn't entirely sure how to respond to sock robbery.

* * *

Nayla made her way down the stairs, deciding breakfast would be a better use of her time than sitting there like an obedient moron, waiting for Law to finish taking his sweet time.

"Do not provoke me this early." She mimicked bitterly. "Who's provoking who first thing in the morning? Asshole." She muttered under her breath as she reached the landing, turning to walk in the direction the messdeck was in.

"Well…someone's a little ray of sunshine this morning." She turned at the sound of Connor's voice to find him, Jeff and Shachi heading her way from down the hall, looking at her in surprise. "What's the matter, hungover?"

"Huh? Oh, no, not that at all." She dismissed, waiting for them to catch up before falling in step with them towards breakfast.

They walked down the hall together quietly for a few moments as Connor looked her up and down, taking in her attire fully before exchanging a sly grin with Jeff. "Rough night, sweetie?"

"Could say that I guess." She grumbled distractedly as they arrived outside the messdeck.

Jeff pushed open the door. "How rou-?"

"You ask me how rough it was and I swear the first eating utensil I lay may hand on in there is going straight into your groin." She cut across him, entering the messdeck ahead of them as they stared at her back wide-eyed.

Connor whistled lowly as they watched her walk away. "Not. A morning person."

"...I wonder if I can sell the invention rights for stab-proof jockstraps at the next island." Shachi muttered quietly before following her inside. He remained cautiously quiet as he followed her to the canteen window, helping himself to breakfast as she grumpily slapped hers onto a plate.

"Morning hun." Nayla looked up through the window, expecting to see Jake on the galley's side of it but found no one standing there. She turned around and looked for him, spotting him at the nearest table behind her.

The chef smiled and waved at her...though the other crewmembers at his table were eyeing her clothing and sharing dirty grins and gossipy mutters amongst themselves. A glance around the room confirmed that most of them were doing the same, she sighed at that.

"Morning Jake, not working today?" Nayla grabbed her breakfast and walked over to him.

"Nope, usually a day on, day off for most of us. Don't worry though, breakfast'll still be good, just not as good as mine." He grinned.

"Oh that's nice, a day off. What are you gonna do today?"

"Noticed fruits on some of the plants here, we were gonna go see if we could grab some for stock." He turned to Ichirou across the table, indicating who the other person in his 'we' was.

"So even on your day off, you're basically working. You sure are dedicated." She smiled, moving to take the seat beside him.

"Uh, Nayla-chan." Shachi placed a hand on her shoulder, holding his own breakfast in the other. "Captain wants you at his table for your meals." He watched nervously as the smile slowly fell from her face, tempted to move the hand he had placed on her to cover his groin.

"I bet he does." Someone at Jake's table said quietly.

"Ah, young love." Another said in a mockingly sweet voice, making her turn around as the rest of the men laughed.

Sensing a volatile explosion coming, Shachi cautiously grabbed her arm and tugged her away as she stared down the men that were making fun of her.

"D-Don't mind them Nayla-chan, you know how the guys are." He chuckled nervously, leading her over to their table at the end of the room.

She grunted in aggravation, ending her death glare towards the men to look ahead of her as they came to a stop at the table, noticing Penguin and Bepo were already at it.

They'd both stopped eating to look at her as she reached them, Penguin had paused the fork of eggs halfway to his mouth as he took in her appearance, his gaze stopping at, what she assumed from the look on his face, was very messy bedhead.

She waited patiently for him to greet her, only getting more agitated as his brows rose higher and higher into his cap as he looked at her.

…

"You got something to say?" She asked, letting her tray fall to the table's surface with an ungraceful clunk.

"Uh...wha-no. Nothing at all." He cleared his throat as she took a seat across from him, Shachi sitting beside her.

"Morning Nayla, why are you in Captain's clothes?" Bepo greeted innocently.

"I-idiot!" Penguin whipped his head around to him.

"You want to get us killed this early in the morning?" Shachi yelled across the table at him.

"Good morning Bepo and because I had nothing more suitable to wear." She answered politely.

The men looked at her in shocked silence at her calmness before she turned to face Penguin again. "It's nice to just be greeted and asked instead of you guys making stupid assumptions, you dirty-minded bastards. No, I didn't have sex with your captain." She grit out before taking an aggressive bite of her toast. '…Yet. – Cram it.'

"O-Oh, that uh wasn't what we were thinking at all, Nayla-chan." Shachi said awkwardly.

"I mean I asked you guys for something to sleep in just last night, why wouldn't you think that was all this is?" She grumbled, pinching the material of the top she wore as she glanced at him.

"Well…" She watched him hiss and his face contort in pain before he glared across the table at Penguin. Seemed he'd kicked the man into rethinking his contemplation of an honest answer.

"Anyway Nayla-chan, still up for our plans today?" Penguin asked ignoring his friend's pained expression as he rubbed his tender shin under the table.

"…Yeah." She sighed, giving up on being annoyed at them.

"Ah come on, why the long face? It'll be fun." Shachi nudged her, still rubbing his tender leg.

"Yeah I guess, I could use a little fun." She said smiling slightly, glancing at the empty seat next to Penguin, the one that Law had occupied yesterday.

Someone had set today's paper down at his place for him, still rolled up and tied with twine. She wondered when he'd be down for breakfast as she reached over for it.

"Um Nayla?" She looked over at the furry navigator. "That's Captain's paper, he's the first one to read it. Then the rest of the crew are allowed to pass it around."

She gripped it tightly and pulled it over. "Sounds like a crew rule to me. Good thing he isn't _my_ captain and that he told me no such thing."

"But-"

"Bepo, if he has a problem with it he can tell me himself." 'And see how many fucks I give.' "You did your job and told me his preference and if he gets mad I'll tell him it was my fault, ok?" She said firmly tugging the twine off and unfurling the paper beside her tray.

She could sense the three at the table giving each other unsure looks but ignored it as she flipped through the paper for any news of interest, hopeful that she might see something about Zoro's crew but there didn't seem to be anything too exciting going on. Just the usual bottom-feeding pirates running amok and some new, loose bounty posters tucked into the centrefold.

Nayla pulled them out and flipped through them with little notice. Law's had been reissued in yesterday's paper so it wasn't included in this copy. They'd include it again in a few days though, even if there were no changes made to it, they frequently re-printed and redistributed the posters for the top rookies and troublemakers.

'Speaking of bottom-feeders,' she thought, reaching the last of the bounty posters in her hand and looking at the centrefold at Law's face. Nayla glared at the smug grin staring back at her.

Although loose bounty posters that you could pull out and attach to bulletin boards for the top most wanted weren't included in every issue, their faces were still printed in the paper daily to alert the public.

"If you glare any harder you're gonna burn holes into the paper, Nayla-chan." Shachi sighed beside her, following her intense gaze.

"Is Captain really that bad to you?" Penguin asked from across the table earning himself a cold stare from her.

"You don't want me to answer that." Nayla replied as she got up from the table.

"Where are you going?"

"Shachi has inspired me, be right back." She replied as she walked towards the canteen window.

They watched her curiously as she called one of the chefs over to it and spoke to him briefly, poking her hand inside slightly to point towards the wall of the galley.

The chef walked out of view, returning a moment later with a pen and handing it to her. She seemed to thank him and came back to the table, sitting down with a bright smile.

"What are you doing, Nayla?"

"Crossword." She answered innocently, smiling at Bepo and pulling the newspaper over to the other side of her tray, the one furthest from Shachi beside her.

The trio shrugged; happy she seemed to be in higher spirits and left her to it, resuming their light morning conversation which she tuned out.

Nayla took one last glance behind her to make sure Law wasn't in the messdeck yet, well aware of his oddly creepy timing at showing up at the worst possible moment but confirmed the coast was clear before setting to work happily.

'Wonder what takes him so long, he's such a woman. Bet he's busy plucking those eyebrows of his to keep them nice and fine, such dainty brows for a man, probably what makes him look so pretty… Maybe he's busy getting his mascara juuust right, such thick lashes. So unfair, why are guys always blessed with such beautiful lashes that they don't even need?...Or maybe he doesn't actually have bags, maybe that's all guyliner and he's busy getting that on for the day.'

"…I don't even want to know what you're thinking about to cause such a demonic giggle, Nayla-chan."

Nayla realised the table had gotten quiet as she looked up at Penguin's concerned face, Bepo and Shachi sharing similar expressions of disconcert as they eyed her worriedly.

"Mmm yeah you probably don't." She agreed, setting her pen down as she completed her masterpiece and hastily scoffing a mouthful of her breakfast, now looking to make a quick escape.

"I do. Enlighten me, Nayla-ya." She nearly choked on her food as she felt Law's presence behind her, hurriedly flipping the paper closed.

He walked around the table to his seat beside Penguin, eyeing her suspiciously as she coughed. "What have I said about doing that, Law! Geez, you'll give me a heart attack."

Law sat across from her, glancing at the paper she was partially crushing beneath her hand before back at her expectantly.

Following his captain's line of sight, Penguin spoke up. "We tried to tell her Capta-"

"It's fine." He held his hand open in indication for the paper.

Nayla cleared her throat, tucking the pen to the side of her tray discreetly and smiling sweetly. "Here ya go."

Law took it from her as one of the chefs from the galley approached the table with his breakfast and set it down in front of him.

Nayla resumed eating at a slower pace, deciding there was no escaping now, what was done was done. He would have known it was her anyway; she may as well sit back and enjoy the reaction.

She watched him flip open the paper to the first page at his leisure, sparing her what she read as one last warning glare to behave herself before taking a bite of his own food.

"Anyway, did you ask Jeff about it?"

"Yeah bumped into him and Connor on the way here, denies it. Naturally." Shachi sighed.

"I'm telling ya, it was that scumbag again. Like I don't have enough to live down already." Penguin complained.

Nayla looked up at him, guessing what this conversation was about and risking a quick glance across the table at Law to find he was giving her a knowing look.

"What are you guys talking about?" Bepo asked curiously, looking between them.

"Oh, nothing important." Shachi waved dismissively before turning back to Penguin. "Couldn't have been though, he fell asleep before us."

"He's faked that before." Penguin reminded, pointing at Shachi with his fork.

"Well…yeah but I dunno, seems too tame to be Jeff. No marker to the face, no photo, I still have my eyebrows, we both still have our albums-thanks again for that by the way Nayla-chan." He turned, beaming at her.

"No problem." She smiled innocently, ignoring the unimpressed look Law glanced up to give her as he flipped through the new bounties in disinterest. She wondered if he'd rat her out to them.

"I dunno, just one of the other jokers I guess." Shachi shrugged.

"…You drool a lot ya know." Penguin deadpanned at him.

"Wha-I-"

"It's what woke me up."

"Well you should be thankful it did! Least we woke up before the others." Shachi grumbled irritably, picking at his food.

Law sighed loudly, giving up with the people at his table as he set the last bounty poster aside to look at the centrefold, freezing momentarily as he looked at his own picture. Nayla watched his brows raise high into the brim of his hat before he furrowed them in irritation, looking up at her across the table.

She smiled at him, willing him to lose his temper with her, looking forward to the other people at the table (and eventually the whole crew, via gossip) knowing what had made him blow his stack so early in the morning.

Honestly the result she'd really hoped for was for him to not notice it and for the paper to get passed to the entire crew first but sadly, nothing seemed to escape his notice.

Law looked at her long and hard, taking in the 'I dare you' and 'come on, make my day' written all over her face and body language before biting the inside of his cheek and tearing the page out neatly. He would not be giving her the satisfaction of the response she wanted.

The others looked over at the noise the action made curiously. "Uh, Captain wha-?"

He turned his cold stare to Penguin in response, making the man decide to rethink his inquiry as his captain neatly folded the page he'd ripped out of the paper dangerously calmly.

"How long until repairs are finished?" Law asked neutrally, as he folded the page once more before tucking it into his pocket.

"Oh um, well really they're pretty much finished, just needed the air out overnight. They'll give her a once over with the welder and replace the hull panels. Should take less than an hour then we can set her back in the water."

Law hummed in response, resuming his breakfast and his gaze across the table at the practically gleeful expression on Nayla's face as she chewed the last bite of hers with a small laugh.

"Is something funny, Nayla-ya?" He challenged, making her giggle louder as she finished her food.

"Not at all, I take it the bathroom is free now so I'll go make use of it." She smiled at him as she got up, turning to the others as she picked up her tray. "Come grab me as soon as you guys are ready, ok?"

"Sure thing, Nayla-chan." Shachi said cautiously as she walked away from the table to set her tray on the pile of used ones she spotted on a trolley in the corner.

Law watched her walk to the canteen window, returning her pen to a passing chef before she made her way to the door, turning to give him a brief, sly smirk as she left the messdeck.

She was obviously happy with her petty vengeance, which he conceded was probably justified. He hadn't been particularly nice to her this morning.

"What's with that smile Captain?" Penguin prodded teasingly, following his line of sight to the door Nayla had just walked through.

"It was a love letter, right?" Shachi grinned, leaning his elbows onto the table and pointing towards the pocket his captain had slipped the page into.

"Not quite." Law chuckled.


	33. Last Xmas, I gave you my heart

Nayla left the bathroom, finally having had a chance to freshen up and get changed for the day. She walked over to the sofa she slept on, placing the pile of folded clothing Law had leant her onto it and smiling to herself as she heard the door to the quarters open, looking up to find Law closing it behind him as he came in.

He took in her appearance briefly; a short, shoulderless, black sundress and sandals, before returning the small grin she gave him. Seemed she was still very much enjoying his reaction at breakfast.

"Very funny, Nayla-ya."

"I thought so." She hummed happily, walking through the archway into the living quarters as he moved to sit at his desk.

"I can tell. The speech bubble was unnecessary though, I think you already illustrated your point with that, oddly accurate, drawing on my forehead." He said sitting down in his chair as she walked over to it.

"Hmm no, I think the 'I am a dickhead' speech bubble was very necessary. Can't expect everyone to get the complex, artistic meaning behind the one I drew on your forehead...you'd look quite cute with buckteeth and glasses though, don't ya think?" She asked leaning on the side of his desk, with a playful smile.

"Keep pushing your luck." He warned quietly a small edge of threat to his smirk.

"Intend to." She sang.

They both turned to look at the door as they heard loud voices and some scuffling in the hallway. "What is the matter with you?"

"Just let ME give it to her ok?" Law glanced at Nayla as he heard the 'her,' wondering what she had done now.

"I don't understand why! Are ya that desperate for attention from her?" Feeling his piercing stare on her, Nayla turned to look at Law sheepishly; unsure herself of what the commotion was about.

"Are you?! It doesn't matter who gives it to her as long as she gets it right? I got it, let me give it to her!" Law sighed, getting up from his char as the arguing got louder as they moved closer to his door.

"And I'm asking you why!"

"And I'm saying why do you have to question everything? I have my reasons, ok?!"

Law yanked the door to his quarters open to find Shachi and Connor playing tug of war with a book on the other side of it. They stopped and looked at him as he leant an elbow against his doorframe, giving them an unimpressed stare, awaiting an explanation for their behaviour.

"What is it?" He impatiently demanded after a generous allowance of time to speak.

"Oh uh, nothing Captain. Just discussing something with Connor here." Shachi offered with a nervous grin. "Won't be a sec." He said, pulling the other man a little way down the hall and turning to speak to him in a harsh, hushed whisper.

"What's the matter with them?" Nayla asked curiously, hardly needing to duck to peer out into the hallway from under the arm Law had propped against the doorframe.

"I was going to ask _you_ that question." He muttered down at her, giving her a suspicious look.

"Ah, Nayla-chan!" Shachi trotted back over to the doorway holding the book as Connor grudgingly walked back towards the stairwell.

"I'll come grab you when we're ready to go outside, sweetie." He walked away with a small wave which she unsurely returned.

"Heard ya wanted to borrow a book." Shachi said, holding it out towards her with a victorious grin.

She felt Law's knowing stare on her immediately, cursing her luck. 'Why couldn't Connor have leant this to me when Law wasn't around? That was the whole point of borrowing one of his personal ones in the first place, dammit.'

Nayla forced a polite smile. "So I did. Thank you, Shachi."

Law snatched the book before she could take it from him, reading the cover. "A book about submarines, interesting choice, Nayla-ya." His sly grin faltered a little as he furrowed his brows, examining the unevenly closed book questioningly before looking back up at Shachi.

Nayla followed Law's gaze to find the man looking significantly paler and suddenly quite nervous-looking. "Uh, w-well. See you outside, Nayla-chan!" He turned and bolted down the hall at top speed, taking the steps up to the main deck two at a time in his haste to make a quick escape.

They watched him disappear in silence before Law quietly closed the door and opened the front cover of the book. His brows rose as a small piece of red fabric fell to the floor from inside it.

Recovering from his own shock at realising what it was, he took in the frozen look of horror on Nayla's face before stooping down to pick it up, dangling the item from his fingers between them.

…

"Would you mind explaining to me why Shachi is using a pair of your panties as a bookmark in one of Connor's manuals?" He asked levelly.

Snapping out of her own shock as he spoke, she sighed and rubbed her face, trying to choose her words carefully. "…Nothing ha-…I…well what happened was, yesterday…That bastard!" She cursed under her breath; realising Shachi had just hung her out to dry.

"I'm waiting." Law said evenly looking at the skimpy item with mild interest.

Nayla snatched it from his fingers angrily. "It's not my fault."

"Which part? Asking one of my men to unwittingly lend you a book to aid your escape and or sabotage of my vessel or the part where you, apparently, had sexual relations with another of my men despite my specific orders not to?"

"Fine, you got me on the book. Fine." She admitted, holding her hands up in defence, the fabric balled tightly into one of them. "But the panties really aren't my fault."

Law gave her a sceptical look, crossing his arms and tucking the book he'd confiscated to his side.

"They aren't! Your perv-crew laundered my soaked clothing yesterday and these didn't make it back." She lifted the hand she'd clasped the material into up in indication. "I asked Shachi to return them for me, discreetly. He must have bumped into Connor on his way up here and thought he could slip them back to me inside the book." She muttered, bending down to her case to shove them back where they belonged.

"I recall Shachi running past me with your clothing yesterday, being the one that brought them back up here for you _and_ he was the one that returned these to you now yet you say my 'perv-crew' laundered your clothing as if he wasn't the one that did it."

"I dunno who actually stole them, it might not have been, Shachi." Nayla grumbled, busying herself with her task to avoid his eye contact and inwardly promising to make Shachi pay _dearly_ if by some miracle his captain bought it and she successfully covered his ass.

Hearing no reply, she looked back up at Law to find he was just quietly looking at her with a stoic facial expression. He sighed and shook his head, walking back to his desk. "How nice of you to try to defend him despite his behaviour." He said disapprovingly.

"Are you going to punish him?" She asked as he sat back down, setting the book onto his desk.

"I take it from that lame cover attempt that you don't want me to, though I should for disobeying my orders."

"Well…technically, at that time, you hadn't given him any orders about me. So he didn't actually break any." She said rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she stood.

"You mean at the time he took your clothing? No, I hadn't but he would have taken them after breakfast when your clothing was dry. Even without specific orders regarding you, he should have known better." He smirked a little at her sigh of defeat as she walked back over to him.

"Are you really still trying to defend him? I can't imagine most women would take this kindly to a panty thief."

"Well being a panty thief is harmless, it's really no big deal. I mean it's not like he's a dangerous sexual predator pulling unsuspecting women into his bed on a whim or anything."

She could have sworn he honestly looked proud at that as he grinned at her. "Still, you should definitely be more angry about this, are you that smitten with Shachi?"

Nayla raised her brows at that before smiling as she came to a stop beside him. "Careful, you nearly sounded jealous and so what if I am? What if I told you I was madly in love with him?"

"I'd have a hard time believing it, especially considering you apparently had a 'quickie' with Jeff in a storage room yesterday." He chuckled.

She laughed at that, perching herself onto the edge of his desk. "Wow, word really does travel fast on your crew, huh?"

"Certainly does. I take it there's no truth to the rumour?" He half-heartedly asked, already knowing the answer, confirmed even further by her response to the accusation.

"Nope but if ya don't believe me you can always ask our witness."

"And who would that be?"

"Holly of course, she was there."

He rolled his eyes and sighed as he realised what she was referring to. "They still have that thing in storage?"

"'Fraid so." She giggled as she leant her weight onto the wood beside him. Law glanced at the bare thigh she further exposed as she did so, well within reach.

"Weren't you a busy woman yesterday, letting Shachi hold onto a trophy, having a quickie with Jeff…and making out with me." He said lowly, watching her expression carefully.

Nayla looked away from him and at the book on the desk. "Well, I wouldn't really consider it that." She couldn't help but inwardly recall that they hadn't kissed, the thought annoying her and the fact that the thought annoyed her, annoying her further.

"Oh? Then what would you consider it?" He teased, though he was genuinely curious about her thoughts on what had happened between them.

"…I never was a fan of unnecessary labels." She muttered, brushing the hand he'd rest on top of the book aside to pick it up.

Law allowed it, taking in the small pout on her lips as she flipped the book open on her lap. "Between your sulking, temper tantrums and your streaks of petty vengeance, you really are quite childish." He openly observed.

Nayla looked up at him slowly from the book on her lap. "Would you rather I be more 'adult' with you, Law?"

He smirked at her challenge, placing his hand on her knee and slowly gliding it up the thigh she had leant on his desk, watching as she fought the urge to look down at it and maintain his eye contact as it climbed dangerously high, pushing the hem of her dress up slightly.

He lingered there for a moment before swiftly pulling the book neatly out of her loose grip and off of her lap, closing it as he set it back onto the desk in front of him. "No."

"Hmm…are you sure?" She purred, not missing the slight upturn of the corner of his mouth at her obvious taunt.

"How about I save you the trouble of feigning interest with Connor and having to read through all of this?" He asked, motioning to the book, deciding to redirect their conversation as he reclined back casually and set a safer distance between them. Though he wasn't sure if it was for her or his own benefit at this point. "What do you want to know?"

She blinked in surprise at the offer, considering he knew what she wanted the information for. "You'd really tell me what I want to know, just like that?"

"I'm not worried." Law smirked confidently, making her scoff at his insulting underestimation of her.

She thought for a moment before deciding to take him up on the open challenge, hoping his arrogance would come back to bite him in the ass if she actually did manage to use the information well. "Alright, is it possible to escape a submerged sub?"

"Depends on the depth. Over one thousand feet submersion, forget it. Anything between one thousand and six hundred feet is anybody's guess though I'd say chances of survival are pretty slim. Less than six hundred, you could try using basic escape gear to get to the surface, though someone as inexperienced as you will probably just end up give themselves a decent case of the bends."

"Hmm." He watched her mull that over, not surprised she didn't ask what 'the bends' was. "Alright, where would I find the gear?"

"The room above the main airlock, there's always more than enough up there for each crewmember, some spares in storage." He inwardly reminded himself to try getting some gear large enough to accommodate Jean Bart at the next island.

"It's a moot point, Nayla-ya. Unless we're about to launch a surprise attack, are escaping or avoiding turbulent conditions, we usually travel on the surface." Law settled his hands behind his head as he watched her actively think her options over.

"Fair enough, then where are the lifeboats?"

"Same place, inflatable. Be careful when loading your suitcase." He added on mockingly, making her turn to him with a scowl.

"You really don't think I'll do it do you, you have nooo problem telling me all this?" She asked sceptically, wondering if maybe he was feeding her false information.

"No, I don't. Although we have the equipment out of technicality, Nayla-ya, it's unlikely to help and we all know that. This is the Grand Line, leaving the vessel in gear or on a flimsy lifeboat is near enough a death sentence in these waters."

She sighed loudly at his smug grin, understanding now why he had no issue with her knowing. "So what, something goes wrong with your ship out here and you're all pretty much fucked?" She grumbled, inwardly confirming what she hoped she didn't already know; her only safe chance of slipping away would be on land and he already said he'd be watching her on shore.

"Pretty much." He chuckled at her. "If you really want to jump ship than feel free, I won't stop you."

"Purupurupurupuru, purupur-Captain, we'll be done down here with the hull in about ten minutes. She'll be all set to go back into the water then."

"Good, get everything back on board, withdraw the lower gangplank and have Bepo announce the crew are to be ready to depart in three hours."

"Aye aye Captain."

"Why three hours?" She asked, watching him hang up the receiver.

"It allows us more than enough time to inspect the hull inside and out for leaks before we leave the island." Law said sitting back again.

"The men already know we'll have to wait around at least three hours so some of them completed their preparations to depart already. That would be why they have time to waste on the beach with you this morning." He glanced at her choice of outfit knowingly, assuming the fine, halterneck straps peering over the top of her dress to be part of a swimsuit.

"Hmm yeah they mentioned it last night…" Law watched as she tapped her fingers onto her thigh in thought as they heard Bepo announce the estimated departing time over the intercom system.

Law reached over and gently pulled her right hand off of her lap and closer to him. "How's your wrist?" He asked as he flexed and rolled it gently, watching her face for signs of pain.

"Much better actually, a night in that splint did a lot of good…I'll put it back on when I come back inside, I didn't want it to get wet." Nayla watched his warm hands on hers as he checked her sprain, biting her lip guiltily at his attentiveness.

As soon as he was satisfied and released her she got up and walked across the room silently. Law watched in curiosity then surprise as he saw her reach back into her case and pull out the small gift that had been intended for him. She moved back to stand beside his chair and handed it to him quietly with a small smile, not bothering to explain what it was, aware that he already knew.

He took it from her unsurely, deciding he too wouldn't bother with the pretence of him not knowing what it was. "…Why the change of heart?"

"Well…I bought these as thanks for saving my life and…well you may have been a jerk since but it doesn't change the fact that you did. So it only seems right to give it to you."

Law couldn't see any trace of guilt on her face now, just a strange, soft sincerity that he honestly didn't know how to respond to. "Nayla, I don't ne-"

"Just take it...Come on, you know you're curious." She teased half-heartedly, pushing the gift he was handing back to her into his hand more firmly.

He grinned a bit at that. "It's a little larger than Penguin and Shachi's. Did I get the deluxe version of that indecent Amazon Lily photo album?" He mocked, tearing the paper off.

"Figures you already know about those." She laughed, perching herself onto his desk again as he took out the gift.

"Why no Y?" He read the title aloud, surprised to find himself holding a fairly scientific-looking book, despite its pun-y title.

"I'm sure you're aware the women on Amazon Lily leave the island to become pregnant. A genetic researcher ran across one that had left the island to get pregnant a little over a year ago and asked if they could do some tests to find out why the Amazonians only give birth to females. The Amazonian agreed and this book is the result." She explained, watching him as he read the inside cover summary with raised brows.

"The Empress was ok with this?" He asked, flipping through the pages. The question of why women from the island only gave birth to other women had crossed his mind, it intrigued many scientists around the world and if it were a question that could be answered, it could be revolutionary in the understanding of fertilisation and genetics

"The Empress granted permission because it would help further their own understanding too. The book is only allowed to be published and sold within Amazon Lily but the geneticist was allowed to use the knowledge gained to further their own research. You're holding the only copy to have left the island since it was published four months ago."

Law looked up at her from examining the pages, unsure of what to say, surprised that she had managed to buy something of interest to him.

Nayla smiled wider at his speechlessness, leaning down and giving him a slow, sincere, chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Law."

She stopped pulling away when she felt his hand cup the side of her face, his fingers reaching far enough to gently thread through the hair at her temple.

He looked at her intently; it was obvious her action had been innocent, he'd seen her kiss the cheeks of his men plenty of times, for the smallest of things. It hadn't been her intention to provoke him…he gazed at her lips, wondering how many times they'd been this close to his own before speaking.

"You're welcome. Though I do recall saving your life twice, where is my other gift, Nayla?" He asked lowly.

"I'm pretty sure I made it clear I'm not counting the second time." She replied deviously, matching his sly smirk and tone and enjoying the feel of his fingers trailing lightly over her skin as he slid his hand down her cheek slightly.

"Hmm, that's a shame." He whispered quietly, running his thumb gently over her lips, feeling the need to confirm how soft they'd felt pressed against him.

"Why, did you have a gift in mind?" Against her better judgement, she found herself leaning into the hand on her cheek, absolutely captivated by the beautiful blue of his eyes, his smile and the incredible tingle the light brush against her lips was causing.

…

They both paused as they heard the knock at his door. She looked at him in alarm as his smile grew tenfold, realising in that split second what he was about to do.

"Enter." Law watched in amusement as she hopped off of his desk and moved away from him as if he had scalded her.

"Hey Captain, I was ju-…" Connor locked onto Nayla as he opened the door, catching the last of her rapid movement away from his captain's desk. "…Sorry…was I int-?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Law!"

"Its fine, what did you want Connor?" He chuckled, ignoring the avid attempt she was making to kill him with her glare.

"Was just here to let Nayla know the others have headed outside and to let you know the repair team are finished with the hull and with moving things back on board, Captain. They're ready when you are."

"Alright." Law picked up the Nodachi he'd leant against the other side of his desk as he stood up, shooting Nayla a winning smirk as they both moved to join Connor at the doorway.

They left his quarters, walking towards the main deck in awkward silence. Or well, it was awkward for everyone but Law who walked a few strides ahead of them, wearing a small, lazy grin of utter contentment.

Connor cast her a questioning side glance, which she duly ignored as they climbed the stairs. She could see him start to smile in her peripheral vision, knowing he was already imagining the reaction he'd get from the others as soon as he told them.

Nayla scowled at him as they left the air lock and walked out onto the deck. "Connor…" She warned lowly.

"Yes, sweetie?" He beamed demonically at her as they started following Law down the gangplank.

"Not a word." She muttered quietly, spotting the others getting up from their seats on the logs at the grassy area of the beach, heading their way to meet them.

"Hmm? About what exactly? You'll need to be more specific." He teased, rubbing his chin in fake thought.

"You-!"

"Connor."

"Uh, yes Captain?" Connor's deviant grin got knocked off his face as Law turned to look at him as they reached the beach.

"Not a word." He ordered with finality.

"…Aye aye Captain." The man sighed dejectedly, slumping his shoulders in defeat.

Nayla raised her brows in surprise at Law's order, as he turned away from them to watch one of the crewmembers on the main deck pull in the gangplank they had just walked down. As soon as it was withdrawn, he formed a Room large enough to engulf the ship and effortlessly moved it back into the water gently.

"Thank you for the gift, Nayla-ya." He smirked over his shoulder at her, not waiting for her reply before moving himself back to the deck and releasing his Room. She watched him stride across it and re-enter the vessel through the main entrance, out of sight.

"So when you're done giving my Captain's back those lost-puppy-dog eyes, wanna tell me what the gift was?" Connor nudged her with a cheeky grin, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Puppy?! None of your business you damn gossip." She hissed pinching the nipple she now knew was pierced, hard.

"OW! Owowowow! Let go!" He hissed in pain as he pulled away, rubbing a hand over it. "Geez, that hurt."

Nayla looked over his shoulder as the others approached. "What did you do to him?" Jeff asked with concern as he looked at the hand Connor had clutched over his chest.

"Broke his heart, obviously."

"…Alright but wh-?" Jeff followed her cold stare to the man behind him curiously.

"Hey…Nayla-chan…" Shachi greeted awkwardly, clearing his throat.

"What has _he_ done now?" Penguin sighed.

"Nothing important." She grit out, before turning to the rest of them. "So, we have three hours to goof off, ready to hit the beach?"

* * *

Law closed and pushed aside the book on his desk. An encyclopaedia of Devil Fruit; all currently known fruits, their appearances, their classifications, their known abilities and their weaknesses collected into one textbook.

It didn't always have a lot of information regarding each fruit but it was as comprehensive as possible, given the rarity of the fruits and limited information publically available about them. He'd finished brushing up on what was known about the Devil Fruits of the adversaries he'd be likely to run into after they departed today.

He was all set with plans for himself and his pursuit of his warlord title, next he'd focus on refining his ideas for Nayla's use.

A glance at the clock told him they'd be due to depart in roughly thirty minutes or so. No one had contacted him to inform him of leaks or faulty repairs and he hadn't expected them to. His crew were skilled at their jobs and he had complete faith that the work they'd done was sound.

Perhaps he'd use the next thirty minutes to have a break and go get some fresh air before they set sail, then he could have a discussion with Nayla afterwards. In the meantime, Law saw no harm in allowing her to have some fun with his crew; they'd kept her preoccupied and given him one less thing to worry about as he worked.

He looked at the book she'd given him as he stood from his desk; he was honestly looking forward to starting it later on when he had some down time.

Grabbing his Nodachi, a small smile met his lips as he thought of their earlier interaction. She was definitely becoming bolder and more flirtatious with him, it seemed she'd realised he would back down from her when things went too far and was pushing him on purpose now.

Leaving his quarters and walking down the hall, he wondered to himself if she were using him as a safety net to break things up when things got too heated or if she was just lacking self control.

He chuckled to himself, deciding it was probably a mixture of both as he reached the stairwell but stopped short, narrowing his eyes as he caught the chilling sight of large drops of blood on them.

Law tightened the grip on his weapon, scanning the stairs closely as he approached them and listening intently for any indication of a fight but there was nothing but an eerie and unusual silence. He climbed the stairs, following the morbid trail all the way up to the main entrance.

He felt tense, wondering whose it was, why they hadn't made it to him for help, how badly injured they were and who caused it…there was only one potential enemy on board.

Listening closely at the main entrance he could finally hear Nayla outside, laughing. She sounded perfectly fine, happy in fact. He cautiously pushed the hilt of his weapon up slightly with his thumb as he stepped onto the deck quietly.

The drops of blood were heavier and thicker on the floorboards here. He followed them visually, looking ahead to find a group of his men leant against the side of the railing talking in hushed whispers amongst themselves.

He allowed his weapon to slide back into its sheath fully, deadpanning at their backs as he approached them from behind, already drawing a conclusion to this mystery that frankly, he should have realised earlier.

A glance over their shoulders at the sea below and he could see they were watching Nayla some distance away, playing in the water with the others in an attractive and overly revealing bikini. He leant against the railing beside them, unsurprised they hadn't noticed his presence yet.

"Poetry in motion." One said dreamily.

"No kidding, the size of those ti-"

"Don't you have preparations to be taking care of?" Law asked blandly, startling them and making them whirr around to face him in shock.

A quick glance at their bloodied and tissue-stuffed nostrils confirmed where the worrying trail had come from.

"Uh, w-we're done Captain." One said with a salute.

"Swab the deck."

"Aye aye Captain!" They scrambled to get back inside and do as they were asked.

Law sighed, watching them disappear into the sub before looking back out over the railing. He'd been right in assuming the fine straps he'd seen peering over the top of her shoulderless sundress were part of her swimwear. Apparently the strings of a skimpy, black and gold halterneck bikini top.

"…I don't have enough blood bags in storage for this." He groaned to himself quietly, rubbing his face and leaning his elbows against the railing, watching Nayla enjoy herself in the sea with his crew.

She was blissfully unaware of her perverted audience and of the hassle and worry she had caused him, sat on Jake's shoulders, wrestling hand to hand against Shachi who was sat on Penguin's shoulders in the shallow water.

Jake, Jeff and Connor were rooting for her to win, Shachi yelled down at Penguin when he heard him join in, angrily asking him which side he was on.

Law rest his cheek to his hand, waiting for the inevitable outcome of Shachi overpowering her and knocking her off of Jake, concluding this match. He'd already decided he'd refuse to help her if she injured her wrist further by agreeing to play this stupid game.

His crewmembers hadn't been wrong; that ridiculously skimpy top was not the most effective garment to hold her steady during a wrestling match. 'Poetry in motion indeed,' he thought with a smirk before forcing his gaze to Shachi instead, wondering how the man hadn't died of a fatal, nasal haemorrhage yet. Perhaps he was starting to get used to having her around and building a bit of tolerance to her.

"Ah! Wait! Timeout, my top came undone!" Shachi immediately looked down at her chest, losing his focus.

Penguin caught on first."Moron! It's a trap! She-!"

Law chuckled to himself, deciding he'd spoken to soon as she immediately knocked Shachi off of Penguin's shoulders and into the water with a splash to the cheers and laughter of the others.

"Annnd Team Jayla wins again!" She exclaimed happily, raising her arms as Shachi resurfaced, spitting out the water he'd taken in.

"Idiot, how'd you fall for that?!" Penguin yelled.

"Mhat muz murty, Maylah-champh!" Shachi complained, pinching his nose shut and ignoring him.

"Me? Who's the dirty one?" She mocked, pointing her index finger at his bloodied nose. "Plus, you deserve it…and you know why."

"Mha? Mell I…" He blushed furiously under Penguin's glare.

"And the crowd goes wild! Victory lap Jake!" She kissed her measly biceps in hammy showmanship.

"I still think we shoulda gone with Team Nayke, ya know. Sounds a little less girly." He laughed.

"Hmm, think so? Has a nice ring to it too so alright. Official team name change, 'Nayke' it is." She said, setting her arms down on top of his head and grinning down at him.

"Nice job lil lady, but that won't work on us. You're in for it now!" Jeff challenged as Connor climbed on to his shoulders, preparing to do battle with the victors.

"Bring it on." She taunted, beckoning them with one hand.

"Nayla-ya." They looked up towards Law watching them on the deck, indicating she join him with a curled index finger.

"Uh-oh, Captain Killjoy is here. Quick Jake! Run! Submerge! Escape!" She said looking back down at him, making him laugh as she tried to steer him away using fistfuls of his hair as she would handles of a bike.

"No can do hun, go see what Captain wants with ya." He lowered himself back into the water, letting her slide off his back gently.

"Fineee." She pouted.

Law smiled, watching her struggle to keep her chin above the water level his men had no trouble staying head and shoulders above as she got back on her feet.

Nayla moved into the deeper water, back towards the sub, swimming the rest of the way to reach its side and use the rope ladder that had been thrown down for them earlier.

"You could just use your cool teleporty-thingy to speed this up ya know." She called over to him as she finally neared the deck.

"I don't like to use it for such unnecessary things." He replied easily, watching as she reached the top, wringing her hair out before climbing over the railing onto the deck.

"What do you want?" Nayla adjusted her top and pulled the lower half of her bikini up higher as she walked over to him. Not getting a reply, she followed his gaze to her hands on the strings of her bikini bottoms. "Not on offer. What else do you want?" She teased, earning a chuckle as she came to a stop and leant against the railing next to him.

"I want you at my desk within an hour." He said simply, deciding to watch his crew as Jeff and Connor took to challenging Penguin and Shachi in her absence.

"Want me at your desk again, huh? For business or pleasure?" She purred.

He glanced at her, knowing full well the arms she'd so casually crossed beneath her breasts was not an accidental move. "Definitely business." He started firmly.

Nayla sighed and uncrossed her arms, already not looking forward to their next 'talk.' She turned her back to the railing and hoisted herself to sit on it, settling herself comfortably. Law took a fleeting glance at her chest, now that it was at eye-level to his face before doing a double take and settling his gaze onto it firmly with a questioning look.

She raised her brows at his expression, looking down at her chest herself. "What?"

"Are those…real?" He asked unsurely, moving his face a little more closely.

"Yes, of course they are." She huffed in offence.

"Unlikely…"

"They are, feel free to take a good look. Here, touch them." She challenged.

He raised a hand to her chest and grabbed them gently, scrutinising the gems between his finger and thumb before they heard a smothered gasp come from the main entrance behind them. The few crewmembers he'd told to swab the deck had returned with a bucket of water and mops, staring at them in shock.

Nayla quickly realised with a sigh what their conversation must have sounded like out of context and what it looked like Law was touching from their angle.

"If…if you don't mind Captain doing it, c-can I touch them too?" One of them stuttered out, earning a harsh nudge to be quiet from the guy beside him.

"He's not touchi-did you know they were there?" She rounded on Law as she heard him chuckling, though he didn't answer.

"He's asking about the diamonds. There are diamonds on my bikini top, see?" She smacked Law's hand off of the fine, long, dangling threads of gems stemming from the material of the centre of her bikini top and turned to face them, pointing them out.

"O-oh, right. Of course, we knew that. Just kidding." The crewmember said sheepishly.

"Idiot." The man beside him muttered, shoving the blushing man further down the deck so that they could do the job their captain had given them.

"Seriously Law, can't you do anything about the gutterbrains on your crew?" She muttered, watching them shyly begin to mop the deck, noticing the drops of blood on it for the first time with raised brows.

"They must have cost a fortune." He said, ignoring her question and turning back to the railing to watch his other crewmembers horsing around in the water.

"Yeah, they probably did." She agreed, turning to watch them over her shoulder too.

"Probably?" He reiterated, sparing her a glance.

"I didn't buy this swimsuit myself, it was a gift." She said with a slightly devious smile.

"Who would buy something this expensive for you as a 'gift?' Dare I ask what the catch was?"

"Oh come on now, that's just rude, I didn't do anything like _that_ for it. I did a really good job for a client and he wanted to reward me. The guy was a rich old pervert and had nothing better to spend his cash on, who am I to judge what he does with his own money?"

Law sighed, guessing he shouldn't be too surprised by it and finding himself wondering about these secondary jobs of hers again. "I guess we can add 'gold-digger' to your stunning repertoire." He muttered, noticing now that she'd changed her belly button piercing, apparently part of her 'gift,' it had matching diamond strands trailing from it. Unfortunately also noticing how eye-catching the combination of the glistening gems and beads of water running down her bronzing skin was, though the effect had obviously been the intention of the swimsuit's designer.

"Like I said before, I'm not gonna take judgement from a _pirate_." She huffed in annoyance, fiddling with the hem of her bikini bottoms.

Law watched the self-conscious habit she had of pulling it up higher on her right side; she had done it several times since leaving the water. "…If your scar bothers you that much, I could remove it for you."

Nayla looked at him in surprise. "You could do that?"

"Usual surgery to remove a scar only results in making a new one but with my Devil Fruit, I could probably remove it entirely."

She smiled. "…I thought you didn't like using it for 'unnecessary' things."

"I doubt it would take much time or effort."

"Well, thank you…I'll think about it."

He returned her small smile before looking back out at the sea. She watched him from the periphery of her vision, grinning in amusement at his growing discomfort as the warm, fuzzy silence between them stretched longer and longer.

"…I'm impressed you actually talked Jake into joining you."

"Hmm? Is it unusual?" She giggled as he finally broke it, turning to look at the men in the water again as the match finally, and loudly, concluded. Seemed Penguin and Shachi had won this one.

"It's not his usual crowd and he doesn't normally mess around with the others like this." He clarified.

"Oh…well, we decided to play and we had an odd number for teams. He'd finished picking up fruit from the island, saw him on deck, asked him if he wanted to be my partner and he said yes. Didn't really need to talk him into it." She shrugged.

Law hummed in thought, settling comfortably to watch them. Nayla did the same, a peaceful quiet falling between them, broken only by the laughter of the men in the sea below and the low chatter and mopping of the few on deck.

She couldn't help but steal a few peeks at the pirate next to her, here and there. He really was inconveniently handsome, she hadn't even know that was a thing until she had met him; inconveniently handsome. It was definitely getting in the way of her judgement.

'Why couldn't I have been kidnapped by a fat, ugly, repulsive, smelly, easy-to-hate man instead,' she thought inwardly, stifling the sigh that threatened to leave her.

He had the nicest, slight smile on his face as he watched his crew having fun, though it seemed a little wistful. Nayla belatedly realised that he'd never be able to join them. She wondered if he wanted to.

There must have been plenty of times the whole crew must have hit the beach or swam together and had fun like this that he must have been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch…Not that he particularly seemed like the type to want to frolic in the ocean like the rest of them or anything…but if the thought ever had crossed his mind then he'd probably just pretend it didn't bother him. 'As guys do,' she thought with an eyeroll.

Law glanced at her then. "What is it, Nayla-ya? You've been looking at me like that for the past two minutes."

"Well…" She wondered how she could phrase it in a way that didn't sound so offensively touchy-feely. "I was just wondering if you ever felt like joining them actually."

"…No." He said flatly, turning his gaze back to them.

"Aww come on, not even a lil?" She prodded, a little amused by the slightly grumpy-sounding response. "Don't ya ever regret eating that fruit when they're out there having fun with each other?"

"I had no other option. So no, I don't regret it." He said neutrally, watching the playful smile fade from her face.

"Don't you ever miss swimming?"

"I don't remember it much."

"…How old were you when you ate your Devil Fruit?"

"Thirteen."

"Really, huh…" She seemed to mull that over as she looked at him.

Of all the expressions he'd seen on her face and all the looks she had ever given him, this one was, by far, the most annoying. He narrowed his eyes at her, not liking it or how it twisted his gut inexplicably at all.

Perhaps he'd been too soft on her; she was becoming far too comfortable around him. Law stood straight, taking a step to stand in front of her and placing a hand on either side of her legs on the railing.

To his irritation, she didn't even flinch as she would have done just yesterday. She just kept that damn expression on her face as she watched him.

He placed one hand to her stomach, sliding it up over her moist skin slowly. "…Law?" She asked unsurely, looking down at it as it came to rest beneath the strands of gems on her swimsuit, at the start of her ribcage.

He looked at her perfectly neutrally before pushing her abruptly over the railing and into the water. She'd been so shocked by the sudden move she hadn't even screamed before she hit the water with a loud splash.

Law leant over the side of the railing to watch as she broke the surface, coughing and spluttering. "LAW! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!" She yelled up angrily, pushing back the soaked curtain of hair from her face to glare up at him.

He smirked widely, grabbing his Nodachi and turning away as the men in the water called out to ask if she was ok and started swimming towards her. He walked past the shocked crewmembers swabbing the deck and back through the main entrance into the vessel, chuckling to himself as he listened to her curse loudly at him.

That look of fury on her face was much easier for him to understand and much more tolerable; he wouldn't be looked at with pity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise double upload for Christmas 2016. Anyone ever hear the song lyrics: "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart but the very next day, you gave it away" and think of 'Mes?' No? Just me then.
> 
> 'The bends' – Decompression sickness, caused in this case by resurfacing too quickly from a high pressure water depth to the low pressure of the surface. People experienced at resurfacing from deep water would know how to ascend safely and slowly to minimise the risk.
> 
> 'Why no Y?' – Female chromosomes are 'XX,' male chromosomes are 'XY.' The book title is just a nerdy pun.
> 
> I'm guessing that the Heart Pirates really do usually travel on the surface most of the time, seeing as Bepo is so intolerant of being submerged. Plus he said something along the lines of hating being submerged for 'hours' at a time.
> 
> I remember Sanji looking through a book about Devil Fruits as a child, a flashback in the anime when he was jealous about Absalom having the fruit he wanted so I'd guess a careful and thorough planner like Law would probably have a copy himself.


	34. The drugged-out looking creep?

Law set the book Nayla had given him down onto his chest as he glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been about twenty minutes since they had set sail and Nayla still hadn't returned to his quarters for their talk as he had asked her to, not that he was surprised by that.

Chuckling as he remembered the look of absolute rage on her face after her fall, he reluctantly set the book onto the coffee table beside the sofa and sat up from his comfortable recline.

They were running short on time to have their discussion fit in before lunch was due to be served, assuming she'd also probably want to shower when she got back. Resigning himself to having to fetch her, again, he stood but staggered as the sub's momentum came to an abrupt halt.

Steadying himself, he grabbed his Nodachi as the alarms went off and the warning rang out loudly over the intercom system: "MAN OVERBOARD! MAN OVERBOARD!"

Law ran straight out of his quarters and down the hall, confident the men on deck were already dealing with the situation and helping whoever had fallen into the sea.

Running up the stairs he glanced up as he saw Nayla coming down them. Her face like thunder, her clothing draped over her arm and her hands clutching her loose bikini top to her chest. She shot him a dirty look as she stormed past him but said nothing.

Deciding he'd have to deal with whatever this was about later - though he could already guess it was related, he ignored her for now and carried on to the top of the stairs.

Law walked out onto the main deck, scanning it quickly and seeing with relief that his men were pulling the rope of a life buoy up over the side of the railing. They'd already retrieved whoever had fallen overboard.

His relief quickly turned to annoyance as he saw who it was as they reached the deck safely, piecing together why the man had taken an untimely dip in the ocean and why Nayla looked more pissed off then he'd ever seen her.

Law strode over, the small crowd that had gathered silencing and parting as they saw their captain approach. Law knelt down beside Jeff, watching as he stopped coughing and spluttering as he felt the tense change of atmosphere around him and looked up.

"…Oh…hey Captain." He offered meekly.

"Anything to say for yourself?" Law asked levelly as he popped the hilt of his Nodachi with his thumb.

"…Worth it."

* * *

After a long soothing shower Nayla was feeling a lot less agitated though she was still pretty irritable, especially knowing that she'd need to face Law about this and whatever it was he had wanted to speak to her about in the first place.

Taking a deep, soothing breath she turned the water off and gently wrung her hair out. She pulled back the shower curtain and reached over for the extra towel on the rack beside her that she had been pleased and surprised to notice this morning.

She pat herself dry, listening carefully for any signs of Law being back in his quarters but couldn't hear anything convincing. Though she did hear the hum of the sub's engines and belatedly realised they had begun moving again, probably some time ago.

Nayla slung her rinsed bikini over the shower curtain rail to dry and pulled on her clothing quickly; eager to leave the uncomfortably hot, thick steam. Grabbing the towel and patting off some of the excess moisture from her hair, she left the bathroom.

"Nayla-ya."

Stopping in her tracks, she peered through the archway towards Law's desk to find him sitting there looking at her with a perfectly neutral expression. She didn't say anything, waiting for him to speak again, trying to gauge how angry he was.

"We need to talk."

"It has to wait, I just got out of the shower." She replied tartly, patting the dripping ends of her hair with her towel and waking out of sight of the archway towards the sofa she slept on where she had tossed her bag of toiletries.

There was a long quietness after that, she could almost imagine he was sat at his desk gritting his teeth and trying to rationalise to himself reasons not to kill her.

She reached down to unzip her bag, wondering why he hadn't given her some smartass response or threatened her to do as she was told yet when she felt a sharp chill run down her spine. Nayla spun around to find Law standing right behind her, looking extremely unhappy. Alarmingly she hadn't heard or felt him until he was close enough to have harmed her had he chosen to do so. The unsubtle reminder, she knew, had been the intent.

Law glared down at her from his height advantage, not more than an inch between them. "Get to my desk. Now."

To his shock she shoved him away from her abruptly, using enough force to actually make him take a step back. "Stop trying to intimidate me. Either haul off and hit me or get out of my face. I'm not scared of you." She hissed, brushing past him to walk into his living quarters.

He blinked after her, realising he was seeing the same level of lost temperament he'd seen from her in the brig when she'd spat on him. She lost all fear of him when she was this angry. Unsure if it were an admirable or stupid trait, Law collected himself, fighting to stop the grin that was tugging at his lips as he followed after her through the archway.

It was definitely strange to feel amused, attracted to and pissed off with someone at the same time though he could see it would be a feeling he'd be likely to experience frequently with her around.

Despite her words Nayla had sat in the chair on the other side of his desk as he had asked, though she wasn't hiding her unhappiness about it as she pat her hair dry, scowling at him.

"You _are_ scared of me Nayla-ya and with good reason that you seem to have forgotten in your blind rage. This is a very good example of exactly why your temper will end up getting you killed some day. Fortunately for you, I'm better at keeping mine in check." He added darkly with open warning.

Law took his own seat on the other side of the desk, carefully assessing her as she seemed to bite her tongue to stop the response she had on the tip of it. He took in her rigid posture, her tense jaw and the strong glare she was giving him. She was barely containing her fury with him, though he was sure a significant amount of the credit for her mood belonged to Jeff.

"Don't lecture me like you give a damn. What do you want?" She finally grit out, though he could probably guess it hadn't been the response she had wanted to give him. She seemed to have had to smother down the first few options that had come to mind with significant restraint.

The atmosphere between them in this room now was a far cry from this morning when she had been so casually standing beside him, leant against his desk, all smiles and flirtations. He grinned a little at that, even more satisfied at his harsh treatment of her earlier.

"First things first, Nayla-ya. What did you do to my crewmember?" Despite the small smirk on his face, there was no mistaking the dangerous tone his voice had taken. He wasn't happy, that was loud and clear.

"…Is Jeff ok?"

"Luckily, after being thrown overboard. Didn't care enough to stick around and find out?"

"I didn't _throw_ him overboard and I _did_ stay until I saw he'd grabbed the life buoy." She muttered looking away a little guiltily, some of her anger dissipating as she draped her towel on her shoulders, under her wet hair.

"So you punched him overboard." He stated, not asked.

"It was a slap and I didn't mean for him to get knocked over the railing. He wasn't expecting it and lost his balance."

"Impressively red, swollen cheek and momentum for just a 'slap.'" Law said distrustfully. He waited for her to defend herself or explain her actions but she did neither, just fiddled with the hem of her skirt and avoided his eye contact.

He gave her a long annoyed glare before finally closing his eyes, sitting back and sighing. "What did he do?"

"…"

"Nayla-ya." He prompted, opening his eyes and looking at her when she remained silent.

"…Pulled the strings on my bikini top then tried to 'help' cover me up with his hands when it fell to pieces."

Nayla looked up from her lap at him when she didn't hear a response. Law didn't even look surprised, nearly bored in fact, as if he'd heard this story before. "…Well, he lasted longer than I thought he would." He eventually said, taking his hat off and tossing it onto the desk as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Seriously? That's all you have to say about it?" She yelled indignantly, crossing her arms and looking away in annoyance at his relaxed attitude towards the whole thing. Though she couldn't really put her finger on what response she'd expected or hoped for from him.

Law reluctantly admitted to himself that he felt a bit responsible and a little bad about the whole thing as he looked at her. She wasn't here by choice and he was well aware Jeff's misbehaviour, amongst others, was pretty much an inevitability. It hadn't been the first time Jeff had caused upset with a woman but it was the first time the woman had been forced into a position to have to stick around with them afterwards.

"…It won't always be this way." He offered quietly, waiting until she turned back to look at him. "You're the first woman we've had travel on board with us, the crew are…'excitable,' but the novelty will wear off and they'll get used to having you around, eventually. Try to bear with them until then."

Nayla smiled a little at that, feeling quite a lot of her anger wash away at what was obviously an unfamiliar offer of reassurance from him…and at the fact he'd almost sounded like he had been saying that out loud as if trying to convince the both of them it was true, not just her.

"…Are you going to punish him?"

"I had to. It's by no means his first offence of this nature." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

Nayla couldn't help but grimace at the thought of some of the gruesome stories she'd heard about punishments amongst pirates….and none of the ones she'd heard about had come from a ship mastered by a cruel surgeon with a Devil Fruit power that made sadistic options endless. "…Is he ok? You didn't hurt him, did you?"

Law tilted his head noting her complete change of demeanour as she grew concerned. "He's fine. Onto more important things, I wanted to have a talk with you, Nayla-ya."

"Well, me too actually and I'll bet my topic takes up less time so can I ask my question first?"

"…Alright, go on."

"Can I have some wardrobe space? Or a drawer? Or just, anywhere to put some clothing?" Taking Law's raised brows and silence as a cue to continue justifying her request she explained a little further. "I don't really want to have to keep digging through my suitcase every time I need something..."

He looked over her shoulder at the bulky suitcase she gestured to, surprised at her question. Thinking it over a little he decided to take it as a sign that she at least had some intention of staying put if she were concerned about unpacking to try to increase her comfort and convenience here.

"Yes. I'll clean out one of my drawers for you."

Nayla hadn't actually expected him to agree so readily, she grinned a little wondering if maybe she could weasel a little more space than just one drawer from him.

"Just one." He added sternly before she could ask, reading her expression easily.

"Got it, thanks." She conceded with a small smile and raised hands.

"Now then, business." 'Finally,' he thought inwardly, sitting up and looking at her seriously. "When you worked for Joker, how were you contacted for the job on his behalf?"

"By Den Den Mushi, why?"

"Someone that worked for him called you directly?"

"No. No clients call me directly. I have a middle man, an 'agent' I guess."

Law narrowed his eyes at this, wondering if this was why he hadn't been able to find much information about her or how to get hold of her when he had searched. He'd have needed to have known about this 'middle man' of hers to have gotten anywhere.

"What is his job exactly?" Sensing she was contemplating clamming up he sighed. "Nayla-ya, don't start being stubborn. I have no interest in sensitive information about this man or how you get your work. I'm only concerned with understanding how to best get information from Joker's network for myself."

"Well…clients call him with something they need done then he decides if he has anyone suitable for the job and contacts them. He has other mercenaries, some bounty hunters, a couple of spies…all sorts receiving their jobs through him too."

"I presume he takes a cut of the money you make for his services, why do people use him when they could just take their jobs directly?"

"Well lots of reasons really. People who aren't affiliated with a certain country or organisation have no way of receiving regular work alone. Having a middle man cuts out the hassle of needing to self-advertise, look for your own jobs, spam your personal number out to numerous clients, deal with dumb requests, deal with dumb payment offers or beggars..." She counted off on her fingers. "And to be honest, for such an ass he is actually really good at finding decent, safe work he knows fits your skill set and that will appeal to you…though he does take a generous twenty percent cut."

"So he's the only one that knows the number to this Den Den Mushi?" Law glanced at her peacefully snoozing snail sat beside his own.

"Yeah he-wait, has he called?"

"Several times, yes."

"YOU! What the hell is the matter with you, why didn't you say anything?! Dammit Law, when did he last call?!" Nayla shot up from her seat and reached over his desk for her Den Den Mushi only to have Law place his hand over it protectively to prevent her from taking it.

"Patience. Around this time yesterday. We have some things to straighten out and make perfectly clear before you talk to him." He said calmly, waiting for her to settle back into her seat reluctantly before beginning to list off his conditions.

"First, you do not mention my name or the name of my crew, ever. Not to your agent, not on your jobs. As far as anyone is concerned, you are working for yourself, solo, as you always have done. Second, you never reveal your exact location with us or any sensitive information about us in your calls, they can be easily intercepted by Marines nearby. That goes for any Den Den Mushi you use on board, even when we're only communicating within this ship, we don't ever use my name or the crew's name. Understood?" He waited until Nayla nodded firmly before continuing.

"Third, you will take any and every job offered to you on behalf of Joker and will turn down any jobs that are not related to him."

"Bu-!"

"You want to get out of here faster. I want my information as soon as possible. Doing jobs for anyone other than Joker from now on is a waste of both our time."

Nayla sighed loudly, knowing he was right but not liking having to take anything Joker sent her way. He was bad news and she hadn't heard a remotely agreeable request from him before the one she finally took and look how that had turned out for her.

"Fourth, when you go on these jobs I need you to pay attention to _everything._ I want every detail, no matter how small or pointless it may seem to you, I may be able to make use of it. Retain as much information as you can. If you have to write information down, you do so in a code or in a way that only you could understand by looking at it."

"'Everything' is kinda vague, what do you mean by 'everything?'"

"Who else is there, what their roles are, where they came from, who they work for, where they're going next, what the greater purpose your job is serving, how is what you're there to do benefiting Joker in the short and long run. Everything. I want you to understand the jobs he gives you inside and out. You got it?"

"Got it…so I just keep bringing this information back for you until you find something that can help you fulfil this mystery goal of yours?"

"That's right." Law sat back, watching as she mulled what he'd said over before she asked the question he knew she would.

"And once I bring you back something you can use, my job with you is over? You'll let me go?"

"Yes…but you need to be careful. Joker isn't a stupid man. You can't trust anyone you may meet and work alongside on these jobs. Assume they are his eyes and ears and _never_ contact me during your assignment."

She couldn't help but feel a little bit of trepidation now at the real thought of working out there alone, surrounded by people that worked for Joker. If they ever found out she was leaking information about their boss to Law…

"…Nayla if you feel the people around you know that you are snooping. Stop and get out."

She looked up at him in surprise at the sincere, quiet tone of his voice. He'd made it clear he'd do what it took for this goal except risk the safety of the people he cared about…but she wasn't included in that group.

"You're no good to me captured or dead and if it's the former, I won't be coming for you."

There was that disappointing reality. She looked away from him, rolling her eyes at the abrupt death of that naïve, tiny glimmer of hope that he might have given a damn about her. She'd need to have a long, scolding discussion with her brain later about why on Earth it wanted him to.

"I wouldn't have counted on it but ok, I'll be careful." She muttered, hoping she sounded more grumpy than disappointed at his harsh words.

"One last thing, Nayla." The sudden icy edge to his voice as he spoke made her immediately turn back to face him.

"If I feel for even a split second that you've double crossed me and fed information back to Joker about me or my crew…if I get even the slightest suspicion that you've put my crew in danger, I will cut you down without mercy. Is that understood?"

There was that other chilling reminder of reality. Even though she felt as though he'd been pushing her buttons since she'd gotten there, it was child's play compared to what this dangerous man was really capable of if he felt like it. Law locked eyes with her, his gaze cold, unwavering and very much serious. She didn't doubt for a second that he would kill her without blinking if he felt he needed to.

"Yeah…I understand."

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru."

Nayla could feel some of the suffocating tension she'd felt pressing in on her chest ease as she heard her Den Den Mushi ring.

"Answer it. Remember what we discussed." Law picked up and placed the snail closer to her on the desk between them before sliding a piece of paper over to himself and picking up his pen. Nayla waited for him to look back at her, taking that as her cue to pick up the receiver.

"Yeah Marty."

"…'Yeah Marty?' That's the greeting I get?! I thought you were dead or something woman!"

She snapped out of her slight daze at the loud yelling, taking in the furious facial features of the snail. Nayla bit her lip to stop from smiling wide enough for it to get transmitted to the Den Den Mushi on his side. "…Were you worried?"

"Not even a little, I wouldn't care if you dropped dead today!"

She laughed a little at that, feeling so much more at ease hearing a familiar, albeit enraged, voice. "Oh that's not true, you would. Even if it were only for the income you'd lose if I did."

"Not worth the trouble you cause me. Not by a LOOONG shot!" Nayla narrowed her eyes at Law as she caught him nodding slightly in agreement to that with a solemn face.

"Anyway, last I heard from you, you were finally getting off of Vagina Island." She heard the characteristic flick of a lighter on the other end of the line as he lit a cigarette. "Thought your ship must have sank and that you'd become Sea King food when I didn't hear from you so I tried giving you a call...but some creep kept answering your Den Den."

She shot Law a look, though he did nothing but smirk back at her, completely unashamed of his actions.

"Where are you? Who's the creep that has access to this Den Den? I swear I was half expecting the guy to finally ask for some kind of ransom for you or something."

Nayla laughed at the thought. "Aww why, would you have paid it?"

"Hell. No."

"Well sorry about that, I had a pretty abrupt change of plans, there was a little mix up of baggage so I didn't have access to my Den Den for a bit, it's been a bumpy ride – Sea Kings really are a pain ya know, so I've been a little bit busy. Sorry I didn't check-in sooner."

"And the dirty-looking creep answering your phone?"

"Dirty-looking creep?" She repeated innocently, looking at Law. He smiled a little wider at her, knowing full well she was just enjoying calling him names whilst he was forced to be quiet.

"Yeah, some droopy-lidded, grinning weirdo kept answering but never said anything. Thought my Den Den was having a brain-melt, looked like it was high as a kite. Who the hell was it and why didn't they tell you were getting calls?"

Nayla couldn't help but laugh at Law's expression as his smirk dropped and he glared at the snail from his side of the desk. The only thing she could compare the sour look on his face to was the facial expression a stuck-up, grumpy cat might have if it accidentally stepped a precious paw into a puddle.

"Ah well, we ended up crossing paths with a cruise ship on the way to a local island. They allowed me to hop on mid-journey so long as I paid full fee. There's some weird housekeeping dude on staff here that cleans my room when I'm out though, he must be the guy picking up."

She grinned at him, ignoring his displeased expression as she sat back in her own chair and relaxed, taking in his appearance casually.

"You should see him Marty, guy looks like a drugged-out thug. Tattoos, piercings, always got a creepy grin on his face. Looks like the kinda creep that would sniff your panties when you weren't looking. No idea why they employed someone like that here but I've already complained about him to his boss, he won't be cleaning my room anymore, don't worry."

Law looked at her incredulously, wondering where she got the nerve to say something like that about him right in front of him…though he also wondered internally how much of that she was joking about and how much she really believed. Did she really think he looked like a drugged-out, panty-sniffing thug?

"…See to it that he doesn't…What the hell kind of ship did you climb aboard?"

Nayla watched Law take his pen to the paper on the desk in front of him. "Oh it's actually really nice, the food is great, the other staff here are really friendly. It's just that one weirdo that spoils it all." She raised a brow as he swivelled the paper around so that the writing was the right way up for her. She tried not to laugh as she read the hurriedly scrawled 'MOVE. ON!' In all capitals, complete with temperamental underlining and exclamation mark.

"Anyway, enough about that insignificant, _hideous_ , creepy, little gnat. Did you find a new job for me?"

Law shot her an unimpressed look at her last unsubtle dig at him before turning the paper back to face him properly on the desk, hovering his pen over it and waiting to see where this conversation would lead.

"Yeah, I got plenty of requests around that area of the Grand Line. You know which direction you're going in to leave it yet? I'll give you one that will be En Route for you."

"Well this ship is headed to-" Law silently swivelled the paper her way. "Ashibumi Island…" She watched Law tap 'jobs for JOKER' that he had written below the island's name with the end of his pen.

"And Marty?...I thought it over and I've decided to stay on the Grand Line for a little while yet and I'd rather only pick up jobs from Joker from now on, wars included."

"…Are you being serious?" Nayla winced, leaning away from her Den Den Mushi as far as the cord on the receiver would allow her to, knowing the snail was about to explode, loudly. "Are you being FUCKING serious?! This is why I hate working with women, you can _never_ make up your damn minds!"

"Well-"

"Didn't you JUST say the other day that you were, and I quote - 'Sooo sick of the Grand Line, it's been nothing but trouble since I got here. I should never have taken that stupid job for Joker, I'm absolutely, never ever, going to touch another job from that manipulative fucktard ever ever again!"

Nayla scowled at the mockingly high-pitched voice and stupid expression coming from the snail in front of her. "So I changed my mind! I-"

"Anyone from his network calls for me again, tell them to go fuck themselves and I'm getting out of the war business, don't give me anymore mercenary requests for the time being. I'm-"

"Alright, I got it" Law watched her grind her teeth and grip the receiver in her hand tightly; mildly concerned she was going to break one of the two.

"Blablabla I'm Nayla, I think the world revolves around me and that Marty should just waste his time picking out jobs for me that he could have given to other people long ago just so that I can change my mind every five minutes and think I can get away with being an annoying little princess 'cause I'm pretty, teehee."

"Are you fucking done?!" She gave Law a sour look as he suppressed a chuckle at her expense.

They looked back at the Den Den Mushi as it seemed to clear its throat, listening to the man on the other side shuffling papers on his own desk. "How happy do you think they were with you when you stormed off your last job for Joker? Hmm? Who do you think got the calls and bullshit for that?"

"…You did." She sulked.

"Damn right I did, if I give you another job for him don't you dare do it again! You have any idea how many people Joker has under him? Remember who you're putting at risk when you throw a tantrum and walk off set like a diva next time, I'm not getting killed over a spoilt brat like you."

"It's not about being spoilt! I _told_ you I can't work wars longer than three weeks."

"And I told _you_ that I told them that."

"I stayed for nearly four ya know! I know you think I'm just being a 'diva' about my working terms but I really-" She was interrupted by her Den Den groaning loudly in frustration at her.

"Let's not go over this again, I know your working terms….Anyway surprisingly, they're _still_ asking for you. I've been putting them off because _you_ said you wanted nothing to do with them. I've been handing their jobs off to other people."

Nayla watched Law hurriedly scrawl down something, she leant over to read it as he wrote it out, working out from upside down what it was he wanted her to enquire about. "I've been meaning to ask Marty, why is Joker outsourcing so much of his work? I mean his network is one of the largest isn't it?"

"Well…yeah but I guess business is booming lately. Most of his guys are in the New World and he didn't have enough hands in Paradise. Even more so now since the war…he must be damn short-handed if they're hiring stubborn, little snubs like you. Let's see what we have for Joker in that area…" He muttered, shuffling through his papers again.

Nayla looked over at Law to ask silently if he were satisfied, he nodded at her before setting his pen down and waiting patiently for the man to speak again.

"Well, seeing as you were so insistent on not working any wars I gave away all the mercenary requests around your area already. Got a couple of your favourites set aside though, one 'Honey Pot' and one 'Black Widofff-'"

Law watched in surprise as Nayla jumped up from her seat to pinch the snail's lips together, muffling the rest of the speech being transmitted. He raised a brow at her though she ignored it, turning away from him, clearing her throat and waiting for the movement of her Den Den Mushi's mouth to stop before removing her hand from it.

"Um…you got anything else, please Marty?" She adjusted her skirt with her free hand as made to retake her seat, still avoiding eye contact with Law.

"…Really, are you sick? _You're_ turning down a 'Honmpff-?!"

Nayla shot back up from her half-sitting position to silence the transmission again. She chanced a look at Law, noticing the growing smirk on his face as she held the Den Den Mushi's lips together. 'Figures he already knows what kind of jobs these are,' she sighed and looked up at the ceiling, waiting patiently for the snail to stop talking before re-releasing it and sitting down.

"Yes, I am. Do you have anything else?" She grit out.

"…Well not in that area for Joker, no. You want a job for someone else?"

Nayla looked at Law before reluctantly answering. "No I guess not, just give me whichever is closest for Joker then, I guess."

"Alright, that'll be the 'Black Widow.' It's on Kattou, it's actually extremely close to the island you're already headed to. It's only a day's travel by sea between them, people commute frequently between them so you'll have no trouble finding transport and reaching it once you land."

Nayla slid the piece of paper on Law's desk over to her, ignoring the dirty smirk he still wore as he handed her the pen he held.

"Alright, target?"

"Senator Jonathan Orlen. White, five foot eight, roughly one hundred and thirty pounds, seventy two years old-" Law caught the hesitant stutter of the pen she held before she continued to write down the details. "-brown eyes, full head of grey hair. Served as a naval officer for fifteen years in his youth, presumed to still be able to own and use firearms, no other combat ability of note. He lives in a large mansion with his wife – they're estranged and live on opposite sides of the building but still 'play house' for public appearances. Has two sons but neither live in the mansion. Significant security systems and personnel on the premises, all presumed to be combat-able and armed. I'll have the photos, address, building layout and full details of all people within the mansion ready for you to pick up on arrival as usual. This won't be a difficult job for you."

Nayla bit back a sigh as she sat back; doing a poor job of concealing how unhappy she already was with the job details to both men. "…Alright."

"There's one more detail you need to be aware of."

She leant forward to hover her pen over the paper again. "Go ahead."

"You need to make it look something like a hooker-robbery gone bad."

"…Isn't killing him enough? He's a public figure and has a family."

"No. He needs to be publically discredited. He's retiring soon and his son is running to take his place. Joker wants the guy dead and the family's reputation dragged through the mud in a scandalous aftermath. He doesn't want the son to take over. They're causing him problems."

Nayla bit her lip, before reluctantly writing the additional information down, glancing up as Law pulled another pen from the stationary holder on his desk and wrote on the other end of the piece of paper. She read it aloud as he turned it to her. "How are they causing Joker problems?"

"Senator Orlen is in charge of putting safety and monitoring measures in place for their coast line. He's done good work over the last few years, he's made security measures at all ports and in the sea surrounding their island incredibly tight. It's making things difficult for illegal ships to stop there or even pass by unscathed. It's putting an unnecessary strain and delay Joker's shipments to and through the area. He wants the guy gone before he passes anymore legislation and doesn't want his son to pick up where he left off."

Nayla watched Law scribble that information down with interest. "Killing Orlen doesn't guarantee the next elected senator doesn't just carry on his work anyway, it's a pointless hit."

"Joker has another senator on his payroll waiting to run for and take Orlen's spot. He won't push anymore legislation and in fact, will be undoing most of the work Orlen did, making Joker's life much easier."

"I see." Nayla pouted unhappily, putting her pen down and sitting back more comfortably in her chair.

"…You're really going to take it, aren't you…I _know_ this isn't your kind of job. You have some weird righteousness complex."

"Well things have changed, I have my reasons…but give me something to make me dislike this guy, please."

"Well…if it makes you feel better. This Orlen guy really does pick up hookers a lot, cheats on his wife constantly, apparently."

"Doesn't mean a lot considering he's estranged from her but thanks for trying I guess. I'll let you know when I've arrived at Ashibumi and got a ride secured for Kattou. Should land in less than a week." She said unhappily.

"Alright and Nayla?"

"Hmm?"

"Those marshmallows I gave you last time, do you still have them?"

Law looked up from the notes he'd made to furrow his brows at the snail in confusion before snapping his gaze to her as he realised the peculiar sentence must have been some sort of pre-planned safety phrase or code question.

"…I ate them all." Nayla responded, watching Law carefully as he shot her an angry glare, wondering what it was her agent had just asked her and what response she'd just given to him.

"I knew it! Can't you _ever_ stay out of trouble, dammit?! What's the situation there, do you have a gun to your head or something? Oi! Person with a gun to her head, just shoot her already."

Nayla and Law stared at the angry-looking snail in shock. "Hey! That's not funny! What would you have done if I really _did_ get shot?!"

"Laughed."

"You bastard!"

"Who's the bastard?! You just made me spill all that info in front of some stranger because you got caught? You put me at risk! Again! You deserve it. Shoot her in the fucking face!"

"I wouldn't ever! There's no risk to you…only me. There _is_ someone else here but don't worry about it, alright? You know me better than that…"

The snail sighed then slumped in exasperation. "…What are you up to now?"

"Nothing…I just have a new 'business partner' for the time being." She said grumpily, glaring at Law for all the hassle he was causing her.

"…The drugged-out looking creep?"

"The drugged-out looking creep." She confirmed with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she watched the annoyance flicker across Law's features.

"You're a solo show. You don't _do_ working with others. Why now, what's he got on you?"

"Nothing really…I'm just helping out a friend, I owe him a lot. I won't cause you any trouble-" Seeing the unimpressed expression on her Den Den Mushi's face as it moved to speak again she quickly added on. "-well no more trouble than usual and anything you say is still only being kept between us."

There was a long pause then exhale as the man spoke again. "…Fine, but he's not getting a cut of the payment. At least not _my_ share of it…in fact, I'm raising to a thirty percent take, considering you weren't up front with me about this and all I have is your word that I'm not at any further risk."

"Fine, take what you need, as long as you're happy."

"…Alright, I'll expect to hear from you again when you hit the next island. I'll be putting aside more jobs for Joker for you within your area."

"Ok, thank you."

"…I don't know what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into this time but try to take better care of yourself."

"I will, you take care too." Nayla watched as her snail immediately fell into a snooze as the line dropped before replacing her receiver with a heaving breath, reluctantly looking across the desk at Law. He was wearing a neutral expression but she could tell he was ticked off with her. She was getting a little better at reading him it seemed.

"You gonna yell at me now too?" She asked tiredly, leaning back into her chair.

"You shouldn't have told him anything about me."

"And I didn't. He has no clue who you are but he's known me for years Law, he knows me well enough to know I'd never take another job from Joker or a job on a man like this. It was better to just be up front with him or I'd have stopped receiving jobs from him altogether. Which is no good to either of us."

Nayla watched him run a finger over his goatee as he contemplated her, seeming to be satisfied with her answer. "He gave you a lot of sensitive information, how can he be sure the call is secure?"

"He has a white Den Den, it can't be intercepted."

Law followed her gloomy stare to the paper sitting between them on his desk. "If _you_ don't kill him, Joker will just hire someone else to."

Nayla looked back up at him, wondering if he were trying to make her feel better about the distasteful job or if he were trying to convince her not to back out of it for his own benefit. "I know that."

"So what usually happens now?"

"When I get there, he sends someone he trusts to meet me and give me the information I need to do my job. I do it, let him know then move straight on to the next job he has lined up for me."

"How do you get paid if you move immediately?"

"He finds someone to meet up with me at my next destination to give me my money. It's not safe to hang around, especially not after smutty jobs like this one."

Law smiled a little at the crinkled nose and disgusted look on her face as she glanced back at the paper on his desk.

"You have an interesting work relationship with your 'agent'.'" She scoffed at that but offered him no insight about it. "…How do you know I'm no risk to 'Marty?' He's the one receiving calls from Joker's people, how can you be so sure I won't skip over you and target him for the information I need instead? Do you trust me that much?"

Nayla matched his mocking smile. "No, I don't trust you. I just don't think you'd ever be able to find him to pose any risk to him and I'll just flat out refuse to help you if you try to use me to get to him."

"How noble of you to defend him…considering he was encouraging me to shoot you in the face not more than a minute ago." He chuckled at her souring expression at the reminder.

"He's right, you have a strange sense of righteousness…though that being said…do explain these 'favourite' jobs of yours that you were so keen for me to hear about. 'Honey Pot' and 'Black Widow' was it?" Nayla narrowed her eyes at the dirty, sly little grin on Law's face and his fake-innocent question before ignoring both and standing up from her chair.

"Do you actually have sex before killing your target or is 'Black Widow' just a catchy job name?" He asked, watching as she picked up the hairdryer on her suitcase.

"I'll have you know black widows can kill during or before mating too. I don't pick the names." She ground out unhappily, annoyed by the amusement in his voice.

"How is it different from a 'Honey Pot?' That one, I've heard before, I was under the impression targets of those jobs also got killed."

"Marty uses 'Black Widow' to make it clear up front it's a job with a fatality involved. 'Honey Pot' is just using sex appeal to get something else we want, capture, info…Ya know it may go under different names depending on where you work but this kind of stuff is common practice for women in professions like mine. Keep it in mind the next time you take a woman you don't know from port to bed, _pirate_. Your bounty is starting to look pretty tasty." She mocked, uncoiling the wire of the item in her hands.

"Thank you for the considerate warning, though it's late. I've already had a few would-be bounty hunters give it a try already."

She paused what she was doing to look at Law's smug expression. "A man like you couldn't spot they were bounty hunters before you took them to bed?"

"I knew what they were."

"…So you knew they were dangerous, trained, armed bounty hunters baiting you with sex for the berries on your head…and you still took them to bed, because…?" She furrowed her brows and rolled her hand to prompt him to complete her sentence.

"I was confident I'd get what I wanted and that they wouldn't." He smirked arrogantly, obviously remembering some of his more fun and challenging sexual conquests.

"…I swear you're more ego than man." She sighed shaking her head, stooping down to her case to rummage around for her hairbrush.

"Speaking of ego, how can you be so sure this target of yours will pick you up? I presume you'll be 'playing' hooker to attract his attention?"

Nayla shot him a look at the mocking tone he'd used on the word 'playing.' "Marty may be difficult to work with sometimes but he does a good job, the best. He's already had the types of women the senator picks up profiled and I match it. If I didn't he wouldn't have offered me the job in the first place. He's well worth the twen-or well, thirty percent cut he takes now. You owe me that missing ten percent for every job I take on _your_ behalf." She warned, pointing the brush she'd retrieved at him.

"What other jobs do you do for this 'Marty' guy?" He asked, openly ignoring her threat.

"He sends me anything I'm capable of. Are we done here?" She asked impatiently…though she turned her attention to the strange, soft thump that came from his desk.

"I have one more thing I'd like to discuss with you." Law looked back up at her from glancing at his drawer at the noise as well.

"Well out with it. I've been in seawater and sun for hours _and_ just showered. I need to moisturise and dry my hair."

He rolled his eyes at her, deciding to cut to the chase. "Nayla-ya, during your stay here. I'll be examining your ability."

"...Why?" She asked guardedly, placing a hand to her hip.

"Curiosity."

"I don't care about your curiosity, I'm not here to be your pet side project."

"I know you don't care about my curiosity but what about your own?" Law watched the interest in her expression, knowing immediately he'd been right in assuming this would be the most effective angle to work to secure her cooperation.

"It's only natural to want to understand how it's affecting your body but you've obviously never been able to reveal it to a doctor before. I'd bet it's a large part of why you continue to read things of a medical nature as well."

Nayla thought it over in her head for a moment, observing him closely for any sign of underhanded intentions but as always, he gave virtually nothing away about what he was really thinking.

"…You're right, I am curious…" She walked back over to her chair, setting her free hand onto its back and catching the start of a small smile on Law's face. "… _but_ nowhere near curious enough to put myself through your 'examinations,' I'm no masochist."

"Masochism is clearly not your area of interest." He grinned slyly, glancing past her at her suitcase unsubtly.

She scowled at him. "You crack another joke about my personal items again I'll-"

"You have nothing better to do in between you jobs for Joker so in the meantime you may as well take advantage of my expertise whilst you're here. In exchange for your cooperation, I can also help you learn anything you want about medicine whilst you are on board with us."

"…Anything I want?...I learn plenty already from books…"

'Do it, take him up on it. Just imagine it, being tutored by Law. – Let's not. – Maybe he'll insist you call him Law-sensei during lessons. – I really doubt that. – Misbehave in class please, be a super naughty girl and give Law-sensei no choice but to bend you over his desk and spa- Lalalalala I can't hear you dirty thoughts lalalalala.'

"Books are fine but nothing compared to showing you how things are physically done."

She bit her lip, tuning out her brain's response to the thought of Law teaching her how things were physically done. She was pretty sure she was still supposed to be mad at him for pushing her off of a very, _very_ high railing into the sea earlier.

"No. that's just more time spent in a room alone with you. It's not worth it." 'And definitely only asking for more trouble. – Fun. – Trouble. – Same difference.'

"I'll have another medic on board teach you."

"Really?"

Law nodded, waiting patiently for a moment for her to come to a decision. "Put it this way Nayla-ya, I _will_ be examining you with or without your consent so at least make it worth your while and get something out of it in return."

She immediately narrowed her eyes at him, no doubt in her mind he'd have no second thoughts about tying her down to an examination bed to have his wa- She groaned out loud as her brain had a fit at the thought, rubbing her temple and closing her eyes. Trying to will her brain to stop screaming about how much of a fight she should start putting up to make sure she ended up restrained to a bed and at his mercy as he did whatever he wanted to her.

"Fine, ok. But no funny stuff." She said tiredly, opening her eyes but refusing to look at him whilst those images were firmly stuck in her head.

Law grinned deviously. "I promise I'll be on my best behaviour."

"Why isn't _that_ reassuring?" She snorted, rolling her eyes.

"I'd like you to answer one question I've had for a while now." He waited until she turned back to look at him, making sure he had eye contact with her before asking. "What's wrong with your blood?"

"…There's something wrong with it?" To his surprise, she looked shocked. He had been sure he'd be catching the telltale signs of her lying about whatever the odd abnormality in it was.

"You didn't know?"

Nayla shook her head. "…Is it bad?"

Law took in the slight worry on her face before speaking carefully. "I don't know. I guess it'll be another reason for you to cooperate and let me examine you, if you'd like to find out."

"Well...I guess so..." They both glanced down at his desk as they heard the strange muffled thump from earlier again but before she could ask, he spoke again.

"Good. Then every evening after dinner, you are to report to the infirmary, starting tomorrow."

"Every day?! Bu-! "

"Then it's agreed."

"What? I didn't agree to _every day_!"

"Lunch will be ready soon so I suggest going to finish your hair or whatever other nonsense now before it starts." He offered smugly, watching her bite her lip in a subconscious attempt at temper restraint before she stormed back into his bedroom to do so.

Law chuckled a little at the temperamental slamming of the hairdryer onto a hard surface in his room before looking over the piece of paper on his desk, thinking of how best to go about making the most out of whatever information she brought back with her from her upcoming job.

* * *

Nayla walked back through into Law's living quarters surprised to find him still there waiting for her, considering lunch must have started by now. He was sitting quietly on his sofa reading the book she had given him, though he looked up and set it back down onto his coffee table as she approached.

She watched him pick up the weapon beside him as he stood. "Do you always carry that around or are you doing that because I'm here?" She asked indicating to the sword as he walked past her to the door.

"I'd rather have it close by if I need it than have to run back here to get it. It's nothing to do with you. You don't scare me, Nayla-ya."

She huffed at his condescending tone and followed him out of the room, turning to watch him close the door behind her before falling into step beside him on the way to the stairs.

"You didn't really need to phrase it like that, why are you constantly going out of your way to irritate me?" Nayla grumbled more to herself than to him and as she thought, he didn't bother responding to her.

…

"So…how are you finding the book?"

She chanced a side glance at him as they started climbing down the stairs, catching a small smile on his lips before he answered her. "Interesting so far."

"Do you think I could borrow it from you for a little bit when you've finished it?"

"Oh? Is that why you decided to give it to me?" Law teased, turning to her as they reached the landing of the second floor, catching the irritated look on her face that he was beginning to enjoy being the cause of on such a frequent basis.

"No. I was reading a copy of it they had in their library but only got about two thirds of the way through it before I was due to leave. I wasn't allowed to buy more than book because they knew I was travelling off-island and I'd already got one for you so I couldn't buy one for myself. I didn't think I'd get the chance to finish it."

Law regarded her quietly as they walked towards the messdeck doors, the inviting aroma of a delicious lunch and the loud, louder than usual, noise from inside filling the hallway.

"…Well, then it was lucky that I took you then, wasn't it?" He pushed open the door, waiting for her to look up at him in question. "Now you get to finish the book."

Nayla watched him enter ahead of her, having to hold open the door for herself as he walked past it and into the room, smirking to himself. 'Don't get irritated, he's a parasite that feeds off of it. Don't get irritated.'

She growled a little under her breath, entering the room herself and trying to reduce her angry stomp over to the canteen window to a haughty, brisk walk instead.

Taking a curious glance over towards where the majority of the abnormally high level of racket was coming from in the room she stopped in her tracks in shock.

"What the f-?!"

"Oh! Lil lady!" Jeff looked up at her, face covered in food before turning to Connor beside him. "Quick, napkin me."

"Hell no-OI!" He protested, dropping his knife and fork to try to shove Jeff away as he rubbed his dirtied face onto the shoulder of his boiler suit before hopping up from his table and running over to her.

"Lil lady, I'm so, so sorry, please forgive me."

Nayla found herself needing to remove her hands from her face to reply to him, she wondered when she'd lifted them to cover her mouth. "W-What the fuck? Did Law cut off your fucking hands?!" She stared at the stumps at the ends of his arms in horror.

Jeff followed her gaze down to them before shrugging sheepishly. "Ah yeah…though he only took one last time. Something about if I can't keep 'em to myself, I can't keep 'em at all." He moved to scratch the back of his head out of nervous habit though realised he wouldn't be able to and hesitantly lowered his arm back down.

"Yeah and you heard what's coming off next time if you can't behave yourself, Jeff!" One of the men at the table behind him called over.

Jeff visibly paled at the thought, turning to yell back at him. "D-Don't even joke about that!"

"It's only a matter of time." Connor said sullenly, to the agreement of the others at the table as he tried using his napkin in vain to wipe off some of the mess Jeff had just left on his shoulder.

"Hey you ever wanted to be like your favourite action figure when you were a kid, Jeff? You'll end up just like 'em - from the waist down at least!"

"That isn't even funny!" Jeff yelled, though Nayla doubted anyone heard him over the round of laughter that had erupted in the messdeck.

"Hey, hey! When he finally fucks up and gets himself castrated, think we should start calling him G. I. Jeff?"

Nayla watched the men at the table burst into loud laughter again, having to lift a hand back to her face to smother her own at the mental image of Jeff looking like an action figure from the waist down. Though he didn't seem to share in the humour.

She looked again at his cleanly cut wrists as he turned to yell at the men at the table for making fun of him. The initial horror subsided as she realised he wasn't in any pain at all, it was obviously the work of his captain's Devil Fruit.

A glance over at Law's table and she found he was sitting there causally observing her as one of the chef's brought his meal over for him.

Nayla shook her head at whole thing, deciding to turn away and get her own meal before she lost her appetite entirely at the creepy, yet oddly cool display.

"Ah wait! Lil lady!" She cringed as she felt the blunt end of his wrists grip her arm to halt her from moving away. "Do you forgive me?"

"No." She shrugged off his 'hold' on her to walk away.

"Aww come on! Please?" He fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face into her side. "Please forgive me!"

"Get off of me!" Nayla tried prying his arms off of her, stepping backwards away from him but he didn't relinquish his firm hold.

"Not until you forgive me! Maybe if you do, Captain will give me back my hands." He looked up at her when he felt her still and heard no immediate reply.

"...That's the only reason you want my forgiveness?" He gulped at the stone-cold, quiet tone of her voice.

"Wha-no! No! Of course not, I didn't mean it like that!" He held on as she started walking away, his grip slipping down to her legs.

"You should know your captain better than me, he won't care if I forgive you or not-dammit, I said let go of me or I swear I'll deck you again!" She demanded angrily, managing to lift one leg out of his death grip but finding him still clinging to one of her legs as she tried to move away.

"Do it if it'll make you feel better but I still want you to forgive me anyway! I really am sorry, I'm just so…so..."

"Weak."

"Stupid."

"Immature."

"Pathetic."

"A horny teenage boy forever stuck in a grown man's body." Jeff turned his head to glare at Connor as he heard him chime in to add his two cents to the crew's insults.

"Whose friend are you again?!"

Nayla sighed down at him, trying half-heartedly to shake him off as he apologised and begged for her forgiveness again. She was honestly starting to feel a little bad for him, he'd taken a solid hit from her, could have gotten killed when he went overboard, lost his hands and here he was grovelling on his knees publically for her forgiveness…Law was softer on Shachi earlier because of her, maybe she could at least _try_ to ask him to give Jeff his hands back?

She looked over at Law's table, wondering how much sway she might have with him on Jeff's behalf if she tried. Law looked up from watching Jeff to her, catching her gaze as he finished chewing his mouthful. He seemed to read what she was thinking before using the fork he held to point down towards her feet.

Nayla followed his indication to look back down at Jeff. "…I _know_ you are not apologising to me and looking up my skirt at the same time…"

"…Umm."

"You son of a b-!"

"Whoa there!" One of the crewmembers at his table swiftly pulled him out from under her by his ankles before she could bring down the foot of her free leg onto his head.

"Awww come on! Why'd you pull me out?"

"She was gonna stamp on your face you moron, you want a broken nose too?!"

Nayla turned on her heel away from them seething and for once, it wasn't because of Law. She grumpily fetched her own meal and walked over to the captain's table, ignoring Law's amused smirk as she sat down with a huff.

Penguin tutted to himself watching the display at Jeff's table, shaking his head. "Told ya it was only a matter of time Nayla-chan. Honestly surprised he lasted this lon-" He chose to silently finish the rest of his mouthful at the look she gave him.

"Aww come on! I'm hungry! Feed me! I'm your pal!"

Nayla turned to look over her shoulder at Jeff's loud whining, seeing him back in his seat but harassing poor Connor beside him.

"You're no pal of mine, get off of me and let me have my lunch!" He shoved him roughly away from trying to steal the mouthful of food on his fork.

"This funny to you, Law?" She rounded on Law as she heard him chuckling. "Is this how you handle your crew? Hack 'em up 'til they behave themselves?"

"Very rarely. Jeff is an exception."

"Feed me because you love me!" Jeff declared, hugging Connor's shoulders with his handless arms and pressing his face against his friend's affectionately.

"Not on your life! Stop it, you're putting me off my food!" Connor roughly pushed Jeff's face away from his own with a hand.

Nayla bit her tongue a little to not laugh at what really was, or should have been, a sad sight. "It looks more like you're punishing poor Connor to be fair…how long is he gonna stay like that?" She asked turning back to look at Law across the table.

"Until tomorrow night."

"...Well, sucks for Jeff but this is good news for me." Penguin grinned happily.

"Why?"

"The crew are so busy making fun of him that they've forgotten about the brig thing between us." Penguin said gesturing between them.

Nayla smiled a little at that, glad he was finally off the hook for what she'd done to him though she belatedly realised they were missing one redhead at the table. "Did Shachi already finish his lunch?"

"No, said he wasn't feeling too hot and that he was gonna skip. He's been acting off since this morning actually." Penguin said thoughtfully, glancing at the seat beside her.

"No one skips meals, he knows that. Go tell him to come eat. If he refuses, let him know I'll be in your cabin soon to examine him privately if he's so unwell."

"Aye aye Captain." Penguin shovelled a few forkfuls of food into his mouth before getting up and trotting towards the door to fetch him.

Nayla watched him until he was out of ear shot before speaking lowly. "Shachi is probably just nervous he's going to get in trouble with you because you haven't said anything to him about the panties. I don't blame him for trying to avoid you, he's probably even more nervous now, seeing as you did _that._ " She gestured over her shoulder in Jeff's direction.

"There's no 'probably' about it."

Nayla took in the practically evil smirk on Law's face as he sipped his coffee, realising that the state of anxiety Shachi was left in was not an accident."Law! You said you wouldn't punish him!"

"I said no such thing and I'm not doing anything to Shachi. In fact, I won't even bring the matter up."

"And neither will he, he'll just sit around waiting for you to pounce on him for what he did."

"Most likely." Law agreed easily with an amused smile.

"So you're just leaving Shachi on the verge of peeing his pants at the thought of you punishing him _as_ his punishment?" She tutted at him, turning to glance over her shoulder at the roar of laughter as Jeff finally gave up on getting any help from his crewmates and resumed his lunch, face first.

"Well, the papers got that part right too."

"Hmm?"

"You really are a cruel man."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wondering what Law was remembering so fondly when thinking about the women that had tried targeting him with sex appeal? I did, which was why I decided it'd make a fun, dirty spin-off to upload as a separate one-shot: 'Bounty Hunter-ya.' It's frank smut so, avoid it if that isn't your thing.
> 
> 'Honey Pot' – Common term used by spies (fiction) to describe using sex as bait to lure enemies into giving sensitive information, framing, capturing or killing them. Female black widow spiders are famous for killing their males after mating.


	35. Lawgasm

Penguin did eventually return with Shachi, no doubt deciding that having his captain come visit him privately if he didn't show up to lunch would be the worse of the two scenarios. He'd reluctantly picked up his meal and sat beside Nayla, uncharacteristically quiet as she and Penguin conversed.

Noticing how pale and sweaty he appeared, Nayla nudged him, making the man nearly jump out of his skin by the action. "Shachi, you alright?" He nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak and trying to avoid unnecessary attention from his captain.

"You don't seem to have much of an appetite, Shachi. I hear from Penguin that you aren't feeling well, would you like me to examine you in the infirmary after lunch?" Law offered with a small, cruel smile.

"Uh-no, no thanks, Captain. I'm good, feeling much better actually." He forced a smile, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth to prove how well he felt.

"Law." Nayla chided, giving him a look across the table at his unkind picking on Shachi. Penguin looked between the three of them, wondering what he was missing exactly as Jean Bart joined them.

"Hi Jean." She greeted, glad he arrived in time to interrupt Shachi's torment and Penguin's suspicious attempts to decipher what was going on at the table.

"Hi." He sat on Law's other side, setting his tray down.

Nayla had initially thought it was odd that the newest crewmember had the 'honour' (she'd use the term loosely) of sitting at the captain's table but had learnt from the others during her conversations with them on Amazon Lily that Jean Bart had once been a pirate captain himself. She could only guess it was an oddly respectful gesture from Law, in light of the man's seniority in both age and profession.

"Jean Bart." The larger man turned to look down at his captain beside him. Nayla felt small enough around the men as it was but seeing someone she regarded as so tall look tiny when beside someone like Jean Bart made her feel the size of a toddler by comparison.

"I'd like you to see if we have any information about an island called 'Kattou' when you're done with lunch. If you find anything, I'd like you to leave it on my desk." Law observed the thick, brown, leather tie in the man's mane, guessing it had been the small gift Nayla had given him.

"Aye aye Captain."

"Yo Jeff, _hand_ me the salt would ya? Oh, wait. My bad."

Nayla looked over her shoulder at the round of roaring laughter at the lame joke at Jeff's table. "Geez, you guys are horrible to each other."

"Hmm, where ya going Nayla-chan? Done already?" Penguin eyed her half eaten lunch as she stood up.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling that hungry. Gonna go visit Bepo for a little while, see if he has something I can help him with."

"Well, I can see why you wanna avoid the rest of the crew but you could always hang with us whilst we work, if you like." Penguin offered, gesturing over at Shachi. The man flinched a little under her stare, knowing she was still a bit angry with him for landing her in trouble with his captain and fleeing the scene.

"Penguin, I love _you_ , I have no issue with _you_ at all and no offence to _you_ but I think I'll pass." She said coolly, poking Shachi in the temple unsubtly with each 'you.'

"Is hanging with Bepo this afternoon ok with you, 'captain?'" She asked Law, poking Shachi one last time for good measure as Penguin gave him a dirty look, still wondering what it was he'd done to upset her.

"I don't care what you do as long as you don't cause trouble…Though I feel like I've said that already to no effect." He muttered, glancing over at Jeff as he struggled to finish his lunch.

Nayla followed his gaze in annoyance. " _That_ wasn't my fault!"

"Of course not. Lounging around on the deck of an all-male pirate crew in a string bikini couldn't possibly have been a bad idea with foreseeable consequences." He shot back calmly, taking another bite of his meal.

She narrowed her eyes as she leant over the table towards him. "I have the right to walk around naked as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't justify anyone putting their hands on me. You incl-"

Law smirked, finishing his mouthful as she cut herself off seeming to suddenly remember their keenly listening audience at the table. "You're a captive on a pirate ship Nayla-ya, you have no 'rights' here." He said lowly, matching her gaze.

She bit the inside of her cheek, rising calmly and picking up her tray. Knowing he was trying (and succeeding) to get a rise out of her, she silently left the table.

"That was cold, Captain." Penguin muttered, cringing as he watched her slam her tray aside and begin to leave the messdeck.

"She seems to be under the impression she's on a holiday cruise with friends." He said shooting the man beside him an accusing look, making him wince guiltily. "Nayla-ya easily forgets her place here and who she's dealing with, she needs the reminders."

They looked back at her as they saw Jeff get up to try to approach her again before she left.

"Hands-off!" She easily denied, holding one of her own up to his face to halt him before he could grab her again.

Law chuckled as the men at Jeff's table doubled over at the unfortunate pun as she walked out the room, wondering if it had been intentional or just an unlucky choice of phrase as he calmly resumed his lunch.

* * *

The rest of the day slipped by relatively peacefully; which Law was thankful for. They'd had more than enough excitement over the last couple of days.

Apart from noticing Nayla had visited his quarters to take Connor's book off of his desk without his ok before visiting Bepo, she had behaved herself. Calling down to the cockpit midway through the afternoon to check on his furry navigator, he found she had done nothing but enjoyed idle chat with him and read her book.

She'd even fetched him and herself an early dinner from the messdeck and ate with him as he worked, which Law supposed was both her way of being nice to Bepo _and_ avoiding his and his crew's company for a little while longer.

Though she did miss the spectacle that was the offer of the other crewmembers to help Jeff eat this time around…which had basically consisted of them catapulting spoonfuls of food across the table at him which he tried to catch in his mouth with varying success, much to the irritation of Jake who was in charge of ensuring both the galley and messdeck were spotless before and after every meal.

Knowing that Bepo would soon be off-duty for the evening, he wondered where Nayla would wander off to next as he made his way back up the stairs to his quarters having just finished his own dinner.

'Speak of the devil,' Law looked up at the sound of dainty footsteps tapping across the wooden floorboards of the landing above him.

"Oh, Law. Jean Bart was up here looking for you about ten minutes ago, he left some paperwork on your desk."

"I take it you already looked at it without my permission?" Law reached the top of the stairs beside her.

"Yup, sat in your chair, put my feet up on your desk, read it at my leisure, pretended for a little while that I was an obnoxious pirate captain with a heart-breakingly unrequited crush. Was fun." He grinned a little at that as he walked past her towards his quarters.

"And did Jean Bart find much regarding the island you need to go to?"

"Not a lot really no and what he did find is information that is several years old so, everything about its waters and ports has probably changed - if this Orlen guy has been as active at his job as Marty said he was." She summarised for him, following him back into his quarters as he entered ahead of her.

"That's a shame." Law glanced around the room briefly as he made his way across it, noting she had removed her suitcase from his living quarters, spotting it beside the sofa in his bedroom through the archway. "Where did you put the book Connor leant you?"

"I read through most of it this afternoon and returned it to him on my way up here." She watched him as he leant his Nodachi against the side of his desk and picked up the paper she'd already read through.

"Gotta say, the book didn't really help much. This sub is about as far off of a regular one as it could possibly be. Nowhere near the types described in that book…you ever see how cramped regular subs are on the inside?"

He glanced at her as he set the paper back down onto his desk and took his seat, smiling a little at the upturn of her nose and slight grimace.

"Though the book said they were made horribly cramped like that for efficiency and speed and stuff…seems like something a calculating man on the run from marines would want for his own vessel though…" She tilted her head slightly, hinting her unspoken question.

Thinking about it for a moment Law decided to humour her curiosity. "The submarines you read about are vessels designed for naval officers who are travelling for a maximum of three months at a time in those conditions for work purposes. This one is my crew's home, they live here fulltime. It has to be comfortable." Noticing she hadn't moved from hovering near his open door and wondering where she had been heading before bumping into her he interrupted her contemplation. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh, I was actually a little thirsty. I was going to go down to the galley to ask if I could have something to drink." She turned to leave, beginning to shut the door behind her before seeming to hesitate. Law watched with interest as she seemed to debate with herself over something before finally turning to look at him over her shoulder with a small sigh. "Would you like me to bring you back something?" She nearly mumbled.

Nayla immediately regret asking as she watched his surprise at her offer morph into amused arrogance. Law rest his elbows onto his desk as he leant forward, a devilish smile taking his lips. "Now what had you feel so compelled to make that polite and kind offer, I wonder."

"No particular reason." She sighed out, anticipating he'd be throwing her attraction to him in her face any second now.

"Was it _my_ stunningly kind behaviour with you today?" He mocked.

"If you need a reason, how about I'm replacing the coffee you tossed out of your mug in the infirmary yesterday so that I could take my medication?" She offered in a monotone, giving him an unimpressed look.

"It wasn't mine, it was another medic's who'd left it on my desk."

"Fine, then I offered because I'm a super-nice, polite, considerate person, ok?" She snapped irritably, deciding not to allow another cocky comment from him at her misguided, very very misguided, gesture. "Forget it, I-"

"Actually, I just came up from dinner but seeing as you were nice enough to offer, I wouldn't mind a coffee, Nayla-ya."

She looked him up and down; his tone was sincere now but somehow didn't match the level of enjoyment on his facial features or the inward laughter that reached his eyes. "…Fine, how do you take it?" She ground out quietly.

"Any cook in the galley will know." He sat back in his chair with a lazy grin as she gave him one last exasperated look before closing the door behind her on the way out.

Nayla made her way downstairs wondering what to do with herself for the rest of the evening. Her afternoon had been a quiet one, the view of the shallow water as the sub sailed through the ocean had been as beautiful as she'd thought it would be. The innocent conversation with the sweet navigator had been a pleasant change too. It had been a serene and calming setting to browse through her book peacefully.

She'd bumped into Jake in the galley when she had gone to grab dinner for Bepo and herself. Even on his day off he'd been busy re-taking stock and re-planning the menu, seemed there was an incredibly large amount of fruit on the island. She almost regretted not going with him when he'd described the gorgeous-sounding orchard of apple trees they'd discovered on the other side of the island. He promised the fruit they'd taken from it would be making the most delicious apple pie she'd ever tasted for desert tomorrow; she was already looking forward to it.

Connor had seemed a little worse for wear when she'd visited him to return his book. She found him hard at work doing maintenance on the third floor. Seemed in between his own duties he was hung up all day having to help Jeff get around and fulfil his own. Apparently Connor also had the unfortunate role of helping the man who needed to 'sissy tinkle every five minutes' go to the bathroom, though she asked him to spare her the details of how hands-on he had to be with it. No pun intended.

Speaking of puns, hand-related ones were being tossed around amongst the crew like it was going out of style. Penguin had been right in saying he was now old news, the crew had plenty of new material to work with…though unfortunately some of the puns and teases were being directed at her this time around. 'Aww don't mind Jeff, he was just trying to give you a hand,' 'he must have had his hands full' and 'he's a good guy but he gets out of hand sometimes' being a few of the more common ones they'd thrown her way today.

Walking through the noisy hallway of the second floor towards the messdeck, she glanced at the rec room door as she passed it, the loudly chatting crewmembers inside it being the source of the racket.

She'd anticipated spending the evening much like she'd done yesterday, having a generous nightcap and enjoying the company of the crew in there…but considering the Shachi issue, Jeff hounding her for forgiveness that she was still too peeved to give him and the bad hand-puns from the other crewmembers that she'd have to put up with, maybe not tonight. Her only other available option would be to spend the evening with Law in his quarters alone together though…Maybe the puns weren't _that_ bad…

Nayla entered the messdeck cautiously, confirming that everyone had left after dinner already before entering. Making her way towards the still-open canteen window she noticed the food and drinks had been removed. She spotted one of the chefs through it in the galley, placing the dirty plates from trays into the large dishwasher.

He looked up at her as he saw her. "Hey Nayla-chan, what can I do for ya?"

"Hi, just grabbing a couple of drinks for your captain and me, if that's ok?"

"Ah, just brought the stuff at the window in. Give me a sec, I'll make 'em." He stopped loading the dishes, looking around for a towel to wipe off his hands.

"You carry on doing what you need to, just show me where and I'll do it." She offered, feeling guilty at pulling him off his work.

"Alright, come on through." She followed his gesture and entered the galley through its double doors, looking over at him for a cue.

"Glasses and mugs up here, teaspoons here, coffee pot there – should still be plenty brewed and teas and whatnot over there by the hot water dispenser. Cold drinks out back in the fridge, help yourself." He offered, pointing out in turn where everything was.

"Thanks, um...Dean, was it?" She returned his smile as she walked over to the cabinet with mugs.

"Yup…Captain likes his coffee in the black mug." He said as he saw her reach up to grab the plain white ones.

"…The one with the yellow Jolly Roger on it?" She asked with an amused smirk.

He chuckled, as he set some more plates into the dishwasher from the trolley beside him. "That'd be the one. He likes his evening coffee a little sweet, half a sugar and a small dollop of milk."

"Alright thanks." Nayla made their drinks, thanking the man again as he fetched the milk from the fridge and slid it down the counter to her.

"So, how does it work on here if I'm ever hungry or thirsty and want something when you guys aren't around?" She asked curiously as she rinsed the teaspoon she used and placed it on the side to dry.

"Well usually, nothing outside of our set mealtimes. Plenty of drinks and a few light snacks in the rec room, nuts, pretzels, the like. Though we make exceptions for people that had a good reason for skipping a meal, the ill, the injured, the Captain and the pretty ladies. You ever want something, feel free to come find me and ask." He offered with a cheeky wink.

She laughed, picking up the two mugs carefully. "I see and Jake won't mind? He seems to be a real stickler for keeping track of the food on board." She said, nodding her head over to the wall with the rota and meal lists.

"Nah Jake won't mind, he'd probably be pleased to see you eat a little more. Apparently you eat like a bird, so feel free to ask either of us for anything during your stay." He walked past her to the galley doors, pushing and holding one open for her.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." She smiled, leaving the galley.

"Need a hand with those?"

"I got it, thanks." She called back as she reached the messdeck doors, leaning her side onto one to open it and slip through into the hallway.

'Well as least some of the crew aren't interested in teasing me,' she thought to herself, feeling better from the short, warm-hearted interaction and carefully walking back up the stairs to the first floor.

Thinking of how sweet the crew were, or could be - once they were over the hand-puns anyway, Nayla couldn't help but remember how Law had called this their home. She supposed it was true…pirates lived on their ships, it was an obvious fact but she'd never really thought about it before. They didn't climb off the sub at the end of the day and go back to their own country, their own city, their own house, their own families. This was all of the above; she was staying in their - in Law's home right now. It was a weirdly humbling realisation…she wondered how many of the people on board had a home or family to return to outside of this ship…and how many of them were like her.

Carefully making her way through the hall to Law's door, she realised with a small sigh that she wouldn't be able to open it herself. "Hey Law? Could you give me a hand, please?"

"…Is that supposed to be funny?" He asked blandly.

"What? No, my hands are full…Dammit they have me doing it now too." She muttered to herself, listening to him come closer to the door on his side before he opened it. She handed him his mug before walking into the room past him, much to his surprise.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked with a raised brow as she helped herself to a seat on his sofa.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking back up at him as she sat back comfortably with her mug clasped in both hands.

"You aren't going to avoid me this evening?" He asked with a small smile, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I was never avoiding you." She huffed, turning away from him to blow on the surface of her tea.

Law chuckled, walking between the sofa and the coffee table to take the seat beside her. "So the crew are still being annoying." He concluded, taking enjoyment in her wary side glance at his unexpected proximity. "And here I thought for sure I'd need to go to the rec room tonight to peel you off of my men again."

Nayla bit the inside of her cheek as she watched him sling an arm over the back of the sofa behind her casually, not particularly liking the playful glint in his eyes and beginning to regret not choosing the endless bad-puns instead. "Weren't you sitting at the desk when I got here?"

"No, I was here reading my book." He nodded his head towards the book he'd set down on the coffee table in front of them. "In fact, you took my seat." He put his feet up onto the table, crossing his legs comfortably as he took another sip.

"How do you know I didn't spit in your coffee?" She deadpanned at him.

He chuckled but continued to sip his drink in perfect ease, confident she'd done no such thing. "I believe I've already told you how I'd prefer you share you spit with me, if you still insist on doing so." He said lowly, enjoying the look on her face as the fingers of the hand he'd placed behind her grazed the bare skin of her upper arm.

"Is that right." She said bitterly, reminded again of his unwillingness to kiss her as she took a sip of her own drink, turning away from his raised brow and slight look of confusion.

Nayla looked up at his desk as she heard a soft, scuffling sound coming from it. Turning to Law curiously she found he'd glanced over at it too. "What is th-?…" He watched the shock and realisation on her face as she pieced together what had been moving around in his desk since their conversation there that afternoon.

She sat forward, setting her mug onto the coffee table before standing up tentatively. Seeing that Law had no intention of stopping her, Nayla walked over to his side of his desk, zeroing in on the drawer that another small, muffled sound came from. She furrowed her brows as she gripped the handle, feeling a little uneasy all of a sudden. Looking back up at Law he offered her no reassurance as he smirked and took another sip of his coffee, seemingly anticipating an interesting show.

Biting her lip, she slid the drawer open hesitantly, in small stutters wincing as she looked inside, hoping what she was expecting to find in there was way, way off the mark. She turned away from the drawer with a loud curse, crushing her eyes closed and slamming it shut. Opening them again only to glare at Law as he laughed at her reaction.

Reluctantly, she pulled the drawer open again timidly, her curiosity getting the better of her as she took a good long look at Jeff's moving, disembodied hands.

…

"…There is something wrong with you, on every level that I can even think of." She muttered.

Law chuckled again, leaning forward to pick up the book on the coffee table but said nothing as he watched her peered into the drawer more closely.

"…Can I touch them?"

"They aren't mine, Nayla-ya. Feel free."

"He…can feel it if I do right?"

"Yes."

She hesitantly poked one, recoiling back as Jeff's hand seemed to move in a way to search for what had touched it.

Realising she hadn't said anything in a while, Law looked up at her from the book he'd resumed reading to find her watching the inside of his drawer intently with a thoughtful expression.

"What is it?"

"…I can't decide if this is _unbelievably_ cool or gruesome." She reached in to scoop them out, watching with interest as his fingers moved around to search for a clue of the source of their sudden movement.

Law watched with a raised brow as she took a good look at the cut ends and moved some of his fingers, deciding she was finding interest in scrutinising the severed ends of his muscles working.

"Hmm…You…would make an awesome Halloween party guest, Law. This is textbook horror show." She giggled as Jeff's fingers finished searching her hands, seeming to affectionately grip on to her as they realised who was carrying them.

"…If you're done playing with Jeff's body parts-"

"Nowhere near, be right back." She grinned, walking into his bedroom.

Law furrowed his brows, wondering what she was up to as he heard the familiar sound of her suitcase unzipping and her searching through it before reappearing and walking over to him on the sofa.

She set the small make-up bag she'd retrieved onto the seat between them as she sat down, ignoring Law's questioning look as she leant forward to take a small sip of her drink.

"What are you doing?"

"A little 'petty vengeance,' as you'd say. Nothing much." She smiled, putting her mug down before sitting back comfortably and setting Jeff's hands down onto her thighs.

Law watched them warily as she turned to open and rummage inside the small bag. "I wou-" He reached over as she squealed, slapping the hand that had started crawling up the hem of her skirt to the floor. "I wouldn't place those on your lap..." He finished. Watching as she rapidly lift the one still on her up defensively as it began to move the same way as its predecessor.

"Geez…" She murmured, resuming her search through her bag with her free hand, finally finding and pulling out the small item she was after.

"Nayla-ya…" Law gave her an unimpressed look as he eyed the small bottle of nail varnish she'd retrieved.

"Think red would suit him or should I be cruel and give him pink?" She grinned.

"And you think I'm the strange one." He sighed, turning away from her to continue reading.

"I never said I think you're strange." Nayla leant over to pick up the stray, confused hand searching the carpet by her feet. "…I don't think, anyway."

"You didn't have to." Law said evenly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"…Well, you have to admit, you are pretty strange." She teased, wisely placed a cushion on her lap before putting Jeff's hands down onto it this time.

"Doesn't hold much weight coming from someone giving a man's dismembered hands a manicure." He said quietly with a small smile.

* * *

Nayla shifted sleepily, cracking her eyes open to the unfamiliar layout of Law's room before finally recalling her surroundings again. She wondered how long it'd take to get used to waking up here.

Hearing the running water of Law's morning shower she groaned and shut her eyes again, pulling the blanket up to her chin. This time she was just going to wait it out, she was definitely not going to go to breakfast feeling scruffy, agitated and half-asleep again and she wasn't going to start her day off by arguing with Law first thing in the morning two days in a row.

They'd actually gotten on well for a change last night, though that was most likely because they hadn't said much to each other. He had sat quietly reading his book, only occasionally looking at her to roll his eyes or shake his head when she'd needed to coo and soothe Jeff's hands into holding still so that she could paint his nails neatly.

She'd tired of playing with them, unpacked a few things, changed and taken to bed pretty early. She wasn't sure when Law had done the same but whatever time he'd come in to sleep, seemed she had slept right through it.

It had been oddly nice, just sitting in the same room peacefully with him for a change; they probably really would get on pretty well, if he'd allow it. 'If only he'd keep that damn mouth of his shut more often,' she thought slightly sourly as she fell into a light snooze, waiting for a chance to use the bathroom herself.

Hearing noise in the bedroom she opened her eyes again, unsure of how long she'd dozed off for if Law had already finished his morning routine and had come back in.

The room was flooded with the amazing scent of his bodywash, shampoo, deodorant and aftershave. She inhaled the warm, steamy air deeply, privately enjoying all the scents she'd come to recognise as his as she spotted him at his wardrobe…closed her eyes and reopened them again, suddenly unsure that she was actually awake and not dreaming…or having a very vivid daydream…or a perverted hallucination…

Nayla watched him pull his usual pair of jeans out, the muscles on his bare back making the large Jolly Roger he'd had tattooed onto it ripple with his movement. She supposed she shouldn't have found the sight of it too surprising, he was obviously proud to the core of his mark but the sheer size of it was impressive. Noticing he also had large, tribal-styled hearts on each shoulder as well, she decided he must have an impressive pain tolerance. Having had a fair-sized tattoo done on herself, she knew first-hand that it was actually pretty painful.

She gazed down his bare, bronze skin to the edge of the towel he had wrapped around his waist…far too lowly. She fought not to lick her lips at the sight of the dimples of his lower back.

Law tossed the jeans behind him onto the bed carelessly, reaching up to pull his hoodie off of its hanger before shutting the door of his wardrobe quietly and turning around.

Nayla had decided to close her eyes as soon as he turned back her way; she already knew he had an attractive physique. It had been obvious from the weapon he carried the first time she'd seen him and she'd had a couple of opportunities to feel and verify it for herself through his clothing first-hand…'Don't remember that now, don't remember that now.'

His body was not going to be anything she hadn't seen before amongst the men she'd worked with plenty of times and she did _not_ want Law to catch her checking him out again. That amount of teasing, especially first thing in the morning, she could really do without.

Taking a deep, silent breath, she started to close her eyelids but felt them widen against her will and her jaw slack as he turned, stunned not only by the amazing body he had but the incredible amount of attractive tattoo work he had on his chest.

She stared wide-eyed at the gorgeous art across his muscles, following the tip of the large heart down to his abs. Staring at those, Nayla realised that she can't have been asleep too long, he'd left the shower recently, they were still wet. The morning sunlight streaming into the room in streaks from the porthole behind her were caressing him perfectly, setting every drop on his skin aglow as they slid down his body, collecting and running along the grooves of his muscles.

The warmth and faint haze caused by the steam of his shower, the heavenly scent, the golden hue of the natural light entering the room and the Adonis-like body in front of her…all that was missing was the choir of angels singing hallelujah.

Nayla licked her lips wondering why she suddenly felt so thirsty watching the trail of one drop, delightfully glistening in the sunlight as it ran its course over his abs, past his belly button, got caught and guided to front and centre by the V-shaped muscles of his lower stomach and finally soaked into the towel right above his…

"Nayla-ya."

'Lucky drop,' she cursed at the distracting thing, realising she'd been staring at the spot on the fabric at his waist that it had disappeared into for some time now.

'Great, well, you got me caught perv-brain. Wanna offer any stupid advice on how to deal with this situation now? - … - Did you finally get stunned into silence? - … - Short-circuited? - ... - Are…are you ok? - … - Crap, I think Law's hotness just killed a part of my brain…maybe it's for the best that part died actually… – I'm fine, fine just…hard to think when having such an intense and prolonged Lawgasm. - …Um. – Anyway, I think you should just go over there, whip his towel off, push him to the bed and have your way with him. - …No. – I vote yes. - …There's only two of us, there's no point in voting on it. – That's not true, I spoke to vagina. It's in firm agreement on this. - … - Haven't had a chance to discuss the idea with ovaries but assuming they haven't exploded at the sight of Law practically naked, I'm gonna guess they're on board too. - … - Two of them, so that's like, four votes to one now. - …What the absolute fu-?'

"Nayla-ya." Remembering he'd been standing there waiting for a response from her for a while, she dismissed the internal mutiny of her body parts for the time being.

"Yes?" She hoped that sounded innocent and neutral enough.

There was a long pause before he sighed, she watched the way his abs moved as he did with open interest. "Nayla-ya, my eyes are up here."

Realising she was still intensely staring at where the drop had disappeared, she finally looked up at his face…before deciding that if she were already caught red-handed, she may as well get her money's worth and allowed her eyes to travel back down his chiselled physique. "…I stand by my choice."

He blinked, surprised at her complete lack of guilt and shame as she resumed her open stare of his waistline. "…What exactly are you looking at?"

"Your tattoos." She partially lied.

"Is that right. What about them?"

'I want to run my tongue over every line of them.' "They're nice is all."

"Mhmm…you realise you aren't looking at them? I don't have any that low." He said sceptically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I was just wondering-I mean you have so many…do you have any below the waist?" She asked cheekily, biting her lip and looking back up at his face.

A small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he uncrossed his arms and walked slowly around his bed towards her.

Nayla sat up a little, not feeling all too comfortable about the thought of lying down whilst he approached her leisurely, half-naked. She tried to keep her eyes on his face but found it impossibly difficult to not watch his body in motion, trailing her eyes over his muscled legs, his abs and the way the towel clung to his slim hips dangerously loosely and lowly as he moved. She sat up completely as he came to a stop right in front of her, clutching the blanket to her chest protectively as she looked up at him.

"You really want to know?" He asked lowly, sliding his thumb into the waistline of his towel where the end had been tucked in.

'Yes.' "N-No."

Law slowly pulled the towel loose, smirking wider with amusement as she shrieked and covered her face with her hands. "Law! I was just joking with you, stop it! I don't want to see!" ...Hearing nothing from him she parted her fingers and opened her eyes to look through them cautiously.

"Then what are you peeking for, Nayla-ya?" He chuckled, leaning down to make eye contact with her, his enjoyment at her sudden shyness and embarrassment all over his face. It really did take a lot of work to make her blush but it was well worth it he decided, able to see the hints of flushed cheeks peering between her parted fingers. "I don't mind you looking."

She narrowed her eyes at his deliberately husky tone, not liking the smug smile on his face or his proximity. "Clearly, seeing as you don't have the decency to get changed in your bathroom before you come out!"

"This is my bedroom Nayla-ya, I see no reason to compromise the way I live any further because of _you_ and that includes not putting up with the discomfort of changing in a steamy bathroom."

"That sounds an awful lot like a lame excuse to just strut around naked in front of a woman, you pervert." She muttered as he stood straight again.

"No one is forcing you to look." She gaped at him in shock as he suddenly tugged the rest of his towel off before swiftly tossing it over her head to block her view.

"Law!" She scrambled to pull the damp cloth off of her face only to catch a glimpse of his bare body as he walked away from her and slam it back on, closing her eyes.

"Ugh, geez!" She tossed it to the floor realising where it had just been and that she was pressing her face to it, looking away from him and closing her eyes tightly instead.

'Do not think of his ass, do _not_ think of his ass, do not think of his ass.' She willed the brief afterimage of Law's behind to disappear from the inside of her eyelids, stilling as she heard his chuckle coming from his side of the bed again.

"You are not funny, not by a long shot. How would you feel if I strut around naked just because it's too 'uncomfortable' to change in the bathroom?"

"It wouldn't bother me, Nayla-ya. Feel free."

She grit her teeth at his sly invitation, listening to the sound of him pulling on his clothing. "Just tell me when you're decent so that I can use the fucking bathroom."

"Decent enough." He chuckled, watching her as she distrustfully turned to face him again, peeking one eye open slightly to confirm he was in fact not nude anymore.

Seeing that he was tugging his jeans up firmly onto his waist she sighed in relief, opening her eyes fully and throwing back the blanket on the sofa to get up. She shot him a dirty look as she walked past him, only making his lazy grin wider as he zipped up and buttoned his pants.

Pausing at the doorway to the bathroom, Nayla glanced back at him over her shoulder, openly observing his bare torso once more before looking at his face. "Hey Law…do you have any brothers?"

He furrowed his brows in confusion, wondering where the seemingly random question came from before answering cautiously. "…No, why?"

She sighed in disappointment, pulling the door shut behind her. "No reason."


	36. Let the games begin

Law finished straightening out his bed as he heard Nayla turn the water at the sink on. He glanced over at the chest of drawers near the sofa noticing that the one he'd cleaned out for her yesterday afternoon was only partially closed. Obstructed from fully shutting by the fabric from an item of her clothing.

After she had finished painting Jeff's nails a tacky, coral pink – he rolled his eyes at the memory, she'd spent the rest of her evening in here, selecting and unpacking some of her things into it and he had offhandedly noticed it was shut neatly when he came in here to sleep.

Nayla must have closed it sloppily when she got up in the middle of the night to pull something out of it. She'd said something about how she couldn't sleep because she could hear Jeff's hands fidgeting in his desk drawer and figured they must have been cold and uncomfortable in there.

Law pulled his hoodie on, picked up his Nodachi and walked into his living quarters to his desk, curious to see what she had gotten up to do during the night.

Leaning his weapon against the side and sitting in his chair, he pulled open the drawer he'd carelessly tossed Jeff's hands into to find Nayla had lovingly wrapped them in the fabric of one of her unpacked tops.

Despite her volatile temper and violent profession, he couldn't help but notice she was an oddly considerate and kind person at heart. Strangely polite at times too – a habit he put down to whatever her upbringing had been like. He'd noticed it several times now, that even when she was angry with someone, she couldn't help but be soft with them.

'Probably a little too soft,' he thought with a shake of his head as he closed the drawer again. Not a compatible trait for a beheading mercenary.

Law looked through the archway dividing his quarters as Nayla left the bathroom. She spared him a questioning look as she walked past it. "You're still here?"

"Shouldn't I be?" He ruffled his hair a little, deciding it was still a little too damp to pull his hat on as she walked out of sight towards the drawers.

"Just figured you'd have left for breakfast already is all." He heard her pull open, what he assumed was, the drawer that had her own stuff in it and root through her clothing.

"Not yet."

"Aww, you waiting for me again? That's nice of you."

He smiled a little at the mockingly sweet tone she used, obviously still a little peeved at his teasing. "If you don't hurry up and shower, breakfast will be over before you get downstairs."

"I'm not a morning showerer. I usually shower in the evenings."

"Evenings?" He reiterated, watching as she peered around the edge of the archway, furrowing her brows at his desk in thought.

"Yeah. I'll never understand morning showerers. You get all nice and clean, collect filth all day then drag it back into bed with you."

"You'd rather start the day covered in the sweat you exuded overnight?"

She wrinkled her nose at that as she walked over to him, carrying the skirt she'd retrieved; green and black plaid today apparently. "Ew no, but they say showering at night helps you to relax and sleep better. Something that maybe you'd benefit from." She looked at his bags pointedly. "Besides, wouldn't you rather be nice and clean before pulling on your jammies and snuggling into bed?"

"I don't know what _you_ do all day Nayla-ya but most people aren't caked in filth before they get into bed." Guessing she was searching for the black tank top she had placed in the drawer for Jeff, he pulled it open and tugged it out.

She took the top from him as he held it up for her, looking in pity at the poor hands that he had just caused to thump harshly into the bare wood of the drawer with the action.

"Not _caked_ in it or anything but that feeling of curling up for the night freshly showered and cuddling with your freshly showered lover in freshly laundered jammies and freshly laundered bedding? Everything warm, clean and fragrant? There are few sweeter pleasures in this world, Law." She leant down to rub Jeff's harshly treated hands apologetically, smiling as they seemed soothed by her touch and tried to grab onto her fingers.

"…I'm not much of a 'cuddler.'" Law said levelly, watching her stroke his crewmember's hands as if they were some kind of weird pet.

"No, I didn't think you would be." She laughed, planting a small kiss on the back of one of Jeff's hands before shutting the drawer again gently.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go change behind closed doors. Like a decent human being." She shot him a half-amused, half-annoyed look before walking away and re-entering the bathroom.

Law sighed to himself realising he was smiling again. He was pretty sure he'd managed to absolutely enrage her beyond her senses just yesterday, he wondered how they had already managed to slip into this strangely pleasant back and forth again so quickly...Maybe he should shove her off of something higher next time, he thought with a cynical snort, glancing offhandedly at her Den Den Mushi on his desk.

He hadn't really allowed himself to dwell on what she had called him to her agent on the phone yesterday, immediately dismissing what she had said to be a placating lie for the agent's benefit…and if by some chance it hadn't been then he had made it perfectly clear that she was under the wrong impression at lunch. He was not her friend…

Law was surprised to find himself suddenly wondering what her relationship to the swordsman from Strawhat's crew was…he'd put that stray, random thought down to her mention of 'cuddling' and 'lovers' he supposed.

It hadn't been the first time the question had crossed his mind. In fact it had been the _first_ question that had crossed his mind the moment he'd seen her walking beside him, clinging to his arm, smiling…and the way she was laughing with him. That charming, happy, carefree giggle of hers with its little hint of mischief…Then there was the way the swordsman had immediately postured in his presence, the protective hold on her hip as he had walked past them, the heart wrenching way she had cried out for him when she thought he had been killed on Sabaody…maybe she had been stubbornly disobedient about reading the paper first because she was desperately looking for any news about the green-haired man.

Maybe he was the one she had been thinking of when she'd had that wonderful smile on her face just now, recalling warm memories of nights spent with a lover…

Law glanced back up as Nayla left the bathroom, now changed and heading over to the sofa she slept on with the neatly folded pile of clothing he'd leant her. She raised a curious brow at what he belatedly realised must have been an oddly solemn expression on his face as she walked past.

"Are you really already thinking that hard this early in the morning?"

"Must be nice to not have to think at all." He muttered, loud enough for her to have heard.

She reappeared at the archway free of her burden and supported herself against it with one hand as she pulled on her flats with her other.

"I think plenty." She scowled, setting her foot back down. "Coming to breakfast, Captain Grumpy?"

"I'll be down in a bit." She tilted her head, trying to work out what had soured his mood in the time she'd gotten dressed.

"Don't _try_ to think that hard this early in the morning, Nayla-ya." He mocked, smirking as she narrowed her eyes.

"Starve. Ass." She seethed, angrily stomping her way through his living quarters and out of the door, slamming it shut behind her, just as she had done yesterday.

Law found himself smirking wider unwillingly after she left; it really was a pain that she looked so pretty when she was angry at him.

* * *

Law wasn't surprised to have found Nayla had finished her breakfast already when he arrived down to the messdeck; he had taken his time going down there after all. He found her stood behind Connor at his table conversing happily with him about what she had found interesting in the book he had leant her. Jeff was gratefully clinging to her arm (as best as he was able to anyway) thanking her; seemed she'd forgiven him.

Nayla did notice his arrival to the messdeck though, with a devious smile that made him immediately suspicious. Looking over at his own table as he walked towards it, he zeroed in on the untied newspaper laying 'innocently' close to Penguin. He sent her a warning glare over his shoulder, to which she only smiled more widely in response. He didn't give her the satisfaction of hurrying his pace, unworried and knowing full well his crewmembers wouldn't touch the paper until he'd had the chance to read it first.

Sitting at his table, he acknowledged the greeting of but then immediately tuned out the other men there as his eyes caught today's headline, complete with a photo of Strawhat on the front page. All thoughts of the pesky woman trying to get under his skin got pushed aside as he read through the featured article carefully; doubling back to look at the photo on the cover again in thought as his breakfast arrived.

Law pondered it a little as he ate, flipping through the pages for other news of interest today. He glanced up as he caught a glimpse of Nayla starting to leave the messdeck with Connor and Jeff in his peripheral vision. Remembering the devious smile she'd sent him as he arrived he flipped to the centrefold of the paper, lifting the enclosed bounty posters up to look at his own printed photo, wondering if she'd really dared a repeat offence so soon after her last one.

He slowed the chewing of his mouthful as he took in his own image. Seemed she had drawn in a Neanderthal-looking brow, lengthened his hair, given him an over-grown beard and had drawn over his Nodachi to fashion it into a club. His speech bubble today simply read "Ugg."

Her way of calling him a caveman he guessed, if he recalled her insults from the time he'd slung her over his shoulder and carried her back to the brig correctly.

Setting his fork down calmly; knowing without needing to confirm it that Nayla was watching his reaction carefully, he refrained from gritting his teeth as he neatly tore the page out. He ignored the questioning looks Penguin, Shachi and Bepo gave him as he folded it and looked up at her, seeing she was giving him a small wave and a 'sweet' smile as she left with his men.

* * *

"I can't tell ya how much I appreciate the help, lil lady…I really am sorry, ya know."

"It's fine, stop apologising already. It's really more for Connor's benefit anyway…poor guy, trying to do his own work and having you nag him until he helps you with yours too…Ya know, you don't have to, just let me do it." She sighed, watching him struggle to keep a firm grip on the mop he was attempting to clean the third floor's decking with between his wrists.

"And have you do all the work? No way! I-…" They watched the mop clang noisily to the floorboards as he lost his hold, again.

"You need a han-?..." He deadpanned at her from his half stooped position to pick it up. "Sorry." She managed out, trying not to laugh at the look on his face at her near-slip.

"I got it, you just carry on on your end. We'll never get done if you have to keep stopping to come down here and help me pick this stupid thing up." He muttered, managing – with great difficulty to lift the mop back up between his wrists.

"Is cleaning part of your punishment?" She asked, resuming mopping her part of the hallway as she saw he started working again.

"Nah, not this time. We have a cleaning and chore rota set for the whole crew but if someone's being punished the Captain usually makes them do the lot. We usually root for someone to misbehave just so they take our chores off of us." He carefully dipped and rang out the mop in the bucket beside him, having to use the crooks of his elbows to twist and squeeze out the excess moisture from it. Nayla had to admit; he'd managed to adjust pretty well to his handicap in such a short period of time. It made her wonder how often this happened to him…'Heh, _hand_ icap, wonder if anyone on the crew has used that one yet.'

"Captain didn't give me any extra chores though, probably because he knew I'd be too slow with no hands to get everything done. I was just unlucky enough to already be on the rota for this." He laughed, mopping slowly and carefully so as not to lose his loose hold on the wooden pole again.

"Yo! Nayla-chan, there you are."

"Heya Shachi." She looked up as he walked down the hall towards them.

"You're _still_ lending this loser a hand?" Jeff glared at him, though she was unsure if it were the insult or the hand-pun that had irked him more. "You should let him suffer. You and Connor are way too soft on him." He muttered, crossing his arms and returning Jeff's dirty look.

"Well she isn't made of stone like you lot! Heartless bunch of bastards." Jeff mumbled turning away from him and resuming his (attempted) mopping.

"He'll be here all day if no one helps him." She sighed out, cleaning the floorboards in front of the lower deck entrance more firmly as she spotted the stubborn footprints there.

"Well it's hardly a punishment if he isn't. Anyway Nayla-chan, Captain was asking where you were, he'd like you to check-in with him. He's downstairs in the cockpit at the moment."

Nayla snorted in disdain at the thought of Law. "Well I'm busy, I'll 'check-in' with mommy when I'm done."

"Well, he made it kinda clear he wanted to see you as soon as possible. He hasn't seen you since breakfast." Shachi explained uncomfortably at her quickly spiked anger, hoping she wouldn't shoot the messenger.

"Well I'm tired of your captain treating me like a naughty child that can't behave themselves. As far as I'm concerned that rude prick can suck my fucking ass cheek. If he's _so_ concerned about what I'm up to then he can come see me his damn self."

"That sounds like a good idea, Nayla-ya."

She whirred around to look behind her, holding the end of the mop up defensively and expecting to see Law towering over her. She turned her head downwards in confusion as she heard Law speak again, noticing with dread that she was stood beside the open voicepipe of the lower deck's entrance.

"Stay right there."

That tone was bad, extremely bad. It was way too calm. It had sent a stronger, sharper chill through her than when he'd explicitly stated he'd kill her in cold blood if she betrayed him or his crew just yesterday.

Nayla turned back to Shachi and Jeff, hoping to see from their expressions that her sudden fear was unfounded, that she was overreacting but she found they were gawking at her with open mouths.

"Oh damn…you've done it now, lil lady." Jeff eventually said quietly.

"I-It can't be that bad…I've done worse than call him names…Right, Shachi?" She looked at him nervously, gripping the end of her mop mercilessly.

To her horror, Shachi took his hat off and held it over his heart as if he were silently mourning her as his response. She looked past him at the stairwell, hearing footsteps and seeing the top of distinctly messy, black bedhead beginning to appear from the floor below.

"Crap." Nayla dropped the mop and sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction, looking for a place to duck out of sight. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid Law forever but she could damn well avoid him until he'd cooled down a little at least.

Before she could open the door of the nearest storage room, she felt his piercing gaze burn into her back as he spotted her. "Nayla-ya."

She lowered her hand from its doorknob reluctantly, biting her lips together and turning back around to face him. The two men in the hallway seemed to back away from the dark aura he was emitting in fear as he strode past them and towards her. Jeff abandoned his own mop as he scurried down the hall with Shachi, they took to the stairs seeming to not want to get caught up in the crossfire of their captain's practically palpable fury.

Law didn't have his Nodachi with him. That was either a good sign - he hadn't brought it because he wasn't intending to slice her into pieces, or it was a bad sign - he'd been so hell-bent on catching her that he'd left it behind in his hurry and rage.

Nayla hoped it wasn't the latter and that he couldn't see the gulp she'd just taken as she watched her friends disappear up the stairs and out of sight, suddenly feeling very alone and a lot more timid than she'd ever like to admit as Law came to a stop in front of her, bearing down on her with his presence and angry glare.

"Hello, Law." She greeted politely, offering a meek smile.

He leaned in closely to her face, pressing a hand to the wall beside it. "What have I told you about disrespecting me in front of my men? I made myself clear, I won't tolerate it." His voice was entirely calm but was dripping with malice, she'd not seen him this furious with her since she'd spat on him.

She cleared her throat, suddenly feeling her mouth run dry. "So you did, sorry about that. It must have slipped my mi-" He slammed his free hand to the wall on the other side of her face, cutting her off and making her flinch.

"You think some half-assed, insincere apology is going to do it, Nayla? Don't you think I've been patient enough with you?"

"Well, I-"

"You've been pushing your luck since the moment you got here and I'm getting sick of your behaviour…You're damn lucky you aren't a man."

She stopped avoiding his gaze like a child being scolded and looked back up at him. "…Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Oh...well...look at that. Guess you have some shred of chivalry in you after all. So what, Law, you're saying you'd have hit me by now if I had been?"

"I'd have _killed_ you by now if you had been."

"Well how thoughtful of you to be so fucking kind!"

"Don't you dare yell at me."

"Or what? You really want me to be nice to you and _not_ bad mouth you at every opportunity I get after all the shit you've pulled? Please! And anytime I _try_ to put aside the fact that you fucking KIDNAPPED me and be civil with you, you throw it right back in my face with your assy behaviour. You're out of line!"

"I'M out of line?! Are you really this dense?! Do you even _realise_ where you are right now?! You're on board a PIRATE ship Nayla! Do you have any idea how much worse this could be for you?! Do you have ANY idea what any other group of pirates would be using you for right now?!"

Getting over her shock at seeing Law lose his temper and hearing him raise his voice at her she shook her head, processing what he said. "…So…let me get this straight…you think I should be _grateful_ that you aren't a bunch of women-sharing rapists? _That's_ your battlecry here? That I don't know how good I've got it and that I should be _grateful_ you're so fucking nice to me? Do you even HEAR yourself when you speak you arrogant FUCK?!"

"Why is it so difficult for you to just BEHAVE YOURSELF?!"

"Why is it so difficult for you to stop being such a snarky, little BITCH?!"

"You first."

She openly gasped at his throw back. "You can't call _me_ a bitch!"

"Why not? You've called _me_ practically everything you could think of so far. Again, you think that just because you're a woman you're entitled to double standards." He snarled, leaning dangerously close to her face to speak lowly and calmly.

"Listen here, _woman._ I'm not going to keep taking insults from some sad, short, messed up little tramp with such bad 'daddy issues' that she drops her last name and seeks false affection from _any_ man that'll give it to her using over-sexualised behaviour in a pathetic attempt to fill the loveless void in her shallow, little soul."

She gaped at him before finally finding her voice. "You…nasty, fucking bastard…What's YOUR excuse, hmm? You think _you're_ such a stellar example of good parenting? Did you even _have_ a dad raise you? Or did he just club your mother over the head, have his way with her then leave when he was finished? That where you picked up your behaviour?"

"Watch your fucking mouth! I'm NOT going to take that from a woman who's shorter than my sword!"

She blinked at his sudden re-explosion after he'd managed to calm himself down; this was the first time she'd ever heard him swear. She leant her own face closer to his with a challenging snarl of her own before speaking in the deadly calm tone that he'd just lost.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm not going to take shit from some pathetic, egotistical asshole who's _so_ self-conscious about his DICK size that he feels the need to compensate for it by carrying around a six foot long sword all day!"

"I-!" They both turned to look towards the source of the low hiss and 'ooo,' finding they'd come from Jeff and Shachi who were peering down the staircase at them at the other end of the hall. Realising they'd been spotted and seeing the look on their captain's face, they quickly sprinted the rest of the way back up the stairs and out of sight, desperate not to incur his unleashed wrath on themselves.

Law turned back to her as he heard her fail to smother a soft noise, feeling slightly worried for a split second that he might have caused her to cry but found her pursing her lips together tightly as she looked up at him.

"…You can't possibly be finding this funny." He said in utter disbelief as he looked down at her.

"A little." She admitted, finally failing to stop her small smile.

"What's so funny about this?"

"I've never seen you lose _your_ temper before."

"…Did you enjoy it?" He deadpanned at her.

"Yes, actually. I can see why you do it to me so often." She laughed.

Law found himself smiling a little at that even though he didn't want to. There was nothing he should find humorous about how she'd made him lose his temper like that.

He sighed, relaxing his tense frame and leaning back on the hands he'd placed on the wall to give her more space, only now realising how closely he'd moved in when he had started yelling at her.

She'd done an excellent job of grating on his nerves since…well since the day he'd met her and she'd flipped him off. He hadn't once risen to it, always choosing to keep his cool instead. This was long overdue, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd shouted like that but he felt a lot better for it.

Law matched her amused eye contact. "…You and I both know that sword isn't compensating for anything, Nayla-ya." He defended lowly, expecting to rekindle the waning embers of her anger at the reminder of their explicit interaction in his bedroom.

"No, I _don't_ know that." His eyes widened at the honeyed tone she replied in, watching the smile on her lips grow as he felt her place her hands gently on the top of his thighs.

"...You didn't get a good enough look this morning?" He looked down between them to watch her slide her fingers up softly, pushing the hem of his hoodie to the waistband of his pants, feeling the graze of her long nails against his denim.

"Nope." She slid her fingers along the waistline of his jeans on either side, working her way slowly towards the button above his fly.

"…You didn't get a good enough feel the other day?" She glanced up at the incredibly husky tone his voice took, feeling more than a little lust in response to it and the way he was looking at her now.

"Nope." She hooked a finger through the empty rungs of his waistband on either side of the button, where he would have thread a belt if he wore one.

"And I suppose you're not going to take my word for it?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Definitely not, you'll have to prove it to me." She whispered back, keeping his intense eye contact as she pulled gently, bringing his hips to hers by the fabric she'd slipped her fingers through. He released a small sigh of satisfaction as her soft mounds pressed against his chest as she brought him closer, smiling a little as she stepped on tiptoes to bring her face nearer to his own.

Law willed his hands to remain where they were, pushing them more firmly into the metal wall behind her, trying not to encourage this any further and to walk away…but he felt one betray him as it moved to grip her chin, gently tilting her face to bring her lips in line with his.

Nayla watched his eyes leave hers to gaze at them, seeming to have an inward struggle with himself as he held her there. She licked them, deliberately slowly, pressing her chest more firmly to his and tightening her tug on him, willing him to forsake whatever small resistance was holding him back now.

He exhaled audibly at her open encouragement and made no move to stop her as she reduced the small gap between them to nothing, closing his eyes as she moved to kiss him.

Feeling her stop hauntingly close and smile against his lips, he snapped his eyes open as she abruptly released him, standing back on the flats of her feet and looking up at him with a teasing, satisfied smirk. Law furrowed his brows in confusion for a moment at her sudden retreat before he felt the haze of lust clear as he realised she'd just done to him what he'd done to her on his bed.

He clenched his jaw, at the sly look she gave him as she turned to leave, grabbing her shoulder and slamming her back flat against the wall once more, startling her with his sudden and forceful contact.

Nayla barely had a split second to process the look on his face that made it clear he would _not_ be played with like this before he leant in to her neck. She gasped loudly as he sank his teeth aggressively into the side of it with an irritated growl, pressing her hard against the cold metal wall, his frustration with her clear in his voice and in the harshness of the sucks he gave over the bite he'd left on her flesh.

She raised her hands to his chest instinctively to push him back, feeling her head lighten dangerously under his touch. Law gripped her wrists, roughly pulling her hands out from between them and pressing his body more firmly against hers as he grazed her skin with his teeth, licking and sucking harder as she gasped again.

Nayla bit her lips together, trying not to let another traitorous sound escape her as she felt the denim of his thigh slide itself between her own, pushing the hem of her short skirt up. She closed her eyes with a silent sigh as she felt the warmth of his clothed flesh press unashamedly against her through her panties.

It felt so good. Law's tongue roughly lapping the tender skin of her neck, his rapid breath dancing across the moistness he left behind, his hair brushing against the side of her face as he teased her, the scent of it and of him absolutely intoxicating, his hard body crushed against her - she wasn't sure if she were having trouble catching her breath because of the arousal he provoked in her or because he had crushed against her so firmly that her lungs were unable to fill, the contact of him against her womanhood…that undid her. She leant her head back, trying to remember why this was supposed to have been a bad idea.

Feeling her resistance against his grip slack, he immediately let go of her wrists, placing his hands on either of her bare thighs and lifting her with ease as he wrapped them around his waist.

"Law!" He slammed her roughly to the wall, silencing her protests as his mouth met her skin again.

Nayla gripped the fabric covering his shoulders tightly as she felt his hands glide the rest of the way up her skirt, he slid his fingers beneath the dainty straps of her panties and gripped her bare hips firmly, holding her in place as he planted kisses, sucks and teases over her skin.

The cold from the metal wall was soaking into her flesh from behind, the heat of Law's body was burning into her skin from in front, the sounds of his mouth and heavy breathing against her neck and the incredible feel of his hardening bulge pressed deeply against her was completely overloading her senses.

The smallest shifts in his movement was making the rough fabric of his jeans graze teasingly against her inner thighs, his slender waist fit between them so flawlessly, the hard hem of the material of his fly was aligned so perfectly with her opening that she was nearly convinced it had been intentional and he was grinding his growing erection so strongly against her that she was sure she could feel the fabric of her underwear being pushed into her slightly.

She should absolutely shove him away. He'd done nothing to deserve her, at all. This was supposed to be a simple evening of the score and a taunting walk-away.

That thought left her as Law moved his hands backwards to cup each of her cheeks beneath her panties, adjusting his stance slightly before thrusting his hips, slowly, deeply and fully against her. Nayla couldn't even believe the loud, involuntary moan that left her mouth belonged to her.

The scant material of her panties, the size of his restrained erection; he'd practically entered her with the depth and force of his thrust. She felt every ounce of her resistance crumble, succumbing to the intensity of the pleasure of him between her legs and burying her face into the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders fully.

Trying to reign in her ragged breathing, she realised that his was not a lot steadier than her own; he'd stopped kissing her neck and had leant his forehead to the cold metal behind her. Nayla could feel him lick his lips and swallow quietly, seeming to be willing his breathing to slow as well.

Confused as to why he'd halted so suddenly she realised with a smile that he was struggling with himself to pull away from her. She tightened the hold on his waist her legs had to pull him in against her more as she ground her hips.

Although she couldn't see his face, she felt his jaw tense against the side of her own as he clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tightly, moving his hands back to her hips and clamping onto them with bruising force to hold them still.

Giggling quietly, she leant her lips to his ear; feeling every muscle in his arms and chest tense as she licked his ear lobe softly before whispering to him. "What's the matter, Law? In too deep?" Emphasising her point by grinding against him once more.

She gasped as he harshly bit down on the tender spot he'd left on her neck with a growl, sucking fiercely on her flesh as she squirmed under the painful pleasure. He lifted one hand from holding her to thread his fingers through her hair, roughly pulling her face to the side to give himself better access before dragging his tongue slowly, heavily from the tip of her shoulder, over her collar bone, up the side of her neck, over the angle of her jaw, to her ear in one long stroke, deliberately grazing her skin with the coarse hairs of his goatee all the way before speaking in a low, breathy voice. "Do not play this game with me, Nayla. You won't win."

He immediately removed his other hand from supporting her, taking a step back and allowing her to lean her weight against the wall and her shaky legs. Law took in his handiwork as she tried to catch her breath between full, parted lips. The flushed cheeks, the dishevelled clothing, the tousled hair…and the look of unfulfilled lust on her face. A perfect picture, one that he in equal parts hoped he would and wouldn't record to memory in vivid detail.

Nayla watched him walk down the hallway away from her without another word. She leant her head back against the cold, sobering steel of the wall behind her, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to try to settle her racing heart before speaking quietly, though she knew he'd hear her. "Are you sure?"

He stopped for a moment before turning around to face her again as she opened her eyes to look at him. A glint of mischief in them now and a small, challenging smirk taking the lips she'd so cruelly denied him.

"…Yeah, I'm sure." He returned her smirk before pointedly looking at her neck.

Law watched the smile drop from her face and her eyes widen as she slammed her hand onto the side of it in disbelief as she realised what he'd left there.

He turned away from her, chuckling to himself as he walked the rest of the hallway and climbed the stairs out of sight.


	37. Dinner and a show

Nayla rubbed her neck, scowling at Law's back as he disappeared up the stairs, most likely going back to his floor she decided. Although she wanted to check the damage he'd left her with she didn't feel much like following him right now to use the mirrors in his quarters. 'Yeah you do. Go follow him, finish what he started.' The only other mirrors she'd seen on board were in the bathroom the crew used, which she was barred from.

Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it out and to pull some over her shoulder on the side Law had so thoroughly assaulted with his mouth, 'Did you _feel_ how strong his tongue was? Damn, imagine how good he'd be at or-' hopefully it would keep her neck sufficiently covered for now, until she had a chance to take a look at it.

Straightening out her top, she reassured herself that it couldn't be too bad. He'd been rough, 'So freaking deliciously rough,' but the whole thing hadn't lasted too long, he couldn't have left _that_ much evidence behind.

She flattened her skirt down more neatly, realising with some annoyance, embarrassment and a huff that she also needed to adjust her underwear a little. It may not have lasted long but it had gotten way out of hand way too fast, how the _hell_ had that even happened? 'Who cares, damn his hands were so big and strong. That hard grip of his, the way he'd thru– I keep ignoring you. Can you take the hint?'

Satisfied she'd remedied her appearance as much as possible for now she leant back against the wall in thought, allowing her heart rate and breathing to settle slowly. She wasn't sure how to feel about the whole thing actually and she had no idea who came out on top in the end…maybe no one had won this round. 'There's always next round. – No, there isn't. - …Why can't you just say 'yes' more often? – Why can't you just say 'no' more often?!'

Nayla wondered what would happen now, what would things be like between them? She groaned at the thought of facing him next, imagining how much more arrogant and annoying that smirk of his would be.

'Just do it. – No. For fuck sake, no. - Aww come on, you know you want him. – Yes, I do. I do want him. - …Sooo what's the problem? – Just because you want something doesn't mean you should have it or that it's good for you. – …Wow, where's that mature mentality when you're staring down chocolate? – Hey! That was uncalled for, shut up! – And, having sex with Law would _absolutely_ be good for you. There are lots of proven health benefits to an active sex life ya know. – Someone. Else. – But… - _Anybody._ Else.'

Rubbing her temple in a futile attempt to stave off her impending headache, she shuffled over to a cooler part of the wall to stand against, half worried she'd melt a dent into the part she was leaning on. She hated to admit how it felt like her body was still on fire from his touch; it was unbelievable how thoroughly he'd turned her on. The intensity of attraction she felt towards him was…she was going to attribute the incredible intensity to her three month abstinence and unfortunate proximity to the man because of the shared quarters situation.

She'd bet money he'd be looking a lot less tempting once she were able to find an equally attractive but much nicer man to spend time with on the next island within the next four days. One that would treat her kindly, politely, one that would actually be trying to win her over - maybe even take her for a nice meal or something and offer charming, pleasant and enjoyable company. This would all be put back in perspective once she was able to spend time off of this sub away from him and with other men. There was no shortage of handsome guys with amazing bodies on the Grand Line; Law would be looking even more like a rude, unappealing, manhandling, insulting, condescending, arrogant jerk soon enough.

The slight annoyance those thoughts summoned was soon quelled when she recalled all the things he'd said to her…she didn't doubt he'd meant every word. Even in his anger, he didn't seem like the kind of man that would spout whatever insults that came to mind in the heat of the moment. He'd probably meant everything he said. It was probably exactly what he thought of her…It didn't make her angry, if anything, it made her feel a little sad...Of all the people whose opinions didn't matter to her, he should have been at the top of the list; it shouldn't have bothered her at all. Maybe it was because she knew how smart he was and she wanted to be thought better of than just some 'messed up tramp' by someone she acknowledged was an intelligent and observant person…if _he_ wasn't able to see any more than that, then maybe that's all there really was to her…

"She's ok!" Nayla looked over towards the sound of Jeff's voice as he and Shachi both came back down the stairs. Realising she was subconsciously rubbing her neck, she quickly withdrew her hand so as not to draw unnecessary attention to it, hoping her hair was covering whatever was there well enough.

"Geez, Nayla-chan…you ok?" Shachi looked her over as they trotted back down the hall towards her.

"Yeah fine." She pushed off of the wall to meet them halfway.

"You sure? You don't look it."

"A little shaken, I guess. Your captain can be pretty scary when he wants to be." It wasn't entirely a lie; she imagined she probably looked a little off to them.

"No kidding, when we heard the yelling stop, we were worried…we weren't sure if we were gonna come back down here to find you in one piece." Jeff said with a nervous laugh, turning to Shachi as they stopped in front of her.

"Well, I'm still in fewer pieces than you so, guess I did pretty well." She offered with a light-hearted shrug and smile.

"Yeah you did…never seen anyone talk to Captain like that before. Seen a lotta people killed for less, you were lucky, Nayla-chan." Shachi crossed his arms, scrutinising her top to toe suspiciously. She hoped it was for signs that Law had laid his hands on her in a more violent than sexual sense and that her hair was doing a good job of covering her.

"…Was pretty epic though." Jeff grinned cheekily.

"No it wasn't." Shachi muttered, shooting him a dirty side glance.

"Aww come on, admit it. That was pretty awesome."

"Are you kidding? I was scared for her, you jerk."

"Scared for _her_ or you? High-tailing it up the stairs like that."

"I didn't see _you_ sticking around!"

"Anyway, guys. Let's just drop it, ok?" She sighed, walking back down the hallway towards the mop she'd abandoned. "Let's just get this floor done before lunch."

"Mmm, sure thing, lil lady…"

Nayla was sure he was exchanging a concerned look with Shachi behind her back but ignored it to stoop down and collect the mop, surprised at the small twinge of pain in her wrist as she lifted it…then suppressing the urge to growl under her breath as she realised it was because Law had pulled and held her hands aside when she'd held them to his chest in a pitifully weak attempt at resistance. She was lucky her ribs weren't aching her, considering how hard he'd slammed her into the wall. 'Like a wild, unleashed, untameable, lust-driven beast. – Pfft, you wish. You read way too many smut novels.'

"Alright, I need to go get some stuff done before lunch too." Shachi walked past her back down the hallway, offering her a pat on the shoulder as he passed. "…I know Captain says this a lot to you but try to stay outta trouble woulda ya Nayla-chan? Gave us or, well-" He shot Jeff an annoyed look. "- _me_ , a worry there."

"I'll try." She offered him a small smile as he walked away, resuming her task and eyeing the voicepipe on the wall by the entrance in distrust.

Jeff sighed as he walked towards the mop he'd abandoned earlier too, managing to slip the toe of his boot under it and use it to flip the wooden pole up to catch with his arms. They quietly began cleaning the floorboards as Shachi walked back up the stairs and out of sight. Nayla took the rare silence to still try processing what had happened and what to do about it.

'Stop focusing on the argument, focus on the juicy bits if you insist on making me replay this over and over again. – No. – Aww, come on! – Absolutely not. – …Damn what a preview. He was so raw, I bet he's a total animal in the sack. - I'm trying to work out how to deal with him now, could you please stop? - The way he pressed himself against you, it was an absolute promise of how hard he was gonna fu- – I'm killing you with alcohol tonight. – …You need to get laid, you've been really cranky lately. – _A_ _lot_ of alcohol.'

Nayla turned to Jeff as she heard him stifle a snicker, irrationally alarmed that he might have been able to hear her very loud, very inappropriate inner monologue. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, lil lady, nothing." He chuckled, wringing his freshly dipped mop out in the bucket.

As usual, over-thinking never did lead to anything productive in her own mind. Nayla decided to simply leave this up to Law, to see how things would be between them now. Whether he'd pretend nothing happened, or confront it head on with her, whether he'd stop teasing her or continue to do so stubbornly, so sure of himself and his self-control that he could do so safely…She'd admit he had more self-control than most, she couldn't imagine too many men would be able to walk away at that point, though she'd probably helped by taunting him…There was a definite temptation to see how far she could push him. Every man, no matter how good their self-control was, had a breaking point and she was feeling sorely tempted to find his.

Law had used the perfect word; this really could easily become a game between them. She usually wasn't a fan of games but maybe this time it would be one worth playing, now that she had such an interesting opponent. '...No, he's a jerk. I'll just wait 'til the next island. – But, but, imagine the incredible sex. – Imagine the smug grin afterwards. - …Fair point.'

"Seriously, Jeff. What is it?" She asked irritably, turning to him as he continued to fail smothering his snickers.

"…That dick size crack."

Pursing her lips to stop her own grin at his poorly suppressed one, she turned away from him to finish their chore, trying not to laugh as she recalled the look on his captain's face when she'd said it.

* * *

Glancing up at the messdeck doors after realising he was already halfway through his own lunch, Law scanned the room again for Nayla, in case she had slipped in and sat elsewhere without him noticing. She hadn't though, of course. It was difficult to miss someone not wearing a boiler suit enter a room full of people doing so. He sighed picking at his food, wondering if he'd need to go hunt her down, yet again.

"You want me to go find her, Captain?"

Law cast an annoyed side-glance at Penguin's knowing smile. "No."

"She's probably just a little tied up still helping Jeff, he's missing too." Shachi turned back to them after checking Jeff's usual table, shrinking a little under his captain's hard gaze as it shifted his way.

Law half-heartedly wondered if maybe he'd really upset her, either during their fight or by his actions afterwards…he hadn't missed the flicker of hurt on her face after what he'd said, even if she did seem to recover from it afterwards.

It hadn't taken long for the whole ship to have learnt about the argument between him and her, considering most of the ship had heard it. She was impressively loud when she yelled, much the same as when she had woken in his brig…he hated that the memory of it was trying to tug the corner of his mouth into a smile. He'd thought she'd been in top form _that_ day but she'd out done herself. He found her odd in that on one hand she'd been obviously educated well and had her moments where she could intelligently read between the lines of things he said to her here and there…but then on the other hand, she'd display incredible stupidity. Having the _nerve_ to yell at him like that, all pissed off and fearless again. 'Maybe the only smart thing about her is her damn mouth,' he thought bitterly, recalling some of the unsavoury things she'd said to him too.

Law was still more than a little peeved at how she had baited him with the promise of a kiss and that he had fallen for it, mistakenly assuming she was still interested in sharing one with him and not just mocking him. Admittedly, he'd lost his temper a little at that. Not his composure, his temper. After that petty little stunt of hers, he had no interest in granting her the pleasure of a kiss but he'd intended to return that dirty, scathing tease of hers tenfold.

It _had_ been his intention to simply work her up, then drop her as abruptly as she did him. As soon as he pulled a humiliating, needy moan of arousal from her, he'd walk away. Leaving her to regret the thought of teasing him had ever crossed her mind. Having her learn the hard way that he was not the same as any of the weak-minded men she'd toyed with before and he would prove it to her…but as soon as he _had_ pulled a moan from her…

Law willed himself not to replay the sound of it in his own head. That breathy sound of pleasure, passion and want that she'd moaned into his ear against her will, how it had echoed across the metal walls of the hallway…how badly he had wanted to thrust against her again to pull another from her immediately. It had taken everything he had not to do it. If she'd moaned like that for him again, he'd have taken her, hopefully he'd have had enough sense still left to have taken her to his bedroom but it was more likely he'd have taken her right there against that wall…

"Yo, Nayla-chan!"

Thankful his thoughts had been interrupted by Penguin's greeting, Law glanced up to see Nayla waving a goodbye to Jeff as they parted ways; he to sit at his usual table and her to pick up her own lunch. She caught his gaze briefly before she waved to Penguin as response to his greeting.

"You still mad at her, Captain?" Shachi asked turning to glance at her over his shoulder as she greeted Jake by the canteen window.

"No."

Shachi watched her pick up her lunch and begin walking their way, the light smile she'd been flashing at Jake morphing slowly into a deep scowl as she looked at Law. He cleared his throat and turned back to his captain. "I take it she's still mad at you?"

"Most likely." Law agreed with a small smirk as she approached, noticing how cautiously she moved so as not to disturb the hair she'd swept over the front of her shoulder to conceal the part of her neck that he had thoroughly enjoyed tasting earlier.

She sat across from him as usual, politely returning Shachi's greeting before silently starting her own lunch. Not needing to look up, she could feel Law's burning gaze on her, observing her carefully and quietly.

Finally finding the awkward silence at the table and his relentless, analytic stare too annoying to ignore she sighed and looked up at him. "What is it, Law? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, not your face." He answered smoothly, grinning widely at the warning glare she gave him.

"Aww come on! Do you want me to starve to death! I haven't been able to eat a full meal since yesterday!"

Turning to look at Jeff's loud outburst she saw Jake had left the galley and was standing beside Jeff's table. "I bother to fix you a plate and bring it out here for you to save you the trouble and you're gonna whine about it?" The chef unceremoniously dropped the tray of lunch he was holding onto the table in front of him.

"Steak though? Really? You're just doing this on purpose, how the hell am I gonna manage this? Couldn't you have brought me soup with a straw or something?"

"I could have. But no. You behave like an animal, you can eat like one. Enjoy." He replied sharply, turning to leave the man to stare in dismay at his lunch with a loud sigh.

"Nayla-ya." Reluctantly, she turned back to Law as he spoke. "I wanted to ask you something about this morning's paper."

"I'm not sorry and you have to admit, your hat, what with the fur and spots and all? Actually looks a lot like stereotypical caveman pelt, if you think about it." She said dryly as she took another bite of her food. Penguin and Shachi looked up at it questionably at its mention, wondering what it was the two were talking about.

"…Not that. I wanted to ask you if you understood the meaning of what Straw Hat-ya did."

Chewing thoughtfully as she looked across the table at him, she tried to read his motive for wanting to know. She _could_ take a good guess at what the message might have meant, she'd been there when the crew had decided to try to split up and meet again in a few days. "…No, I don't know Luffy that well. Even if I did and even if you did save Luffy's life, I would _never_ give you information about Zoro's crew."

Nayla furrowed her brows at the strange look Law gave her, as if he were trying to critically assess some aspect of what she had said. She'd expected more of an annoyed response from him about her stubbornness. "What's with that look?"

"You drop another fork I am NOT getting up to get another, just eat with your mouth already!"

Turning to look at Jeff's table, she found him trying to hold a fork between his wrists to poke into his lunch, tongue peaking out of the corner of his mouth and a look of absolute concentration on his face as he carefully manoeuvred. He'd nearly managed but soon lost his grip, his fork slipping to the floor with a noisy clang. He slumped in defeat, leaning his forehead to the table with a defeated groan as he gave up.

"Where ya going, Nayla-chan?" Penguin asked with a raised brow as she stood and started picking up her tray.

"To go help that poor idiot."

"You eat your lunches at this table."

Nayla looked back at the cold, stern voice Law had used in mild surprise, wondering what had irked him in the last few minutes but could only attribute it to her snarky response about Luffy.

She set her tray back down to the table. "…Then, I did. I've finished."

"You barely touched it." Shachi remarked, glancing at it.

"Well, I didn't have much of an appetite, I guess." She levelled Law a look before turning from him and walking away.

* * *

Nayla snuck up to the first floor quietly, peering cautiously down the hallway as she reached the top of the stairs. It had been her first opportunity after helping Jeff finish his lunch and the last of his duties that she'd had to slip away casually.

It was now dark enough outside to need to turn lights on and a glance at the gap beneath the door of Law's quarters told her those were off, he wasn't inside. Looking across the hallway at the bright slither of light beneath the infirmary door and hearing the turn of paper coming from inside, she guessed with relief that Law was there instead.

She crept quietly into his quarters, opening and closing the door softly behind her before hastily trotting through to the En Suite of the bedroom. Bracing herself for the worst, she turned its lights on and looked at herself in the mirror, flipping her hair back.

'Oh, wow…' She turned her neck in disbelief, sceptical that Law wouldn't have been more cruel but he hadn't. The hickey was obvious but it was much further back than she had been worried about, easy to conceal. It was a lot smaller and lighter than she'd expected as well, hopefully it would be gone in only a few days…'Better be gone before my job,' she thought grumpily, running her fingers over the gently bruised skin.

She sighed at that, turning the light off and making her way through his quarters, she slinked back into the hallway, deciding to head to dinner.

"Nayla-ya." She flinched as the sound of Law's voice startled her, yet again.

"What?" She grouchily called through the infirmary door to him.

"Come in here a second."

Nayla glanced down the hallway sucking on her lower lip, the thought of simply making a run for it to the stairs crossing her mind. Shachi had managed to escape him that way after all.

"You'll regret it." Law warned lowly.

She narrowed her eyes at the door, 'What, does his Devil Fruit give him telepathy or some-?...Oh…oh my god, please no. Please do _not_ tell me that man has the ability to read my thoughts…Oh my go-'

Law opened the door with a sigh, seeming to be on the verge of an impatient prompt for her to comply with his command but paused when he saw the look on her face. "What is it?"

"N-No, nothing, nothing." She willed the horrifying thought of Law reading her perverted thoughts about him away by rubbing her forehead as she walked over to him. "What did you want?"

He moved aside indicating she enter, which she reluctantly did, watching him warily as he closed the door behind her and walked over to the counter. Silently he rummaged through one of the drawers with his back turned to her before seemingly finding what it was he was after and turning around.

Law raised a brow at Nayla as he spotted her beside the door; she hadn't taken a single step further into the room with him. He smiled a little at that, enjoying her newly rekindled wariness of him as he approached her. Coming to a stop in front of her, he gently pushed back her hair, only smiling wider as she tensed at the action and took a step away from him, cursing under her breath as she felt the door behind her.

"Why so on edge, Nayla-ya?" Law mimicked the way he had placed his hand beside her head on the wall earlier, sliding the fingers of the one he'd used to move her hair lightly over her exposed neck, revelling in the irritated glare she was giving him as he touched her.

"Stop to-!" He silenced her angry outburst by dabbing the cool cream on his fingertip to her skin.

"What is that?" She glanced at the tube he held in the hand beside her face as he moved it into her peripheral vision for her to see. Taking it from him, she read the label curiously as he tenderly ran his fingers over her neck to smooth out the cream.

"Apply it a few times a day, massage it in to help increase blood flow and healing."

"This helps bruises heal faster?"

"Yeah." He watched her roll the tube in her hands to read its ingredients, smirking wider as her hands stilled and she glared back up at him as she belatedly realised he was still so casually stood no more than an inch in front of her, massaging her neck gently.

"If you were gonna feel guilty about it later than you shouldn't have done it." She finally said, swatting his hand away in exasperation when she realised he wouldn't be taking the unsubtle hint to stop touching her.

"I don't feel guilty about it at all."

"Then wh-?"

"I wouldn't want it to still be there and be getting in the way when you need to 'work' with Senator Orlen-ya. This should help speed things along." Law watched her reach her own fingers up to run over her skin, assessing the moisture on it before pulling her hair forward to cover it again with a sigh.

"If it bothered you so much than you should have gotten an icepack for it right away."

"Sure, hold an icepack to my neck. Subtle." She rolled her eyes at the thought.

"You _really_ don't want the crew to know there's something going on between us, do you. I'm hurt, are you really so ashamed of me, Nayla-ya?" He teased lowly, leaning into her face more closely to recapture her gaze with his own amused one.

"You're damn right I would be, _if_ there were something going on between us but there isn't. I'm not yours."

His brows rose in surprise at her anger before finding enjoyment in the level of it. "I never said you were."

She pointed to the side of her neck, glaring at the open humour in his eyes at her irritation. "This? This right here? Says I am and I don't appreciate it."

"Then you misread it." There was a moment of tense pause as she watched something steel in his gaze, a dark, playful smirk taking his lips as he leant them to her ear, speaking in a hushed whisper. "It says I could have you if I wanted you and that you should watch who you tease, Nayla."

She was glad he wasn't able to see the look of shock on her face at his bold statement, her temporary loss for words at the incredible nerve he had lifting as she felt the smirk against her cheek grow wider.

"I could have _you_ if I wanted to." She replied firmly, enjoying the momentary shock on his features as he pulled back to look at her in surprise.

"Is that what you think?" He asked as a taunting smile spread across his features once more.

"It's what you and I both _know_. You lost it today, I know you did. You better watch who _you_ tease, Law."

Glancing back up at her from the index finger she'd so brazenly poked his chest with, he took in the devious look on her face and the teasing smile she wore; she was openly returning his challenge. He chuckled at that, standing straight and plucking the tube from her other hand before turning to move back to the counter.

"I believe it's time for dinner, Nayla-ya." He said evenly, picking up the weapon he'd laid against it before walking back towards her.

She returned his wide smile, humouring his nonchalant subject change as she opened the door behind her. "Yeah, I was just on my way down there."

"You must be hungry, considering how much you ate at lunch ." He followed her out of the room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him as they stepped into the hallway.

"Oh, I'm fine." He looked her up and down, chuckling at her stubbornness before crossing the hallway to his own quarters.

"Where you going?" She watched him open the door, toss the tube of cream in - hearing it thud against the wood of what she guessed was his coffee table and close it.

"Putting your new medication somewhere you can find it easily."

"How kind of you." She remarked sourly, walking alongside him as he made his way towards the stairs.

It was odd how easy it was to fall back into pace with him even after things that should have put a serious dent into their…'relationship,' she supposed, for lack of better word. It was definitely one of his unique and peculiar talents. He found ways to irritate her beyond belief yet she could never really bring herself to feel the amount of anger or hate towards him that he deserved. There was something annoyingly likeable about the man that she was sorely hoping was just a misplaced sense of forgiving attraction to him.

"I take it you've been with Jeff all day?"

"Mostly, yeah." She peered up at him beside her as they reached the second floor landing.

"And I take it you'll be feeding him again?"

"Yeah…His last meal without hands, right?" Law nodded as they came to a stop outside the messdeck doors. "Then yeah, I'll help him out."

"He and Connor are amongst the senior crewmembers that are welcome to sit with us. Feed him at our table, if you insist on doing so. You need to eat full meals." He pushed open the door and went inside ahead of her.

"…Ok." She followed after him, furrowing her brows at his back.

Law made his way over to his table, listening to the loud, excited greeting of a hungry Jeff as he spotted the woman he'd left by the door. He took his usual seat beside Penguin, watching with amusement as Jeff nearly bowled Nayla over in his eagerness to greet her, no doubt delighted at the prospect of being fed a full meal again.

"Is she sitting with Jeff again, Captain?" Shachi asked, turning as he heard Connor scold Jeff for squeezing the life out of the poor woman.

"The three of them will be joining us." He offered disinterestedly as he watched one of the chefs leave the galley to bring him his meal, eyeing the noisy trio at the window with raised brows as he passed them.

"Oh, well. It's nice of you to reach a compromise with her."

"I didn't compromise with her." Law shot Penguin a look as his meal was placed down in front of him.

"Oh, right. Of course not, Captain." He easily took back, exchanging a look with Shachi across the table that Law didn't appreciate in the slightest. Saying nothing and choosing not to bother addressing their suspicious, silent exchange, he took a bite of his meal, glancing up as the others came close enough to the table for their conversation to be heard over the racket in the messdeck.

"-wouldn't need to if _somebody_ wouldn't refuse to feed his bestest buddy in the world."

"Bestest isn't a word."

"It is too, right, lil lady?"

"'Fraid not." Nayla laughed, setting her meal down in her usual seat beside Shachi, Jeff taking her other side as Connor rounded the table to sit beside their captain.

"Yo Nayla-chan, you feeding the baby again?" Shachi immediately greeted, looking past her with a teasing smile at Jeff.

"Too cute, whosa widdle baby?" Penguin mocked in baby talk from across the table, setting his chin onto his palm as the man frowned at them.

"No one's a baby, you annoying twerps." Jeff grumbled at them as Nayla ate a mouthful of her lasagne before reaching over to his own plate to slice a piece for him.

"Are you sure?" Penguin cooed, watching her cut his food up for him as if he were an infant.

"Pretty sure he's a baby, Pen. Show of _hands_ , if you think Jeff is a baby." Shachi, Penguin and Connor immediately raised theirs. "Anyone who thinks he isn't?" They immediately lowered their hands, looking at Jeff expectantly with wide, mocking grins as he looked down at his severed wrists in annoyance.

"Oh very funny, you bunch of jerks. Just wait 'til I get 'em back. I'm gon-!"

"Here ya go." Nayla offered sweetly, holding up a forkful of food for him. Law didn't miss the overly sugary smile and tone of her voice, nor the placating hand she'd placed on his upper arm to settle him down. He smiled inwardly at her subtle manipulation as he chewed his food.

"Oh…Thanks, lil lady." He happily opened his mouth for her, his irritation forgotten for the moment.

"What, no airplane noises? No 'here comes the choo choo,' Nayla-chan?" Shachi nudged, making her laugh. She set the fork down, dabbing the corner of Jeff's mouth with a napkin as he chewed and frowned at the man on her other side.

"No I guess not, guess that makes me a lousy mommy, huh?"

"You guys are just jealous _you_ don't have a pretty woman feeding _you_."

"He's gonna do it again ya know." Connor deadpanned across the table at her.

"What? No I wo-!"

"Oh and sweetie? I really don't wanna know what it was but whatever you were doing to his hands late last night to warm them up? He was in his bunk begging out loud to himself for you to take them to bed with you."

Nayla turned to deadpan at the man beside her. "Uh…well…I was just…talking in my sleep. Connor must have just misheard what I said 'cause he was half asleep too."

Connor returned his glower with a bored look. "Pretty sure at some point you were praying for her to tuck 'em between her thighs to warm 'em up as if they were her own. Never heard you pray before in your life." He offered blandly, taking another bite of his meal.

Jeff nervously turned to look back at the woman beside him, certain by the look on her face that nothing he'd say would convince her what Connor said wasn't true. "…Um…thank you, for keeping them warm by the wa-mmfph." She silenced him with a forkful of food as she sighed and turned back to her own plate to take a bite of her own dinner.

"Still don't understand why you ever forgave that dirt bag." Penguin muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, I-"

"Because! She's a forgiving, adorable, kind-hearted little angel is why! Such mercy." Jeff hugged her, rubbing his face against her shoulder affectionately.

She laughed, struggling to swallow her mouthful as she playfully pushed his face away from her. "Flattery won't get you anywhere now, quit it."

Nayla looked up at Connor as he gasped loudly, realising with alarm that he was staring right at her neck where Jeff had accidentally moved her hair aside.

"Is that a HI-?!" He hissed in pain as she kicked him under the table but she hadn't been fast enough, she realised everyone at the table was now looking at it.

"Whoa…" Jeff released her and pushed aside her hair curiously, making her bat his handless arm away with a scowl and cover her neck back up.

"Who…who had the _nerve_ to disobey Captain's direct orders?!" Shachi said in shock.

"Damn, whoever it was…'severe punishment' impending." Penguin muttered, shuddering at the thought…before all the men at the table turned a simultaneous, accusatory stare Jeff's way.

"Wha-No! No it wasn't me, I swear!" Jeff waved his arms wildly in front of him, defending himself in a panic.

"Nayla-ya." There was a tense silence at the table as they turned to look at Law, waiting to see how their captain would handle this and who was going to end up in pieces before the end of dinner. Law set his fork and knife down before looking up and making eye contact with her.

...

"Who was it?" He asked calmly.

Nayla stared at him in shock as he feigned ignorance, though it quickly turned to anger as, despite his perfectly neutral expression, she could see the twisted enjoyment in his eyes at her predicament. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes, deciding that looking at his subtly smug face was not helping her to decide on a way out of this in the slightest.

Biting her lips and setting her own fork and knife down onto her plate with a sigh of defeat, she calmly opened her eyes again, taking one last look at the mirth and anticipation in Law's amused gaze before looking at her lap. "I…tried to keep it a secret but…I guess I can't anymore." She sighed again before turning to look at the man beside her sorrowfully. "I'm really sorry, Shachi."

He dropped his fork to his plate with a noisy clatter in his shock. "…What?"

"I…tried to keep it covered, I'm really sorry I got you in trouble." She placed a hand on his on the table, looking at him sadly.

He looked down at it, stunned and confused. "…What?!"

"Shachi! THIS is what you did? I was wondering what it was but _THIS_?! Didn't you hear Captain's orders?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Penguin yelled in horror at his friend.

"WHAT?! NO! NO! Wait a minute! I didn't do it! I swear!" He cast a nervous glance towards his captain, waving his hands in defence at the shocked looks he was on the receiving end of.

Nayla looped her arm through his, pulling it back down to rest between them as she cuddled up to him lovingly. Shachi looked back down at her nervously as she pressed her body to his. "It's ok. There's really no use in hiding it anymore…everyone's seen the evidence of our passionate love-making. You were incredible, Shachi-kun." She purred up at him affectionately, making him blush profusely.

"You lucky son of a bitch." Jeff barely whispered, staring between the two.

"You're a dead man." Connor bluntly stated.

"No! No it's not like that!" Shachi shook Nayla off and stood shakily from his seat to put distance between them before turning back to his unnervingly quiet captain. "I didn't! I swear I didn't! I'd never! Captain, ya gotta believe me!"

"This explains everything…no wonder you've been such a nervous wreck." Penguin muttered, placing a hand to his forehead as he shook it in disappointment.

"That's not true, I was-that was something else completely!" Penguin glared up at him sceptically. "I swear it! Tell 'em Nayla-chan!"

"Yeah he's right." She admitted easily, making Penguin turn to her with a raised brow. "He was nervous because your captain found out he had my panties when he tried to smuggle them back to me in Connor's book."

"Ah...that explains it." Connor agreed, seeming to come to an epiphany as he remembered Shachi's odd insistence that he be the one to give her the book that morning.

"...You dirty perv!"

Shaking himself from staring at Nayla in disbelief, Shachi found his tongue, rounding on his friend. "Oh don't act so high and mighty Pen! I saw you reaching for her laundry too, you were gonna do the same!"

Nayla looked at Penguin across the table in surprise to find the man fighting down a blush of his own. "No! No that's not true Nayla-chan, honest!"

"Don't lie! You're no better than I am Pen and you know it!"

"You. Bastard." Jeff muttered dangerously quietly, staring at the table intently. Nayla was surprised to hear how angry he sounded, fairly certain from his posture that if his hands were at the ends of his wrists on the table right now that they'd be clenched tightly into fists. "I CANNOT believe you, Shachi." He glared up at him.

"W-Well I-"

"You dirty, twisted, little pervert. You really took her panties after you washed them for her?" Nayla's brows rose at his apparent outrage on her behalf, a glance at Penguin and Shachi's faces told her they were as surprised by it as she was. "You're out of line. WAY out of line. That's _sick_."

Nayla looked across the table at Law and Connor, finding they were significantly less impressed with Jeff's apparent disgust with Shachi's perverted behaviour. She locked eyes with Connor in silent question only to watch him close his and shake his head, mouthing; 'Wait for it.'

"Why…the absolute fuck…would you...would anybody, steal her _clean_ panties?! What the FUCK good are _clean_ panties to anyone?!" There was a shocked silence, broken only by Connor's loud groan and face palm.

"Th… _That's_ your problem wit-?"

"What were you gonna do with 'em, huh? Wear 'em? Why the HELL would you have taken clean ones? You really are a gross pervert!"

"M-ME?! _I'M_ the pervert?! Do you hear what you're sa-?!" Shachi was cut short by the sound of Law clearing his throat. "Uh-a-anyway, the panties yes, I-I did but not this-that!" He exclaimed pointing at Nayla, his nervousness returning under his captain's piercing stare.

Feeling some of the attention at the table back on her, she reached out for Shachi's pointed hand, holding onto it tenderly. "Shachi, I think we should just come clean…I mean, you told me you love me, right? I love you too, your captain needs to know. You said it yourself, that he'd understand, right?"

"No! I didn't tel-T-That's not-I didn't say any of that! Captain, I _swear_!" Shachi paled under the death glares he received from the table in response as she continued to rub the back of his hand with her thumb hand lovingly, prompting him to pull it away from her. "Nayla-chan! Stop it, this isn't funny! What's gotten into you?! You're gonna get me killed!"

Nayla clutched her abandoned hand to her chest in fake hurt. "But…but…you promised, you said you'd be honoured to be my baby's daddy. That you _wanted_ to start a family with me! I even let you keep those panties as a token of our first, _amazing_ , time together…Shachi-kun…I…"

His jaw dropped as she sniffled threateningly. "N-Nayla-chan…please don-"

Jeff abruptly stood from the table. "You calling Nayla-chan a liar?! You dirty bastard!"

"No!-Well, yes. I-"

Jeff stepped out of the benched seating, speaking lowly as he walked over to him. "You can say whatever you want, you can do whatever it takes - _whatever_ it takes! I won't ever judge a man for doing what needs to be done to get laid…but you don't ever, EVER use the 'L' word to get a woman into bed, Shachi. I thought you were better than this."

"I'M TELLING YOU I DIDN'T! You gotta believe me, Captain! Say something!" Shachi cast one last desperate look at Law as he stepped out from the benched seating himself backing away from the angry aura Jeff was emitting but his captain's expression didn't change.

"You're lucky I don't have fists right now..."

"Oi! OI! Jeff! Knock it off!" Penguin got up from his seat, running around to the other side of the table as he saw Jeff move towards Shachi.

"You stay outta this Pen!"

"Geez..." Connor got up to go help Penguin separate them before a fight broke out, though there were plenty of jeers and egging on coming from the other men in the messdeck as they turned to watch the commotion. Nayla glanced around behind her at the other tables, realising that pretty much the entire room was now looking this way and that the argument at their table had been a long and loud one. She wondered how long ago they'd drawn attention.

"-Cannot even BELIEVE you, Shachi! How could you make the lil lady cry?!"

"ARE YOU DEAF?! I TOLD YOU I DID-"

"How long did you have those panties and you didn't even think to tell _ANY_ of us?!"

"Uh…"

"I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!"

"T-THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE _REALLY_ MAD ABOUT, ISNT IT?!"

"I don't care what you bastards are fighting about now but take it outside! You knocked my damn dinner to the floor!"

"WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR DAMN FOOD?!"

"Oi oi, let it go, don't get involved with those idiots."

"Who's an idiot?!"

"Yeah you better not try taking me on, even without hands I'll kick your ass!"

"Oh that does it you loud mouthed bastard, about time someone taught you how to keep that shut!"

Nayla looked back over at the chaos, as several other crewmembers joined in to break up or participate in the quickly escalating scuffle. She turned back to the table as she casually wiped her fake tears away before taking another bite of her rapidly cooling lasagne.

Law sighed tiredly at the dog pile of yelling, angry, flailing boiler suits on the messdeck floor before turning back to the table and taking another bite of his own.

"So, why Shachi?"

"Because he never did apologise to me for running off after the panty thing."

Law glanced up at her from his plate, unable to help the small smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth at the ridiculous, winning smile she was wearing as she chewed her food happily.

"And you think I'm the cruel one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I'd share an entirely true but summarised snippet of my real-life inspiration for Jeff:
> 
> Me: "Someone broke into our apartment last night and stole mine and my flatmate's entire drawers full of panties. I feel so disturbed, upset and violated."
> 
> Bf: *Loving, comforting, reassuring embrace.* "Oh wow...that's so sick...what the hell is the matter with guys like that? I'll never understand it...I mean, what the fuck kind of weirdo-"
> 
> Me: *Super proud at how upset and outraged my loving significant other is getting over this terrible travesty.*
> 
> Bf: "-would steal the clean ones?"
> 
> Me: *Closest I ever came to a real anime flop in my life.*


	38. Officer Law

"I did tell you it was more trouble than it was worth to keep me around. You should _really_ reconsider dropping me off on the next island."

Law levelled her a mildly annoyed side-glance as they reached the first floor. "No."

"Aww come on." Nayla sighed.

"Stop causing trouble."

" _You_ started that…acting all innocent in there." She easily muttered back as they walked down the hall towards the infirmary.

Law had been kind enough to remind her they'd be beginning her daily examinations she'd 'agreed' to today on their way up from dinner…after they'd finished eating and he'd put a stop to the small riot brewing in there with a few stern, choice words of course.

"Would you have rather I told them the truth?" He chuckled at her sour tut and scowl as she looked away from him. "You had better hope I continue to believe the trouble you cause me is worthwhile, Nayla-ya because if I decide it isn't, I don't see why I should wait until the next island to get rid of you. It would be much easier to throw you overboard instead." Nayla took in his positively demonic little grin, hoping he was mostly joking about it but not putting it past him.

"I believe you've already done that." Chuckling at the memory and her bitter tone, he pushed open the door to his quarters. "Where are you going? I thought we'd be doing this in the infirmary."

"We are. Go in and take a seat, I'll be right there."

Nayla sighed at his back as he disappeared into his quarters before turning and reluctantly entering the infirmary, flipping the lights on as she closed the door behind her. Unsure of whether Law would want her on one of the examination beds or at his desk, she wandered over to the latter to take a nosey peek at the books on the shelves behind it.

A glance at his work surface as she passed it and she saw to her surprise that her own file was still sitting on top of the small pile on it. Made sense she supposed, maybe he'd put it away but had taken it out again in anticipation for today's examination.

Nayla looked at the infirmary door then back at the file on his desk, pursing her lips in thought…there was probably no harm in taking just a little peak, right? It was her own information after all.

Picking up the thin file she decided to take a quick flick through the pages, curious to see what else he had in there about her other than the information she'd given him during the medical he gave her on the first day.

Pressing her thumb to the edge of the pages, she started flipping through them from back to front; eyeing the complicated-looking printed lab reports at the back of the file and watching the multiple duplicates whizz by but stopped as she reached a few pages of handwritten annotations. It seemed these were the notes of the first treatments Law had given her, her vitals, her surgery, her scalp laceration…he'd noted what he'd seen on her back and had added what little information she'd given to him when he'd asked on the beach. She was impressed to find he'd analysed everything he'd seen and learnt about it so systematically…'Smart men always were the most dangerous ones.'

Hearing the door of his quarters open and realising she was out of time for her snoop, she flipped to the last page at the front; a standardised, printed form with blank spaces for the answers. It was the one he'd used to fill in the history he'd taken from her on her first day here. Her name, her age, residence, nothing she didn't already know she'd told him.

Nayla moved to close and set the folder down as she heard Law cross the hallway towards the infirmary door but froze and frowned at the handwritten answers to the sensitive questions he'd asked her, uncaring if he walked in and caught her now.

Law entered the room, his hat and Nodachi now missing, she assumed he'd just gone to drop them off. He raised a brow at the angry look on her face as he shut the door before spotting the folder in her hands, smirking as he pieced together what must have annoyed her now.

"Really, Law?"

"What seems to be the problem, Nayla-ya?" He strode over to the counter casually, pushing his sleeves further up.

"Those questions you asked me were _not_ on this form. You just wrote down the answers in the free space on the side."

"That would be because there would be no point in printing forms with questions about menstruation, contraception and the like on an all _male_ crew." She couldn't see it as he'd turned his back to her to wash his hands but she could hear that damn smirk in his voice.

"Sexual orientation? Date and nature of last sexual encounter? Those still count for your _male_ crew, why aren't they on this form, Law?"

"Are they not?" He asked innocently turning to glance at her over his shoulder as he pulled paper towels from the dispenser beside him to dry his hands.

"I _knew_ you were messing with me! You have some ne-!"

"My mistake. Now, if you'd be so kind as to take a seat, Nayla-ya." He gestured to the nearest examination table to him before picking up a small tray and opening some of the cabinets.

She sighed in frustration, slapping the thin, card file shut and slamming it back on top of the pile on his desk before walking over to the table he wanted her on. "What are you going to do?"

"I've examined most of your systems clinically already…unless of course you've changed your mind about the breast and pelvic exams?" He glanced at her again as he placed the items he'd retrieved onto the tray, taking a moment to enjoy the dirty look the suggestion put onto her face before chuckling and continuing. "I didn't think so. Well, I haven't found anything abnormal by examining you. Considering how unwilling you are to discuss your ability openly, the next logical step would be to take another blood sample, do some imaging and run some physiological tests."

"So for the moment, you're just looking to see if there's anything abnormal going on with my body?"

"Basically, yes. I'd like to see if there is anything else going on other than the abnormality in your blood work, then I can take it from there." Law watched her look back at the file on his desk as he walked over to her, she hadn't had the chance to spot and read anything about it before he came in.

"So…what exactly was wrong with it?"

Law set the tray of equipment onto the bed beside her, drawing her attention back to him as he considered his choice of words carefully. "There's something in it that shouldn't be there." He finally answered, pulling the stool out from underneath the table, taking a seat in front of her and pulling on the pair of gloves he'd set on the tray.

"What is it?" She watched him pick up the tourniquet as he visually examined her arms, helping by holding them both out palm up for him to look at.

"That's a very good question." He ran his thumb over the inner aspect of her nearest elbow, examining the vein there briefly before deciding to tie the tourniquet around this upper arm. "But, I'm certain it has something to do with that ability of yours."

Nayla watched him silently pick up his needle and syringe, turning away as he uncapped it and approached her arm.

"Don't like needles?" He chuckled.

"That's such a stupid doctor question, _nobody_ likes needles." She grumbled, flinching a little as she felt him hold her arm gently to still it but surprisingly she barely felt the needle enter her skin. Glancing back at her arm, she let out the breath she'd been holding in relief as she verified he was taking blood; doctors never did usually succeed on their first attempt with her.

She watched with interest as he patiently waited for the tube to fill, before sliding it gently out and placing another tube to take its place; seemed he wanted more than one sample to work with or wanted to run a lot of tests.

Nayla inwardly decided she liked watching him slip into this quiet, diligent doctor mode of his. His touch was really gentle and warm, when he wanted it to be…when he wasn't being mean to her, or making snide jokes at her expense, or teasing her, or manhandling her, or sexually harassing her…or yelling at her.

She'd had a lot of time today to think about their argument whilst helping Jeff get his cleaning duties finished. Law had _really_ lost his temper with her when she'd insulted his parents and when she'd dwelled on that, she'd remembered how young he'd said he began learning medicine and how young he began pirating…it wasn't unlikely someone in his family had been a doctor and if he'd fallen into piracy by ten, he'd probably lost his parents by that age, one way or another.

The thought of it had been making her feel guilty all day but she'd been stubbornly reminding herself that he'd been the one that had started taking swipes at her family first…but it hadn't made her feel any better about what she'd said.

Nayla watched him unfasten the tourniquet on her upper arm and place it into the tray, picking up a small cotton ball before gently sliding the needle out and pressing the cotton firmly to her arm.

"Hey, Law?" He raised a brow at her unusually demure tone as she took over pressing the cotton to her skin, looking back up at her face. "I'm…sorry about earlier. About what I said."

He placed the tube of blood and needle onto the tray silently, observing the oddly shy eye contact, surprised that she seemed to be feeling any sort of genuine remorse for their argument that morning.

"You said a lot of things, care to be more specific?" He pulled off his gloves and tossed them into the tray beside her.

"About your parents, I didn't mean it. It seemed to upset you."

"…I'm not angry about it." He stood, picking up the tray as he turned away from her to walk back to the counter.

She blinked after him at his abrupt retreat wondering if her next gentle poke would be too personal and upset him or thaw that icy brush-off of his. "If you got upset when I insulted them…then I guess that means they must have been nice, right?"

He paused before resuming his movements to toss the used needle into a secured sharps bin and turned to look at her. After a tense moment under his piercing, analytical gaze he turned away to toss the rest of his used equipment into the clinical waste bin under the counter, a small upturn of the corner of his mouth barely visible from her angle. "Yeah, they were."

Nayla smiled to herself as she glanced down at her feet hanging over the edge of the bed, inwardly relieved with his reaction and strangely feeling just a tiny step closer to the man in the room with her. Though she wasn't sure why the fact he'd seemed to have accepted her apology or the fact he'd divulged a small snippet of personal information about himself had been so pleasing.

"Sooo…"

He raised a brow at her from over his shoulder as he picked up a pen on the counter. "So what, Nayla-ya?"

"…Where's mine?"

Realising she was referring to an apology; he scoffed at her small, cheeky smile and turned back to the counter to begin filling in the labels on the tubes of her blood. "Did you really expect me to give you one?"

"It's probably what _normal_ a person who'd been in a _two-way_ argument and who'd swung the _first_ low blow in it would do. So no, I didn't really expect you to feel any guilt or want to smooth things over with me….worth a shot though." She sighed, lifting the cotton ball up to check if she could stop pressing on her arm yet.

Law placed the labelled tubes aside into a vial rack and set his pen down, looking over his shoulder at her as she silently pressed the cotton ball back to her arm again. "…You seem to insist on wanting to get along with me better. Though I don't know why someone would _want_ to do that with a pirate that took them against their will." He said levelly, pulling open the drawer beside him to rummage around the open box of band-aids inside for a suitably small one.

Nayla furrowed her brows at his blunt observation; she'd asked herself that question many times already. "…I guess…maybe because it would just make this whole thing easier."

Law shut the drawer and turned back to face her, immediately disliking the sombre tone of her voice and the slightly sad edge to her once playful smile as she looked at the floor beneath the bed. It reminded him too much of how she'd looked climbing up his gangplank all that time ago; small, alone and vulnerable. It summoned a lot of really unpleasant feelings in him that he didn't want to acknowledge, at all. He really did hate it.

Biting the inside of his cheek to stop the sigh that wanted to leave him, he unpeeled the backing of the band-aid and tossed it into the trash can as he walked back over to her.

Watching his boots and long legs as he came to stop in front of her, she removed the cotton ball to allow him to place the band-aid on, handing it to his other hand when he opened his palm in gesture for it.

"I'm sorry if what I said about your father upset you."

She looked up at his face in surprise, expecting more of a scathing, mocking response to what she'd just said. Unable to find a trace of insincerity on his face or in his tone, she finally remembered in her shock, to respond to him.

"Well…the truth hurts, there's no need to be sorry about being honest really. You nailed it." She offered a half-hearted smile as he pulled his hand away from her arm.

Sighing heavily at her forced smile, he turned to toss the cotton ball in his hand neatly into the trash can. "You prod for an apology, pout like a child when you don't get one and then say you didn't want one when you do. Women." He muttered.

Nayla laughed at that. "Yep, sums us up pretty nicely…Though I did appreciate it, thank you."

A little surprised she didn't rise to the bait about his cynical crack about women – he'd been sure she would get annoyed about it, he looked at her carefully. She did have a smile on her face but it was thin and easily dropped when she looked away from him to watch her feet dangle over the side of his examination table once more.

The more often he saw this oddly quiet, complacent, almost sad little woman the more he decided it really didn't suit her, it was unbelievable how he would much prefer her to be the usual cheeky, temperamental, trouble-causing person he was beginning to get more familiar with.

Smiling a little to himself, he moved her hair away from her face on either side, softly pushing it back over her shoulders and enjoying the questioning, surprised look he got from her as she glanced back up at him.

Letting his eyes linger on the mark he'd left on her neck, he saw a small flicker of annoyance cross her features though she remained silent. He ran his fingers over it gently, smiling wider as she immediately tensed at the action before he placed a hand on either of her shoulders.

Matching her eye contact, he gently thread his fingers under the straps of her tank top on either side and began pushing them down her upper arms, gliding his hands over her skin as he began peeling her top half of clothing down.

"What are you doing?!" She slapped his hands away, righting her straps and glaring at his smug smirk.

"I'm going to do an ECG. Your top needs to come off so that I can place the chest leads on."

"Then just _say_ so! Geez, any excuse to put your hands on me, I swear." She muttered, hesitantly lifting one of her hands back up to peel the strap down her arm again, stilling when she saw his hand settle on top of hers and looking back up at him.

"You didn't seem to mind them on you this morning." He teased lowly, sliding her top down on that side until she pulled her arm free.

"Well I did." She grit out at his arrogant grin and indecent tone as he placed his hand back onto her other shoulder.

"Hmm, is that right? I didn't hear you say 'no.'" He slid his hand down her other arm, allowing her to pull it free of her top on that side. The feel of his hands gliding over her skin as he undressed her, the tone of his voice as he spoke to her, how close he was and the open reminder of their morning together was provoking a horribly strong response from her body.

Law settled his hands onto her sides, tucking his fingers between it and her bra, chuckling at her silence and at the warning glare she gave him at the action.

"Or perhaps you did? Let me recall." He glanced up in feigned thought for a moment before looking back at her, moving his hands deeper under the fabric to place his palms onto her bare skin, hooking his thumbs onto the hem and gliding his hands down her body slowly, taking the top with them.

"Let's see…I heard a few gasps..." He lowered his eyes as the fabric of her top slid down over her breasts, openly observing them, the beautiful lace holding them captive and her more rapid breathing as his hands continued their path down her body. "…my name…" He pulled her top all the way down to her waist, keeping his hands on her warm, soft flesh before moving his eyes back to hers. "...and that _incredible_ moan."

"…Oh my god." Law chuckled as the annoyed expression on her face easily fell into an embarrassed one at the reminder. He removed one of his hands from her side to pull away the one she'd just used to cover her face, dissatisfied with her covering his hard-earned blush.

"Tell me, Nayla-ya, are you usually that vocal?" He leant himself closely to her face, enjoying her pink cheeks and open discomfort. "Or am I just that good?" He asked huskily, pushing the hand he held down to the bed's surface, tightening his hold on her waist with his other and pressing himself closer to her to push her thighs apart with his body.

There it was, that snap of temper at his arrogance. He smiled as she scowled at him and rapidly slammed her knees together to stop him from standing between her legs.

"Tell me Law, does it usually take you that much effort to walk away from a woman? Or am I just that tempting?"

Chuckling he released her hand as she wrenched it from him and removed his other from her side, leaning over to prop the head of the examination table up. "There, much better." She furrowed her brows at him in confusion. "Sit back Nayla-ya."

Following his gesture to lie back against the raised head of the table, she hesitantly did as she was asked, frowning at him suspiciously.

"Didn't you say you'd be on your best behaviour during these examinations?" She grumbled, watching as he pulled some leads down from the vitals monitor installed above the head of the bed.

"I am. You'd know if it wasn't." He openly glanced at her chest before looking back up at her with a threatening smirk.

"…Speaking of not wanting to be in a room alone with you, have you asked someone to teach me some stuff yet?" She eyed the leads in his hands in interest as he placed them across her chest one by one.

"Not yet." He smiled at her impatient huff as he leant over and pressed a lead to each her arms. "Patience, Nayla-ya. You'll be with us for a while yet, it's not like you're planning on going anywhere anytime soon, is it?"

She looked away from Law's knowing smirk as he placed a lead to either of her legs before moving back up to the head of the examination bed and switching on the monitor, pressing a few buttons on its interface and waiting patiently as it produced an ECG strip from its side. He glanced at it briefly before re-dialling the same sequence of buttons on the machine and pulling a second ECG strip from it.

"Why did you take two? Is there something wrong?"

He turned from comparing the two strips in his hand to raise a brow at her. "Just to be sure the results are correct. Are you a neurotic patient?"

"Well…no…I-"

"A mild abnormality, Nayla-ya. The same as the first time you were here, in fact, slightly improved - at first glance anyway. I'll look at it more closely later." He set the pages down onto the bedside cabinet before leaning over to remove the leads from her skin.

Immediately plucking one of the strips from the surface, she read the automated result in its top corner. "Non-specific T-wave abnormality? What does that mean?"

"It may mean absolutely nothing. As the name implies, its non-specific."

"Well…geez that's useless then, isn't it." She muttered turning the strip in her hands to try to find the abnormality herself.

Law smiled, plucking it from her fingers and placing it back onto the bedside cabinet. "It's not an uncommon thing to find in women, it may be completely normal for you…Though I do wonder why it's much less pronounced than it was a few weeks ago." He pulled the last few leads off of her chest, folding them neatly before tucking them back behind the monitor above the headboard of the bed.

"Not yet, Nayla-ya." She stopped pulling her top back up to look at him curiously. "I'd like to do some ultrasound."

"…Alright." She pushed her top back down to her hips and sat back again as he sat on the stool beside the edge of the bed.

"I'll need you to remove your bra." He watched, amused as she froze and looked back up at him incredulously, crossing her arms across her chest protectively.

"…Really?"

"Yes, really." He easily replied, pulling the small, portable trolley beside the bedside cabinet towards him, drawing her attention to it for the first time as he plugged the small machine that lay atop it into the monitor. It had been in the room next door with the other imaging equipment, she'd noticed it when she'd had her wrist X-Ray and belatedly realised that he must have brought it in here before dinner to set things up for her examination in advance.

"…What exactly are you going to look at?"

"Your heart. Or would you rather not know if that abnormality is worth worrying about?" He squeezed some gel onto what she figured was the ultrasound machine's probe.

Nayla sighed, sitting up and reaching behind her to unhook her bra, quickly slipping it off and onto her lap as she covered herself with her hands.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll be busy looking at the monitor, Nayla-ya." He spared her a small grin at her discomfort as he turned to face her again, probe in one hand and reaching to adjust the head of the bed to lay flat with his other.

"Not much." She grumbled, lying back.

"You need to remove your hands."

She turned her head to look up at him. "…Both of them?"

"Nayla-ya."

She sighed again, reluctantly removing her hands as he leant forward and turned off the row of fluorescent lighting above them. "Why did you turn off the lights?"

"Mood lighting." He deadpanned with a side-glance at her as he sat back comfortably, laughing slightly at her irritated scowl at his sarcasm. "So I can see the finer details on the monitor more clearly, stop being so jumpy, Nayla-ya."

"…You better behave yourself." She grumbled.

He smiled at her half-hearted threat. "You have my word. The gel is cold at first, bear with it until it warms up on your skin."

Only glancing at her chest long enough to hover the probe over where it needed to be, he placed it to her firmly and turned back to watch the monitor.

She hissed immediately as it contacted her. "Geez, that's _really_ cold."

He chuckled but said nothing more as he concentrated on the view of her heart on the screen, adjusting the probe slightly before pressing some of the buttons on the machine to take still images.

Nayla relaxed gradually as he kept his word, silently observing the monitor and adjusting the probe as he needed it without more than a few brief glances at her chest to move his hand.

As curious as she was as she watched and listened to her own heart beating on the screen she kept quiet, allowing him to concentrate on what he was doing and finding herself looking less at it and more at him as he took images and recordings of her heart in motion.

Looking up at him from the bed, she found herself watching the soft glow from the monitor graze his profile gently, dancing across the features of his face. The pale hue of it highlighting his thick mane of bed head and his facial hair at their tips and the attractive glints of the light as it hit his piercings. His captivating, blue eyes scrutinising the screen in front of him diligently, top to bottom before glancing down at the buttons he pressed and his expression was relaxed, though still relayed his mild concentration.

She felt his hand move over her chest a little further again, his warm skin contacting her breast as he adjusted the probe with expert fingers. She nearly sighed aloud at that 'inconvenient' handsomeness of his, it really was a pain and viewing him from this angle as she lay down beside him…it almost reminded her of the viewpoint you'd get if your lover sat up in bed beside you…maybe in the evening before laying down to sleep next to you…or in the morning if they got up before you…maybe the morning after a night of incredible s-

"Nayla-ya."

"…Hmm?"

"I don't know what it is you're thinking about but stop. Your heart rate has gone up by nearly thirty in the past minute." He turned his gaze to her own with suspicious, furrowed brows.

"Oh right…sorry." Clearing her throat and avoiding his eye contact, she inwardly hoped he wasn't able to discern where her mind had been from the analytical stare she felt on her.

"…Turn onto your left side."

Happy for the excuse to turn away from him and for the distraction, she did so as he raised his hand from her. Once she was settled, she felt him lean his arm over her side and place the probe firmly beneath her left breast once more.

Silence settled again, interrupted only by the sound of her heartbeat being emitted from the monitor, the occasional clacking of a key on the keyboard following by short beeps to indicate another image was taken and his brief instructions to hold her breath on exhales every now and then.

The calm, dim lighting and quiet were so relaxing…then, so was the feeling of his arm wrapped around her, his side pressing against her back as he leant over…she found herself focusing on his hand, the long fingers, the neatly kept nails, the skin she knew was remarkably soft. Then focusing on the warmth of his bare forearm leaning its weight on her bare torso, she moved her gaze to admire the tattoo on it, thinking of the others he had all over his body. The more she looked at them, the more she liked them it seemed and seeing his arm wrapped around her body like this…he didn't look bad on her at all…

"Nayla-ya…"

"…Sorry."

She heard him sigh but could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke again and removed his arm from her. "It doesn't really affect the images but, it's a lot easier to get the phase of your heart in motion that I want when its slower…when you aren't thinking filthy things about me and making your heart rate escalate like that."

She turned her head to glare at him over her shoulder. "They were _not_ filthy."

"Oh, but they _were_ about me?" He handed her a paper towel with a smug, knowing smile.

"...Shut up, Law." She grumbled, snatching it from his fingers and turning away again to wipe the gel from her skin.

"Put your top back on, lay flat and lift it up to expose your stomach."

Pausing in what she was doing she turned back to look at him over her shoulder once more. "We aren't done here?"

"No. I may as well check your other organs whilst we're here. Then you can go."

Pouting she sat up with her back to him to redress, clasping her bra back on and pulling her top back up. Moving her hair out of the way she lay back down again, getting comfortable before pulling her top up to under her chest.

Law looked over at her as she settled; offering a hand to take the crumpled paper towel she was holding and neatly tossing it into the trash can under the counter.

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to just do like, a full body scan or something? Like, with the CAT scanner next door?" She winced as the probe, complete with new layer of cold gel, hit the skin of her stomach.

"Unnecessarily high dose of radiation to image abnormalities that may not be there." He replied blandly, examining her liver on the monitor in front of him before taking an image.

"Ah…and I guess you don't have MRI on a giant, metal vessel."

He smiled a little at that. "No, it didn't seem like a good idea to install a giant magnet on board a submarine, as much as I wanted one. If ultrasound is no good for you Nayla-ya, I'm quite happy to give you the radiation or just cut you open and take a look firsthand."

She laughed at the half-hearted threat. "No, I'm good with ultrasound, thanks…So, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Any signs of this 'damage' you say your ability causes you."

"…It all looks like staticy-snow to me." He spared her an amused glance before looking back at the monitor. "I only know what you're checking by where you're pressing the probe…"

"If you're interested in reading images, ask the medic when he teaches you. Hopefully, you'll get good at it."

"Why hopefully?"

"I always did want a nurse."

…

Hearing no reply, he turned back to her, his smirk only widening at the scathing glare she was giving him.

"Just…get out of your system."

"Get wh-?"

"Just." She sighed at his feigned innocence, closing her eyes. "Just do it, Law. Get it out of your system."

"It's no fun when you _invite_ me to make fun of you."

"So sorry to put a damper on your fun." She ground out sarcastically as he chuckled.

"So, I take it the nurse uniform is just another 'Halloween costume,' is it?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I _have_ worn that one on Halloween. Some torn latex gloves, a surgical mask and tons of fake blood splatter and yes, it _does_ make a fun costume."

"Shame, now _that_ would have been a far more enticing role-play."

"Oh now _that_ is interesting…You got a thing for nurses, Law? Do you have 'naughty nurse' fantasies, Dr. Trafalgar?"

He chuckled at the mischievous look on her face before turning back to the monitor to complete his task. "I wouldn't say that."

"Aww come on…I bet it's a really common doctor's fantasy. Having a hot nurse at the office."

"Probably is, Nayla-ya."

"Well as tempting as the role of nurse to the 'Surgeon of Death' is, I'm gonna have to turn down the position. I hear you sexually harass nurses."

His brows rose as he paused what he was doing and looked back at her. "I do?"

"Apparently, yes. Nurse Jade certainly seemed to think that you did, the entire ward staff were talking about it in the morning."

He looked up in thought for a moment before a devious grin spread on his face. "Ah yes, Nurse Jade-ya."

"So it's true?"

"I guess it could have been considered sexual harassment, though it wasn't my _main_ intention."

"Scumbag." Despite her words she clearly looked amused, making him chuckle.

"Last set of images Nayla-ya, then you can go. I need you to slip your skirt down."

Sighing she lifted her hips from the table, unzipped her skirt at the back and pushed the fabric of it further down her stomach. "That enough?"

"More than that."

"Like this?"

"Lower."

"…That enough?"

"Lower."

"...Really? Now you're just fucking with me."

He grinned at her unimpressed expression, before reaching his free hand over to rest on one of hers slowly. "I assure you, Nayla-ya. You'd know if I were." He tucked his fingers underneath the fabric of her skirt beside her own and gently pulled the material down as far as he needed it, sliding his hand across her waistband, over her stomach to lower it to the same level on her other hip.

"…You have a lot of nerve to call this your 'best behaviour.'" She muttered quietly, watching his hand linger a moment longer than necessary before he pulled it away and placed the probe back onto her skin.

Sighing again at how used to the tension he kept provoking in her she was getting she rest back and closed her eyes a moment before turning her head to watch him as he examined the monitor.

Nayla knew which of her organs he was now looking at carefully and it made her feel strangely uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable in fact, considering their earlier behaviour with each other that day.

Watching him ultrasound over her lower stomach…made her think of such ridiculous things that she was thankful he wasn't able to see her heart rate. She wondered if he'd ever do this for another woman in the future, a pregnant one. Would he do it for a woman carrying his own child some day? Probably, right? He'd probably want to be the doctor that did all the checks and things…She wondered if he wanted kids in the long run, or if he'd even thought of being a dad. Pirates weren't exactly the settling down, getting married, having two kids, a dog and a nice house in the countryside type but…she wondered if he'd have a partner or a family of his own some time down the line from now. Nayla was more than a little alarmed at the fleeting thought of how 'lucky' that woman would be and the brief feeling of envy that she'd felt for any woman that would end up carrying the child of Trafalgar Law. Very, very alarmed at that on many levels.

"Do you want me to help with your conception issue whilst you're with us?" He asked quietly.

She blinked in surprise at him as he turned to look at her before being unable to stop the sly smile on her face. "…Are you going to be _personally_ offering me help conceiving, Law?"

Although he'd been trying to be serious and tread lightly around what might have been a touchy subject for her, despite her apparent nonchalance about it so far…he wasn't able to keep a straight face at the devious expression she wore.

"Perhaps Shachi would be more inclined." She laughed at that but didn't offer him a more serious response. "In all seriousness, Nayla-ya. Your organs look healthy, they're clearly functioning if you're having cycles…it's obvious this is an issue with your ability. Considering I'll be looking into it anyway…"

She smiled widely at him. "No it's ok, but thanks."

He snapped his eyes back to hers with slightly raised brows. "…Really?"

"Yeah, I really don't have any interest in having children. In fact, I don't like kids, at all." His brows rose even more at that. "Oh don't give me that look, why does everyone look at me funny when I say I don't like kids? As if every woman on the planet should automatically adore them…and don't give me _that_ look either. The one that says, 'oh she's convincing herself she hates kids because she can't have any' because it isn't true, I didn't like them before getting my ability either."

He smirked a little at that, removing the probe from her skin. "Well it _does_ seem unusual, considering how biologically programmed women are for the purpose."

"Don't give me doctor-speak on it either, we have more functions than 'baby-machine.'"

"You may chang-"

"Change my mind when I get older, change my mind when I meet the right man, change my mind when I have my own and I love them bla bla bla. No, I just don't like them, I don't get on with them. No maternal instinct in my body whatsoever."

"I'd say the way you felt for a lesser creature unable to take care of themselves was a prime example of maternal instinct…even without the 'choo choo' noises." He handed her a clean paper towel with a small grin.

"Pity and maternal instinct are two different things…and I'm telling Jeff you called him a 'lesser creature.'" He chuckled as she took it from him and wiped her skin before righting her clothing.

"Done, Nayla-ya. You're free to go." She watched him wipe the probe clean, tucking it back into its holder on the side of the machine before typing a few keys on it and beginning a print out of all the images he'd taken. Watching him quietly lean forward to pick up the images as they came out of the side slot of it, she suddenly felt just a little bit guilty at how vehemently she'd forced herself to be repulsed and horrified by her thoughts of Law being a father…he wasn't really that bad of a guy…maybe…He'd probably have great children someday, maybe they'd be lucky enough to inherit his good looks and intelligence – hopefully not his attitude…For some reason she was sure he'd be a good dad too, smart, strong, protective of those he cared about, planned ahead a lot…though he was a violent criminal…that was a drawback. Still, couldn't do a worse job of it than her own.

She rolled her eyes at that, realising she'd snorted aloud at the thought when Law turned to look at her with a raised brow as he stood from his seat and flipped the lights above them back on. "What is it?"

"Oh, uh…nothing." She hopped down from the bed as he rolled the stool under it and locked it with his foot, eyeing her disbelievingly.

"Dare I ask what it is you think about when you become that uncharacteristically quiet?" He walked past her towards his desk with his small wad of printouts and ECG strips.

"I wouldn't." She muttered with another eye roll, tossing the paper towel in her hand into the trash can…and missing with a groan.

"Where will you be for the rest of the evening?" He smiled in slight amusement as he took his seat, watching as she walked over to the trash can to pick up the crumpled towel and toss it in.

"Well, actually I was thinking of just hanging out in your quarters for the rest of the night."

"If you stopped causing trouble, you could finally spend it in the rec room with the rest of the crew."

She turned to look at him as he arranged the images on his desk. "I didn't cause it."

"Yes Nayla-ya, you did." He glanced up at her as she scrunched her face in thought over the day's events, back tracking their exchanges today to the start of them when she'd insulted him in front of his crew.

"…Guess I kinda did." She admitted with a sigh as she walked towards the door. "So, doctor Trafalgar. When do I get the results?"

She caught the small smile on his face as he answered, though he didn't look up from arranging the images neatly on his desk. "I'll re-run your blood work and examine these carefully tonight and let you know if I find anything of interest. Though at first glance Nayla-ya, these look perfectly normal."

"So you'll be in here the rest of the night?" She pulled the door open and stepped over the threshold into the hallway.

"Yeah."

"Alright…hey, Law?" She waited until he looked up at her to continue. "There was a book on your desk that kinda caught my eye, I was wondering if it would be ok to read it."

"…Which one?"

"The one about Devil Fruits." Law broke out into a slow grin at her faux innocent tone and expression which made her break out into one of her own.

"I take it you'll be looking up my Devil Fruit."

"Is that a problem? You aren't worried are you?" She taunted lightly.

"Not at all, though you do seem to have quite the 'interest' in me."

"I could say the same thing about you, seeing as you're going out of your way on a _daily_ basis now to learn about my ability. Me reading a little about yours isn't nearly as much 'interest' for you as what you're showing for me…Though your actions are still supporting my 'awkward weirdo with a crush' theory. Pushing me off a railing is a little extreme though, I'd prefer it if you just tugged my hair and ran away next time."

"…Enjoy your read, Nayla-ya." He chuckled as she smiled at him and closed the door behind her.

* * *

Law scrutinised the differences in numbers on his printed lab reports on his desk, still trying to pinpoint the reason for the discrepancies he was seeing but sighed tiredly as he pushed them aside for the moment. Deciding to peruse through some of the slightly ambiguous images he'd taken instead for a little while and to look at the lab numbers again with fresh eyes later.

"Enter."

"Hey Law." He glanced up, surprised to see Nayla making her way back into the infirmary. He had been so focused on the pages in front of him that he hadn't paid attention to the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Nayla-ya, what brings you here?" He eyed the small tray in her hand as she shut the door behind her and made her way over to him.

"Well, I snuck down to the galley for a drink. Dean made it sound as though you take an evening coffee regularly so I thought I'd bring you one too, seeing as I was already there." She perched the tray onto the edge of his work surface carefully, lifting his mug off of it and setting it beside him. "…though you should probably lay off the caffeine so late, _doc_."

His surprise was replaced with a small grin at her mild, scold as he reached for the mug, noting she was back to standing beside him on his side of the desk. "I'll keep that in mind…apples?" He questioned the other contents of the tray as he took a sip of his drink.

She picked up one of the two apples on the small plate on the tray. "These are the ones Jake and Ichi picked on the island, you gotta try them uncooked, they're unbelievably tasty, I never had wild apples before…Besides, you know what they say, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away,' so I thought I'd better start working more of these into my diet."

He chuckled at the devious smile on her face as she took a bite out of it. "You'll have to do a lot better than apples to keep me away, Nayla-ya." He watched her set the small plate down beside him, eyeing it slightly sceptically before looking back up at her. "…Aren't you the considerate one."

"Hmm, you don't sound very convinced…I always liked having little healthy snacks around when I used to study or work on something but if you don't want yours then I'll take it back." She offered, chewing on her mouthful and standing from her leant position against his desk to leave.

"I wonder if you want something from me or if you've caused trouble again and this is your way of making me more lenient towards you when I finally find out what it is that you did."

"Neither." She smiled at his amused, piercing blues as she picked up the tray and turned to leave. "I've been a good girl."

"That'd be the day." He muttered quietly to himself as she left the room.

* * *

Law entered his quarters quietly later that night, assuming that Nayla would most likely be asleep by now.

Aside from the immediate assault on his senses of her fragrances and the humidity of the room from her evening shower, he noticed that Nayla had left the light in his living quarters on for him as he shut the door softly and a glance at his desk as he walked over to the archway told him that she still had his book about Devil Fruits.

She'd come back to visit him once more during the evening, to pick up his mug and plate on her way down to the galley to return her own. She'd been as pleasant with him as she had been on her previous visit and although she had peered at the papers in front of him curiously when she had spoken to him she didn't ask if he'd found out anything of interest. In fact, only asking a few questions she had from reading the information about his Devil Fruit in the book.

He'd forgotten he'd annotated that page a little bit and had left information he'd found about the previous user of the Ope Ope no Mi folded into that page until she'd asked a question related to it. It had been a very long time since he'd bothered to look up his own Devil Fruit after all. It had also been more than helpful that the Ope Ope no Mi's predecessor had been a doctor, he'd had some ingenious thoughts on how to utilise the Devil Fruit for medical purposes and had made some comprehensive and detailed notes about procedures he'd tried using it.

The imaginative uses described in those had been a good starting point for mastering his fruit for himself but he'd advanced past where his predecessor had left off already. He'd been a far more… 'ethical,' man. There was only so far you could push the boundaries of the Ope Ope no Mi if you were a law-abiding, morally centred and ethical doctor after all.

Law glanced at Nayla's sleeping figure on his sofa as he crossed his bedroom quietly to the En Suite, grabbing the clothing he slept in from his bed as he passed it.

She'd found that doctor's notes a fascinating read and had eagerly asked about how Law had utilised the fruit himself for medical purposes. He'd indulged her, finding her genuine curiosity charming…it had reminded him of how she'd brightened up when she spoke of a time she was going to pursue her own path into medicine the other day.

Re-entering his bedroom after changing and brushing his teeth, he looked over at her again. The thought of her being too uncomfortable to sleep in his room after what had happened between them earlier had crossed his mind but it seemed his mild concern had been unwarranted. She was still sleeping in a way that had her facing his bed but she hadn't stirred from her sleep at all, her breathing was still deep and rhythmical.

He looked at the floor beside the sofa as he crossed the room to turn off the lights in his living quarters, spotting his book as well as her own notebook and pen from her suitcase resting on top of it.

Law looked at it a moment longer before flipping the light switch and making his way to his bed, wondering if perhaps she'd been taking notes about his Devil Fruit…she seemed to have a natural interest in learning but she was far too curious for her own good.

Climbing into bed and taking one last look at her peaceful, sleeping face, he shook his head slightly as he lay down to sleep, 'curiosity killed the cat.'

* * *

Something else he'd inadvertently learnt about the troublesome little imp of a woman in his bedroom was; she certainly enjoyed her sleep.

Law had gotten to bed much later than she had and had still risen before she did; she hadn't even stirred as he'd gotten up to take his shower.

Seemed to be a pretty deep sleeper too, he recalled having to say her name several times each time he'd woken her…though those two times could have just been excess tiredness and alcohol…

Sighing as he realised he'd been thinking about her since he'd gone to bed last night he turned off the water and reached for his towel, shaking off the last dregs of tiredness and clearing his head for a new day a-…he furrowed his brows in confusion at the texture beneath his fingertips, feeling the fabric again in disbelief before peeling back the shower curtain all the way to look at what it was he was touching.

* * *

"Nayla-ya."

"Mmmph."

"Nayla-ya." Law grit his teeth as she groaned and pulled the blanket up further over her head, immediately gripping the material to pull it back down.

" _Nayla-ya_." She reluctantly opened her eyes, opening her mouth for an irritable reply but halted as she saw Law leant over her, dripping wet and using his free hand to clutch his towel shut around his waist.

…

She blinked at his deadpan before realising he was still waiting for her to reply. "Oh…oh right." Sitting up, mostly to put some physical and mental thinking distance between his wet, half-naked body and herself she shook off the stunning view to respond. "What is it?"

"You cannot leave your panties to dry on the towel rack."

She stopped rubbing her eyes to look up at him incredulously. "What?"

"The bikini over the shower curtain rail the other day, I understand but not this."

"…You seriously woke me up from a dead sleep to complain about my underwear?"

"Nayla-ya." He warned as she moved to lie back down, causing her to sigh and get up from the sofa.

"Well, I've been meaning to ask you about laundry arrangements anyway." She grumbled stretching as she stood. "Where do I put clothing that needs to be washed?"

"You can throw them into the hamper with mine-" He gestured to the dark, wicker hamper in the corner of his bedroom, tucked snugly between the bureau and wardrobe. "-they can go down with my things for laundry when its full. That includes your panties, Nayla-ya."

She raised a sceptical brow at him. "No it doesn't."

"Yes it d-"

"What happened to the last pair that went down to laundry?" She challenged with crossed arms, making every effort to keep her eyes on his face and not the rest of him as he tucked the end of his towel firmly into his waistband to hold it up. "I assume _you_ don't take and do your own laundry downstairs and I don't really feel much like leaving my dirty underwear in the hands of your perverted crew."

"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." He grit out irritably.

"Even if it didn't, most of my underwear can't be washed in those machines anyway. Connor showed me the laundry room on the tour already, they have no 'delicate' setting. They're like, industrial machines ya know? It's amazing the first pair survived." She muttered, glancing through the open En Suite door at the subject of Law's annoyance slung innocently over the towel rack.

"Just put them on the lowest temperature setting then." He sighed, rubbing his closed eyes with the hand across the bridge of his nose.

"Are you kidding me? You think that's enough for silks and lace? You have _any_ idea how expensive panties are when you buy them individually? A few degrees to high or a snag on the inside of those machines and they're done for. I'm better off hand washing them anyway, they'll last much longer."

"Nayla-ya…I'm not spending anymore of my morning discussing your underwear with you just-"

"Then don't! Geez, stop playing Panty Police alrea-…"

Law removed his hand from his face and opened his eyes at her abrupt silence, finding her biting her lips together. "…What is it?"

"You should have been a cop."

"…Why?" He furrowed his eyes at her in confusion at her seemingly random tangent of thought

"'Cause then you'd have been 'Officer Law.'" He deadpanned at her as her amused smile started pushing past either end of her bit lips.

"Oh no wait, wait! You should have been a lawyer! Get it? Attorney at 'Law?'" He dropped his hand from his face, crossing his arms across his chest with a wholly unimpressed look on his face. "…Nah, I like 'Officer Law' better, come to think of it."

He watched as she rubbed her chin in thought looking him up and down, assuming she was contemplating him as a law enforcement officer…unknowing that she was actually visualising what he may look like in a police officer's uniform…preferably the kind male strippers wore…she was currently mentally pasting his head onto the bodies of male strippers in cop uniforms that she'd watched undress on her more raucous nights out…

"Nayla-ya."

She raised her head from examining his torso in deep thought, seemingly startled from whatever she'd been thinking of as she was reminded he was in the room with her. Clearing her throat in mild embarrassment at how quickly her thoughts had gone south, she swiftly moved along. "Hard to imagine a deviant like you as a justice figure though, so we'll just leave it at 'Panty Pirate'…though I think Shachi is probably beating you on that title."

"…I want to do a mental health examination on you."

She snapped her head back up to his face, placing her hand on her hip indignantly as she scowled at him. "Now that's just rude. I'll have you kn-"

"Enough, just do as I say and remove your panties like I told you to."

"They're wet, I-"

"Um…Captain? Is this a bad time? Kinda important…" Nayla turned to look through the archway behind her at the door to Law's quarters as she heard Penguin's muffled, awkward-sounding voice before turning back to Law with a deadpan. Silently asking if he'd known Penguin had been standing out there to misinterpret that last part of their conversation.

"No Nayla-ya, I didn't." He denied quietly.

She frowned at him in disbelief as the forgotten man outside knocked on the door…then broke out into a challenging grin before speaking. "Enter."

Law looked at her smugly, sure that none of his men would list- "Yo Nayla-chan, morning Captain. I-"

"Get out." He snapped, freezing Penguin in his tracks before he hurriedly backed out and shut the door.

Law narrowed his eyes at the small, winning smile on Nayla's lips before sighing and allowing Penguin to enter again, rubbing his temple in irritation.

"S-Sorry Captain, didn't think-"

"Clearly. What is it?" He folded his arms again grumpily as Penguin shut the door behind him, pointedly ignoring the open, gleeful smile on the woman beside him as she innocently clasped her hands behind her back.

"I uh, ran into one of the boys from navigation on their way up here. They were coming to discuss what course of action you'd like to take, seems there are two ships up ahead."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ECG = ElectroCardioGraphy, the printed strips that show your heart's electrical activity. (EKG in the USA…just can't bring myself to use 'EKG' though…cardio doesn't begin with a 'K' dammit, it just doesn't).


	39. I need you naked

"I was told there was one detected up ahead late last night, are we sure it's two now?"

"Yes, Captain."

"…How long until we encounter them?"

"Couple of hours yet, Captain."

"Do we know the nature of the ships?"

"Not yet."

"Fine, I'll get dressed and go down to see them, the crew are to have breakfast as normal…they'll need their energy for the upcoming battle." Nayla raised a brow at the sinister aura Law emitted as he said it, absolutely refusing to acknowledge she was finding it and the evil smile on his face appealing in the slightest.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Penguin grinned, turning to leave and reaching for the door.

"Oh and Penguin?" Law waited until the man turned back to face him. "Take this with you." He gestured to the woman beside him with his thumb before walking past her to his wardrobe. Abruptly broken from her reluctant attraction she scowled at his back as he opened the door of it.

"'This?' Rude. Really rude." Penguin cleared his throat awkwardly to draw her attention. "Give me a few minutes to get washed up and dressed, Penguin." She grumbled, walking over to her drawer and scooping her own clothing for the day out of it.

"Sure thing, I'll wait outside for you." He backed out of the room as she made her way to the En Suite, glaring at the small smirk Law gave her as she made her way past him.

After a quick face wash and brush of her teeth, Nayla left the bathroom, glancing curiously at Law who was now fully dressed but still peering into his wardrobe's open door, seemingly scrutinising its contents.

"Did you have fun snooping through my things, Nayla-ya?"

She blinked in surprise before smiling at him and continuing her way to the sofa to place her borrowed sleepwear. "Not _nearly_ as much fun as you did having a snoop through mine, unfortunately." She set her pile down, picking up her blanket to neatly fold it. "Though you do have an interesting amount of furry and feathered clothing, are you _sure_ you're straight?" She glanced over her shoulder at him slyly as he shut the door.

"I won't be taking fashion advice from a woman that owns that many 'Halloween costumes' and ridiculous-looking hoodies with ears and tails on them. I take it you had a good look around the rest of the room last night too?"

"Well, just your bedroom…so far. I'll do your living quarters another time, still haven't found your stash."

He picked up his weapon and hat from his bedside cabinet, looking at her curiously. "My stash of what?"

"Porn."

She grinned widely at the stutter in his movement before he answered in a guarded tone. "…What would make you think I had one?"

"Are you kidding? Male. Twenties." He rolled his eyes at her two held up fingers as he walked towards his living quarters. "Also, you're out at sea with a bunch of other guys for weeks on end with no women on board or in sight, you're obviously a pervert…and you _clearly_ have a healthy sex drive." He looked back at her in amusement at the lowly purred latter. "Need I go on?"

"I got it, Nayla-ya and no, I don't have one." He denied, disappearing through the archway.

"No shame in it Law, you can admit it. I couldn't think any less of you." She walked over to it to peer through at him.

"I believe the saying is 'I _won't_ think any less of you.'" He corrected as he scooped up some papers from the front of his desk.

"I know what I said." She giggled at the mildly irritated look he spared her from the bounty posters he was quickly leafing through. "I bet you have a stack of issues of 'Big Booty Nurses Monthly' around here somewhere."

Nayla watched him pause flipping through the pages in his hands. "You see what I did there? Pirates? Booty?" He sighed, deciding to ignore her and continue to search through the papers he held. "…Though I get the distinct impression you _might_ be more of a breast man." He turned to look at her incredulously, his reaction provoking her to glance down at her own chest and waggle her eyebrows suggestively at him.

He bit the inside of his cheek to stop the amused smile that threatened to break across his lips and humour her behaviour. "If you're done, get out of my room and go to breakfast."

"Oh I'm done, for now - but I haven't given up the search. Perv like you, you definitely have smut around here somewhere. Though you don't keep any in your bedside cabinets or under your mattress…Maybe you hide your issues of 'Big Booby Nurses Monthly' in that _very_ nice safe behind the flag above your bed?"

"Get out."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes." She sang threateningly.

"Take it however you want, just get out and give me some peace and quiet."

"Fine fine." She laughed walking over to the door.

"Wait a second, Nayla-ya."

She turned back to him, hand on the doorknob. "Is there a problem, Officer?"

Law sighed again, tossing the posters back onto his desk as he looked at her and choosing to ignore the ridiculous new nickname. "You didn't remove your underwear from my bathroom."

"Well they're kinda damp still, probably because of the steam in there, so I'll leave them to dry a bit longer. If I wash them each night with my shower they _should_ be dry by morning so just do me a favour and toss them out of the bathroom before you start washing up next time, would ya?"

"Do you a 'favour?'" He repeated, raising his brows in disbelief.

"Or if you don't wanna do that, just wake me and let _me_ use the bathroom first and I'll remove them." She watched him cross his arms in annoyance. "I only take five minutes in the morning Law, just let me go first and you won't have to deal with them. _Or_ you could stop forcing me to bunk with you and finally give me a private room on the second floor….seeing as they bother you so much."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He muttered quietly, not liking the mischievous smile spreading on her face one bit as she walked back over to him slowly, his eyes dropping as he wondered if there was more sway to her hips than usual as she moved.

"You know…Does it 'bother' you, Law?" She watched his eyes narrow suspiciously as she came to a stop in front of him. "Having to know what panties I'm wearing on a daily basis?" He glanced down at the hands she'd rested on his crossed arms, pulling them away from his chest gently as she peered up at him deviously from under her lashes. "Getting a good look at the pair I was wearing under my skirt yesterday…You know…that pair that you slid your hands under when you pushed me against the wall?"

Law felt a small smirk tug at the corner of his mouth as she leant her body closely to his and as her voice dropped into a quiet, seductive whisper. "Sorry to disappoint you but they don't bother me in that way in the slightest, Nayla-ya."

"Oh I see, well if they _did_ then I'd remove them for you but if they aren't, I see no reason to then." She said brightly, dropping the act and pulling away from him to turn and leave. "See you at breakfa-"

Looking down at Law's hand where he'd gripped her arm, she cautiously raised her gaze up to his face as he turned her around, pushing her to rest against his desk and firmly trapping her to it with a hand gripping its edges on either side of her.

"I've already told you not to play with me." He leant in to her closely, forcing her to move back to keep space between their bodies, smirking widely as the back of her thighs met the wood and she nervously glanced at the door behind him, most likely wondering what Penguin could or couldn't hear on the other side of it. "Are you leaving them there just to toy with me?"

Suppressing a shiver at the look he gave her, she found herself gripping the desk behind her with one hand and placing her other on his chest reflexively to keep distance between them. "…No."

His gaze settled onto her bare neck, feeling her slight unease rapidly dissolve into agitation as he openly admired his handiwork and leant his lips to her bruised skin, softly tickling it as he spoke. "You better not be, we both know how things went the last time you did."

Grinning as she moved to roughly shove him away at his taunt he held her to the desk tightly by her hips and pulled his face away from the crook of her neck, chuckling as he met her irritated eye contact. "You only like playing this game when you _think_ you're winning. You're quite the sore loser, Nayla-ya."

"I could say the same for you…" She looked down at the hands on her hips and crossed her arms, sighing heavily. "I feel like I've said this before, many times…but do you want to let go of me now?"

"Not particularly." Nayla watched him glance at the desk behind her in thought momentarily before looking back at her with a positively demonic expression, alarming her immediately.

"Let me rephrase. Let go of me."

"I'm not very inclined to being told what to do. Would you like to try rephrasing it as a request?"

"Fuck your request, insisting on being treated politely when you don't return the courtesy? You really are something else." She muttered bitterly, pulling his hands from her with her ability and pushing away from him to walk back to the door.

"Nayla-ya." She guardedly turned to look at him as he openly watched the black lines on her bare arms recede. "If things go as planned, we'll be having another 'guest' join the ship today."

Watching her confusion fade as she pieced together his intention to take a prisoner today, she finally replied in disgusted disinterest. "…So?"

"So, I'll be moving your examination up to after breakfast today. I'll most likely be too busy playing with my _new_ toy this evening."

Gritting her teeth at his mocking tone and giving him one of the dirtiest looks he'd seen on her face, she abruptly stomped the rest of the distance across the room, yanked the door open and stormed into the hallway. Law chuckled to himself wondering if they'd ever manage a morning where she'd leave his quarters without slamming his door in a fury on her way out.

* * *

"Uh…you alright Nayla-chan?"

"Oh geez, Penguin, sorry." She turned around to find the man trotting down the hallway towards her, seemed she'd marched right past him in a blind rage. "Forgot you were waiting for me, yeah I'm fine. Just your captain being…well, your captain." She muttered as he came to a stop beside her.

"What did Ca-?"

"Never mind that, I don't wanna talk about it." She grouched, cutting him off as they started walking towards the stairs.

"R-Right."

'Can't that man be consistently nice for one whole day? Is that really too much to ask? – You wouldn't find him nearly as much fun to be around if he were. – No, _you_ wouldn't find him as much fun. How you even think men like that are attractive is beyond me, his behaviour is repulsive. – _Should_ be repulsive. Dominant behaviour, very attractive trait. – No, that's just called being a jerk. You shouldn't find that attractive at all. You do realise he thinks I'm no better than a toy right? Something to play with when he's feeling bored or nosey. – …So hey, did you notice how he looked at the desk behind you? – Nope. – He was totally thinking about pushing you onto it. – Nope. – Well, I think he was…- NOPE.'

"Uh, so…Nayla-chan." She found herself relieved that Penguin felt the need to fill the awkward silence between them and interrupted her thoughts. "Been meaning to ask you about…Well…did Shachi-I mean…was it really him?"

Smiling a little at his nervousness to bring the subject up she spared his blushing face a glance as they started walking down the stairs, deciding to bite the bullet on the uproar she'd caused yesterday and get it out of the way. "Hmm, you calling me a liar too?"

"Well n-no, just…it doesn't seem like him." Taking her silence as her being upset with him he worriedly continued. "I-I mean, don't get me wrong. He's an idiot, total idiot. I absolutely peg him for stealing your…uh-but he just wouldn't have the nerve to disobey Captain like that, ya know?"

"So who else would it have been?" She asked neutrally.

"Well…" He scrunched his face up in thought as they reached the second floor landing. "…the jury's still out on that."

Nayla raised her brows at him, sure they would have figured out it was Law by now. "Really?"

"Yeah…so…who-?"

"Morning, lil lady!" They looked up as Jeff came bolting out of the messdeck excitedly towards them. "Is Cap with you?"

Penguin looked at him flatly before openly turning around to look at the empty hallway behind them. "Does it look like he's with us? He went to get the details on those two ships from nav, he'll be up when he's done."

"Damn, Captain said he'd give me back my hands before breakfast. I'm starving, it smells sooo good."

"Weren't you supposed to get them back last night?" Nayla stifled the laugh that wanted to leave her at the utterly dejected look on the man's face as they walked into the messdeck.

"Yeah, I went up to see him in the infirmary last night but he…" Seeming to remember something he didn't want to share, he clammed up making her look at him.

"What is it?"

"…He said he wanted to extend it to this morning, seeing as you've been making my life a little too easy for me." He grumbled hesitantly, immediately regretting the honesty when he saw the guilt on her face.

"Oh…I'm sorry, I didn't know he'd-"

"Nah, don't be! Thanks for being such a good, lil pal! You meant well-in fact, I wanna make it up to you at the next island. We'll figure out something nice you wanna do and we'll go do it, my treat!" He grinned, slinging and arm over her shoulders as they made their way over to the canteen window.

"You don't ha-"

"I insist!...On that note, lil lady…think ya could do me one last favour and help me pick out some grub 'til Captain arrives?"

Penguin rolled his eyes at the sheepish, pleading grin on the man's face. "I got it, Nayla-chan. You help yourself."

"Food tastes better coming from her." Jeff mumbled, giving him a displeased look as she slid away from under his arm to lean forward and get her own breakfast.

"I'll bet it does, ungrateful jackass. Be thankful I offered to help, would ya?" He grumbled, slapping Jeff's breakfast onto a plate unceremoniously for him.

"Mornin' hun, take it you'll be wanting this?" Nayla looked away from the two grouching pirates beside her as Jake greeted her happily, removing the pen from behind his ear to hand it to her through the window.

"Morning Jake, thank you." She returned, smiling at him as she took the pen and placed it onto her tray. "Sure do like them crosswords, dontcha?"

"Yeah, they set my day off juuust right." She grinned, waving her goodbye as she started walking over to the captain's table. Noticing that Shachi was already there eating his breakfast, she paused mid-step as she wondered briefly if he were mad with her for the stunt she'd pulled yesterday.

Nayla looked over her shoulder as Penguin caught up to her, Jeff giving her a handless wave as he went to go take his regular seat by Connor on their usual table.

Seeing Penguin was eyeing the pen on her tray curiously as they made their way across the room and sensing another impending question she didn't particularly want to answer, she instead held a finger to her lips to signal he stay quiet as they approached their table where Shachi sat with his back to them. Penguin furrowed his brows at her but said nothing as he took his usual seat opposite the man and greeted him.

Nayla held her tray aside, wrapping her free arm around Shachi's shoulders from behind, making him tense immediately. "Good morning, lover." She purred happily into his ear as he started blushing heavily.

"O-Oi, Nayla-chan!" He quickly stood, rubbing the ear she'd just spoken into and nervously glancing around the room as Penguin snickered at him.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just teasing. I'll leave you alone, here sit down." She smiled apologetically, reaching for his arm to pull him back into his seat but he swiftly backed away.

"Nope. Nooope. Nope." He picked up his tray and moved to sit on the other side of the table beside his friend, making her laugh as she sat.

"Did you really get _that_ much hassle last night?"

"You have _no_ idea, why did you say it was me?!" He hissed quietly across the table, looking around to see if anyone was watching their interaction closely.

"You stole my panties." She said bluntly, resting her chin onto her hand as she pulled the newspaper over towards her with her other and pulled the twine on it loose.

"You said you weren't mad about that!"

"I wasn't, even gave you a generous twenty-four hours to return them." She flipped to the bounties printed at the centrefold, zeroing in on her target and flipping the cap off her pen with her thumb.

"Then wh-?!"

"I wasn't mad but you never did apologise for it, would have been nice of you. You also landed me in deep shit with your captain – through no fault of my own by the way-" She raised a brow at him across the table as she glanced up. "-and then abandoned me. You didn't apologise for _that_ either."

He cleared his throat awkwardly under Penguin's harsh, accusatory glare. "S-Sorry about that…guess I did kinda deserve it."

"Yes, you kinda did. Your captain wasn't very happy about it and I took the heat all alone, even tried to cover for you too. No doubt that added fuel to the fire when he finally blew a gasket and came upstairs to gut me yesterday morning." She bluntly added, taking a bite of her toast as she doodled.

"Yeah, probably…" He muttered guiltily with a sigh.

"But hey, we're even and on the bright side, I hear from Penguin that some people don't really believe it was you anyway."

"Yeah…about that…" He perked up, exchanging looks with Penguin. "Who _did_ do it?"

Pausing her pen, she looked up at them cautiously. "Well…"

"Captain, obviously." Connor offered bluntly from behind her, making her slam her hand over her uncompleted masterpiece in surprise to obscure it from his view.

"Yeah yeah, we know you're backing the 'Captain-theory.'" Penguin dismissed disinterestedly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh it's no theory." Connor defended, sitting in Shachi's abandoned seat, eyeing Nayla suspiciously.

"And I still say it was Jeff and that you're just trying to cover for him." Penguin retorted. "Both of you are." He added, turning to look at Nayla too as she started doodling again, happy to silently leave the conversation and listen to their conspiracy theories.

"Well I know _I_ have a reason to cover for that idiot but she doesn't have one."

"Sure she does, she's totally soft on Jeff. She probably feels bad for knocking him off the deck the other day, though he absolutely deserved it."

"Saying that all high and mighty like _you_ weren't gawking at the view." Connor muttered, making the man choke on his coffee with a guilty blush.

"Don't forget that rumour going around about that quickie." Shachi pointed out, patting Penguin on the back as he coughed.

"Not that again." Connor sighed, rolling his eyes. "That was just gossip."

"Says who? Jeff? No reason to lie there, huh? You're biased." Penguin managed out, thumping his chest.

"Calling _me_ bias for saying it wasn't Jeff when you're trying to convince us all it wasn't, Shachi?"

"Aww come on, do you really think _Shachi_ would get anywhere with her?" Nayla glanced up at the quietness after that question to find Connor scrutinising her thoughtfully.

"…Alright, point taken."

"Oi! What do you mean point taken?!" Shachi half-stood indignantly to yell at Connor across the table. "Like I have no shot with pretty women? If I _really_ wanted her, I could totally-…" He cut himself off, realising what he was saying as Nayla looked at him with a raised brow.

"…Totally, Shachi-kun." She purred at him with a wink, making him clear his throat and settle back into his seat.

"Well if it wasn't Jeff or Mr. Smooth over here, then who was it?" Penguin asked, giving his blushing friend a teasing nudge.

"I'm telling you, it was Captain. Don't you at least find it odd that no one got punished for this?" Connor sighed in exasperation, crossing his arms.

"Yet and I don't buy it. Whatever you saw on day one, was day one. Those two can't get on long enough to do anything - even just now in his quarters. They just get under each other's skin too much, it isn't realistic." Penguin dismissed.

"Yeah, shoulda seen them going at it yesterday. Never saw Captain so mad." Shachi agreed.

"Maybe the fact they can't get on well is what did it."

"Whaddya mean?" Shachi asked knitting his brows in confusion as he took a bite of his breakfast.

"Well, you ever see a couple going at it then suddenly they passionately kiss? You and Jeff _did_ say things suddenly got quiet down there after they started yelling."

Feeling Connor's gaze shift to her and carefully analyse her response to what he'd just said, Nayla continued to busy herself with her drawing. Silently hoping she was giving nothing away on her face to the slightly too-close-to-home guess Connor was making.

"You mean like in cheesy movies and stuff? Pfft, that stuff isn't real man. Believe me, they were about ready to kill each other." Shachi laughed.

"Well, if you really didn't do it, don't believe Captain did it and I _know_ Jeff didn't do it…then what about you?"

"Me?" Penguin asked around his mouthful in surprise.

"Why not? You two had that lil thing going on in the brig, maybe you decided to finish it." Connor suggested, again looking at her to gauge her reaction to the accusation.

Setting her pen down, flipping the paper closed and looking back at him, she sighed. "Alright Connor…you got us."

"Oh no you don't!" Penguin started, raising his fork in warning at her and trying his best to ignore the devious, toothy grin on Shachi's face beside him. "You start pinning this on me I'll-"

"Nayla-ya." She looked up to find Law towering over her from behind, an unimpressed, neutral expression on his face. "Why do I have to keep repeating everything I say to you? Didn't I already tell you not to tease my men?"

"Must have slipped my mind. Paper, 'Captain?'" She held it up, smiling innocently at him when he finally, grudgingly took it from her with a sigh before walking around to the other side of the table.

Taking a look behind her, she found Jeff was happily wolfing down his breakfast with his returned hands, openly ignoring the laughter from the other crewmembers around him at his painted nails.

"Viking." Law said levelly, drawing her attention back to him as he took his seat opposite her and placed the paper down onto the table.

"Hmm, how did you know?"

"Predictable after caveman." He explained, moving it aside slightly as Jake came over and set his meal down in front of him with a smile and greeting.

"Oh is that right, guess I'll have to put more thought into it tomorrow." She laughed, taking another bite of her own breakfast.

Law looked up at her from his quick perusal of the headline. "When are you going to stop doing this?"

"When I have one morning where you don't annoy me or when I finally run out of ideas…so, probably not for a looong while yet." She offered casually, taking a sip of her drink.

He smirked a little at the mischievous smile peering over the edge of the cup to her lips before resuming his read, both of them ignoring the questioning looks from the other men at the table about their private and probably bizarre-sounding exchange.

"So uh, Captain. What are we doing about the ships up ahead, any idea who they are?"

"We aren't completely sure but no matter, we'll be attacking them. I'll make an announcement about it soon."

"You don't know if they're marines or pirates but you still know you're gonna attack them?" Nayla asked in surprise, watching him flip through the pages at his leisure.

"It doesn't matter which, we have reasons to attack either." Law replied disinterestedly, flipping through the new bounties in the centrefold with mild interest.

"What if they're civilian or merchant ships?"

He paused what he was doing to look up at her. "Unlikely in this part of the Grand Line but even if they are, we'll still be attacking them."

"I thought you said you didn't attack civili-

"We lost a lot of supplies in the flooding. Even if we hadn't, we _are_ pirates, Nayla-ya. What exactly do you think we do for a living?"

She sighed at the devilish grin on his face as he resumed flipping through the posters, realising that the other three at the table almost seemed excited at the news, if their own expressions were anything to go by. "Guess you guys are itching for some action after that long standstill on Amazon Lily, huh?"

"You bet." Shachi grinned at her. "I hope its marines."

"Nah, I hope its pirates, marines are so weak. Just do us a favour and don't overdo it, Captain. Save some for the rest of us, wouldya?" Penguin laughed, nudging him and making him chuckle.

"What about you, sweetie?"

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, what do you hope they are?" Penguin asked her across the table.

"Um…well I guess, if I had to pick. I hope its other pirates." She offered, surprised at her inclusion.

"Fan of marines?" Shachi asked with a raised brow.

"Well…they're just guys out there doing what they think is right to try making the world a better place and protect citizens. Same as soldiers I guess. Besides, it's hard not to like a man in uniform." She shrugged, laughing when Shachi and Penguin started to 'casually' brush off and neaten their boiler suits.

'Speaking of uniform, can we re-visit that mental image of Law in a cop uniform that he so rudely interrupted? – No, not right now. – Law in a cop uniform. – I promise I'll let you think about it later. – ...Handcuffs hanging off his belt. – He's sitting right here, could you not? - Just do it, imagine him bending you over the nearest surface to restrain you because you're resisting arrest. – Stop it, he's looking right at us. – Law. In. a. Cop uniform. The possibilities. – He's opening his mouth to speak, could you stop with the cop uniform thing please so that I can pay attention to what the man is saying?! - …Law in a firefighter uniform? – ...That's it, no more strip clubs for you.'

"Were they protecting you when they allowed the Straw Hats to run off with you as their 'hostage' at Sabaody?" Law asked coolly.

"…I guess they weren't, they were more interested in kissing the World Nobles' asses." She recalled bitterly. "Their organisation and its priorities might be fucked but the individuals usually aren't bad guys, same with any group of people. Pirates, marines, whatever, there are always good ones-" She cast a small smile at Penguin and Shachi across the table before looking back at him. "-and bad ones in there."

He chuckled at her less than subtle hint, looking back down at the paper in front of him to examine his image as he neatly tore the page out. She'd coned the top of his hat, added a horn on either side of it, turned his sideburns into long braids and given him an extensive, gruff looking moustache and beard. His speech bubble read; "Steal only the most beautiful women!" He folded and placed the page into his pocket as he stood.

"Pipe down, noisy bastards!" Connor called over his shoulder, anticipating his captain's intention to make his announcement.

Nayla turned in her seat to watch the crew quieten as they looked at him. Law waited a moment for their attention and focus before speaking. "As some of you have already heard, the sub has detected two ships up ahead. We will be engaging them." He waited for the excited murmurs to die down before speaking again. "It is likely from the detected sizes and velocities that at least one of them is a marine battleship. We're unsure of the nature of the other. We'll remain submerged until we are close enough to know for sure what we are up against."

"What are our attack priorities, Captain?"

"Fun." He met Nayla's mildly-scolding eye contact with a devilish smirk as the men grinned and chattered in excitement. "Aside from that, it's primarily to make life difficult for the marines and to secure any valuables of worth with particular priority for replacing our gunpowder and lost dried foods. If travel directions, speeds and the weather remain as they are now then we should be engaging them within the hour. Prepare for battle."

"Aye aye, Captain!" And cheers chorused loudly throughout the room as the majority of crewmembers got up to do as they were told.

Law took his seat, smiling at Nayla's amused expression as she watched the rowdy crew begin to leave the messdeck. "Boys." She chided.

"If you're finished Nayla-ya, then let's get going. I'd like to squeeze in your daily examination before I'm needed on deck."

"Daily examinations?" Penguin furrowed his brows, looking at her, taking note that her wrist was out of its splint and seemingly fine.

"You sick, sweetie?" Connor looked her over with concern.

"No I'm not sick at all, I'm fine." She offered reassuringly. "It's more like I'm your Captain's guinea pig for kicks, unfortunately." She muttered in distaste, glancing back at the enjoyment in his expression at her explanation.

"Oh…your weird Haki-thing, right?" Shachi guessed.

"…Yeah, how did you know?"

"Captain always did like picking things apart that interested him. I remember this one time-" He paled suddenly at the thought before the others at the table did the same, looking between their captain and her in scarily silent worry.

Law smiled at her growing anxiety as she watched them clam up in terror before looking back his way hesitantly. He enjoyed the tense silence at the table a moment longer, casually finishing the last of his breakfast before speaking. "I'm not doing anything of that nature to her."

The other three men at the table exhaled their held breaths in relief, slumping in their seats at their captain's reassurance.

"Doing what? Holy shit, doing what?!" Nayla asked with wide eyes.

"If I'm not doing it to you, then you don't need to worry about it." He stood again, picking up the Nodachi placed against the wall behind him as he smirked down at her darkly. "Let's go."

* * *

To Law's absolute amusement, Nayla had behaved herself incredibly well during her examination. She'd for once, given him no back talk, no insults, no sarcasm, no lame jokes and certainly no underhanded seduction attempts. Seemed she'd been quite terrified at the thought of being thoroughly and systematically dissected by him at breakfast.

He chuckled to himself as he filed away her fresh X-Rays into the folder on his desk, recalling the look on her face at his men's reactions when they'd found out he was examining her,

"W-What's so funny?"

Law turned to look at her by the infirmary door as he picked up his weapon, chuckling again at her stiffened posture as he touched it. "As nice a change as it's been that you've behaved yourself for this long Nayla-ya, it's unbecoming of you. Relax."

"Easy for you to say." She muttered, eyeing his sword warily.

"Purupurupurupuru, purupuru-Captain, we're less than ten minutes away from the ships ahead of us. We can visually confirm one is a marine ship and the other is a pirate ship, The Jolly Roger is of the Kessinger Pirates. They appear to be currently battling each other so it's unlikely our approach has been noticed and the marines seem to have the upper hand. What would you like us to do?"

"Get us as close as you're able to without putting the ship in the line of fire. I want us close enough to embark on the marine ship if possible. Announce the ETA for the crew so that they can begin to assemble by the main entrance. I'll be there in a moment myself, let me know when we're ready to surface."

"Aye aye, Captain!" The unfamiliar voice of one of the other navigators of the crew sounded before the snail went limp.

"You're gonna help out a rival crew? That's nice of you…I think." Law smirked at her well warranted scepticism as he strode towards her.

"I'm feeling generous." The sinister tone didn't convince her in the slightest, despite her recollection of him seemingly fighting alongside Luffy and Eustass Kid at Sabaody.

Opening the door, he ushered her out ahead of him into the hallway. "So Nayla-ya, are you looking forward to the battle? It'll be a good opportunity for you to vent some of your…'frustration.'"

"What makes you think _I'm_ going to be fighting marines for you?" She asked, trying her best to let his insinuation slide as he shut the door behind him.

"You do work for me, don't you?" He chuckled as she scoffed at him, crossing her arms. Seemed she was feeling a little braver now that she was out of his infirmary and her examination was finished. "So, what _will_ you be doing during the battle?"

"I'll just watch from inside I guess." She shrugged as she walked down the hall beside him, listening to the loud announcement over the intercom for the crew to begin assembling at their allocated battle stations.

"Hmm, that's disappointing. Here I thought you had a healthy sense of bloodlust."

Nayla smiled at the subtle baiting. "There's no such thing as 'healthy' bloodlust, _doctor_ and I only really enjoy fighting if my opponent has actually done something to me worth kicking their ass for."

"What about your jobs?"

"I don't actually take pleasure in harming people, _I'm_ not a sociopath and it's not personal. It's not like they ever did anything to me, they're just part of the job is all."

"But you _do_ take pleasure in harming people that did something to wrong you?" He caught her eye contact as they started ascending the stairs, smirking at her openly threatening and obvious visual once over of him.

"Anyway, I don't want a bounty. Being seen fighting with pirates against marines is a pretty good way to land one."

Law chuckled at her evasion of his previous statement. "You could always just wear that mask of yours to conceal your face. I'm assuming not wanting a bounty is the reason you wear it."

Nayla furrowed her brows and side-glanced at him, trying to understand what he was subtly getting at now. "Mercenaries aren't criminals. We don't get bounties and I'm _sure_ you already knew that…"

Unsurprised by now at her astute perception and attempt to read between the lines of what he was saying to her, he grinned more widely. "Surely you're considered war criminals to the opposing side, wouldn't they issue bounties for your involvement?"

She narrowed her eyes at his falsely innocent-sounding guess as they reached the top floor, knowing he was smarter than that. "They're in the middle of a war, they have only a hundred higher priorities than bothering to try for vengeance on a few lowlife, money-grubbing, warmongering mercenaries that their opponents hired."

"Then why would you bother to cover your face when you work then?"

Turning to him when he stopped moving towards the main entrance she met his steady eye contact in thought. Aside from the smirk on his lips he was keeping a fairly neutral composure, one hand holding his Nodachi to his shoulder, his other slipped casually into his pocket. As usual, giving nothing away about what he was really thinking in his body language.

"…You already seem to think you know why. So you either want confirmation that you're right so that you can stroke your 'I'm-so-smart' ego…or you want to see if I'll give you an honest answer."

"The latter." He answered easily with a chuckle.

"…I'm not a mercenary fulltime, I can't be because of the toll my ability takes on me so I need to do other things for money. Wars get heavy news coverage, like the article you found. How would I be able to do my other jobs for Marty if I were ever recognised from a photo in a newspaper?"

"Is that the only reason?" He asked lowly, tilted his head with a raised brow in expectation.

It hadn't been a lie…but confirming what he already seemed to know was the main reason was about as good as offering her neck up on a plate to a deadly predator to sink its teeth into. '…Kinda already did tha – Not now, shut up. Degenerate.'

Law watched her bite her lip in thought, obviously still worried about what he might do with any information about her weaknesses that she gave him. "You're no use to me dead. I don't have any intention of spreading information that puts you at risk because it's not in my interest. You should know that by now."

Glancing behind him at the stairs to make sure they were still alone, she reluctantly replied quietly. "…I'm not able to use my ability when I'm recovering from it. I work with a mask on to try minimising my chances of being recognised, attacked and killed when I'm not able to defend myself fully."

"Did you choose not to use it against Kuma because your face wasn't covered or because you were still recovering?"

"Both."

He watched her shift uncomfortably, looking at the staircase behind him hopefully now. Most likely wishing someone on the crew would come along and interrupt his impromptu interrogation. "…What happens when you use it when you're still recovering?"

"Well aside from it hurting, a lot, I can't control it as well as I can usually. If I'd used it against Kuma I'd have probably killed myself faster than he would have." Hearing no response she tentatively looked back at him from scanning the staircase to find him looking at her with a terrifyingly unsettling grin.

"An ability that harms you the longer you use it, that can only be used for three weeks continuously at most, requires recuperation times as long as a month or two and that leaves you vulnerable and unable to use it during? My, how inconvenient for you." He purred, looked her up and down sinisterly as he wrapped his fingers over his sheath rhythmically in thought.

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm _not_ vulnerable right now. That last war for Joker was over a month ago." She clarified, narrowing her eyes at the look on his face.

"That crippling weakness of yours would be a very good reason to keep your face concealed. Here I'd initially thought your choice of identity concealment was just a peculiar fashion statement or an attempt to shun your ill-gotten fame."

" _Me_ make peculiar fashion statements? Have your seen your hat?" She scoffed in offence.

He chuckled at that, walking past her to make his way to the main entrance. "Your ability has far too many strings attached, dangerous ones, Nayla-ya. You should consider training yourself in Haki instead."

"Would if I could." She muttered quietly, ignoring the curious side-glance he gave her as she caught up to him. "So, you got your honest answer from me. Did I pass the test? Does that mean you trust me now? Can I get my own room?"

"Far from it…but it's a start."

She sighed at his amused look. "What made you ask all this anyway…did you find something wrong with the tests you ran on me?"

"…Possibly. I'll know more after I go over what I collected from you today and let you know about it tomorrow." He placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her moving any closer to the main entrance, waiting until she looked up at him questioningly before pointing at the open voice pipe by the door and leaning in to speak to her more quietly. "Speaking of your examinations, Nayla-ya. I'll need you to wear something different for tomorrow's one."

Not liking the fact he didn't want anyone in the cockpit downstairs to hear this or the positively devious smile spreading across his lips, she warily spoke. "…Like?"

"I need you as near to naked as possible for tomorrow's examination. Wear something convenient to remove and one of your more revealing sets of undergarments - if you wish to remain wearing anything at all of course."

'…Brain? – Uh, yeah. I'm here. – Are you doing this? - …Whaddya mean? – Like, are you seeing his lips move and just replacing the words with what _you_ wanna hear or…? - No. No he really did just say he wants to see you pretty much naked tomorrow…say yes.'

"No." She grit her teeth as he said nothing, only smirked more widely. "I mean it, Law! No! You have no reason to see me nakmmph!"

Chuckling at her peaking temper, he clamped a hand to her mouth, nodding his head towards the voicepipe a little way down the hall in reminder to keep her volume under control. "Yes I do, Nayla-ya. Not that I feel the need to explain my reasons to you."

She gripped his wrist, pulling his hand away from her angrily. "Absolutely not happening."

"One way or another, you will be on a bed in my infirmary tomorrow, stripped down to at _least_ your underwear and I will be examining every, inch of your body at my leisure. This can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it, Nayla."

Hearing the excited rabble of the other pirates nearing them, Nayla glanced at the stairs, seeing the tops of hats starting to appear as the crew made their way up to them, talking animatedly to each other about the upcoming conflict.

She backed away from Law to put a more appropriate distance between them, shooting him a look that let him know their conversation wasn't over before walking further down the hall away from him, ignoring his winning grin.

"Yo Captain! How much longer we got 'til we surface?"

"Ask the cockpit." Law gestured his thumb to the voicepipe as he leant against the wall behind him, watching as the crewmember hurried over to it to ask.

Looking out of one of the rounded ports as the crew excitedly greeted their captain, Nayla noticed the lighter colour of the water around them. Their depth was beginning to decrease as they moved forward; they must be getting very close.

"Hey, lil lady! Excited?" Jeff greeted, slinging a heavy arm around her shoulders as he neared, peering out of the port with her.

"Well, I'm excited to watch you guys in action." She smiled, trying to shake off her irritation with his captain.

"Hmm? You're not fighting with us?"

"Nah, I'll sit this one out."

"Ah, you use weapons don't you?" He turned to look at his captain in question of their whereabouts, prompting her to turn around and look at him too.

"Would you give me back my weapons if I _did_ decide to fight with you guys, Law?"

"You don't need them and you have no intention of fighting even if I do return them. You only want to find out where I'm keeping them." He deduced easily over the noisy chatter of the crew beside him.

"Then yeah, no. I'm definitely sitting this one out." She sulked, turning back to face Jeff, though she cracked a small grin when she caught sight of the pink nails on the hand resting over her shoulder.

Following her gaze, Jeff cleared his throat. "About those…not that I don't appreciate the sentiment or the fact that I deserve it but uh…you got any nail polish remover, lil lady?"

"Yep." She said simply, smiling up at him.

"…Could I borrow some?"

"Nope."

He sighed half-heartedly. "Figured as much. Right, well, battle with girly nails it is. I'll just have to kill anyone that notices is all."

"That's all." She agreed with a laugh.

"Are we there yet, Captain?" A late arrival asked eagerly as he climbed the last of the stairs.

"Ask the cockpit." Law tilted his head toward the voicepipe beside the door, the crewmember that had asked jogging over to it to ask how long until their destination.

Nayla observed Law's complete calm. He wasn't worried about this upcoming battle in the slightest, completely confident. He'd relaxed his weight and the back of his head onto the wall behind him, one foot raised to rest on it too. Hand in pocket, other on his Nodachi and a small smirk on his face as he listened to his crew argue avidly about which one of them would be taking down more marines today.

She wondered what he had in mind, it didn't seem like him to butt into a fight that didn't concern him to aid a rival pirate crew…Was he really just itching for a fight? Maybe he was just doing it for his crew's benefit?...Nah in themselves, those reasons might have counted towards this decision but they were far too simple on their own. Maybe it had something to do with his plans on having another 'guest' today?

Nayla couldn't help but wonder what his real motivation was; she was definitely curious about it…and looking forward to seeing him fight again. Apart from reluctantly admitting she enjoyed seeing him in action, his Devil Fruit would make a lot more sense to her now that she'd read that book last night.

"DAMMIT, I SAID I'LL TELL YOU WHEN WE'RE THERE!" She raised her brows at the irritable outburst emitted from the voicepipe as it effectively hushed the men in the hallway as they turned to listen to it too.

"OI! Was just asking! Geez!" The crewmember on the receiving end backed away from the volume of it.

"Well STOP IT! I'm tryna steer the sub, keep us undetected, position us right, make sure we don't enter a line of fire-" Nayla looked at the other men in the hallway as they started snickering. "AND I gotta put up with you idiots buggin' me every two minutes?! God dammit, every time-!"

She had to smother her mouth to stop from giggling when she saw Shachi turn to the men in the hallway and start mimicking the angry navigator's rant with his hand, only making them laugh harder at the poor man's frustration with them.

Law rolled his eyes at the spectacle as he pushed off from the wall to walk towards the voicepipe.

"…You ever feel like you're the parent on a ship full of kids?"

"All the time." He sighed, as he walked past her, placing his hand on the crewmember's shoulder to move him aside before cutting off the angry navigator's tirade. "How much further?"

"O-Oh, Captain. Nearly there, we'll be in position to surface in a minute or two."

"Take us up as soon as we are. The rest of you." Nayla watched impressed as the crew immediately stopped their antics to turn and listen to him even though he hadn't raised his voice at all to be heard over their rabble. Only now realising that they were close enough to hear the cannon fire, gunshots and yells of the men above them. "We will be surfacing and attacking the marine ship. I want enough survivors to be able to report what they've seen. The other ship has been confirmed to be that of the Kessinger Pirates, upstarts. Their captain however, is a Devil Fruit user with a bounty of sixty million berries. You are to show no hostility to him or his crew, I will address them personally. Is that understood?"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

"Good." Law glanced at the ports as the hallway brightened, illuminated by the growing amount of daylight coming in from the thick glass as the surfacing alarm rang. He motioned for the nearest man to begin turning the mechanism on the inner door of the air lock as the submarine began to rise from the water.

The sounds of the battle outside seemed to quieten and pause as the Heart Pirates' ship split through the surface of the waves above them, the bright sunlight of the late morning spilling into the room as it did.

Stepping aside for his captain as he pulled the door open, Law walked in ahead of his crewmember, turning over his shoulder at the eager grins on his men's faces with a small smirk of his own before pushing open the outer door of the airlock and striding out onto the deck. "Enjoy."


	40. A Hearty handshake

All hands had stilled and all eyes, marine and pirate, had turned to watch as the Heart Pirates' ship made its unexpected appearance and as its captain emerged. Taking long, casual strides with a small, lazy smile and nonchalant demeanour, he surveyed them at total ease, turning to the captain of the marine's ship as he announced his presence.

"T-That's Trafalgar Law - bounty of three hundred million berries! Stay alert men!" The barely suppressed panic in the man's voice was easy for all to hear as he relayed the danger of this unforeseen turn of events to his men.

Attention was shifted to the Heart Pirates as they emerged from the ship to stand proudly by their captain's side, their entrance accompanied by a collective rush of murmurs as both the marines and other pirates quickly spread what they had heard about them and their captain to each other.

Trying not to roll her eyes at the incredibly cocky appearance Law had made as she peered around the edge of the entrance, Nayla took in the situation ahead, keen to see what it was he had in mind.

The navigator had wisely surfaced them perpendicular to the other two ships, not allowing either of their enemies the opportunity to train their cannons onto the sub. The marine's battleship had pulled up alongside the Kessinger pirate's, close enough to have thrown down and secured a gangplank to bridge the gap between the two vessels, connecting the two decks.

To have said the marines had the 'upper hand' was an understatement. They had backed these pirates into a corner so badly that they had already begun to board their vessel to apprehend them. In fact, the majority of the marine crew were on the enemy ship, this fight had been all but over before they arrived.

The Kessinger pirates themselves looked heavily injured and worn, their ship wasn't fairing much better. It was obvious it had taken a cannonball or two to its side, it appeared to be riddled with gunshots everywhere she looked and their main mast was damaged. It would be a struggle for them to sail anywhere now – frankly, they'd be lucky if they didn't sink. They were sitting ducks.

"Y-You have no business being here, Trafalgar! This doesn't concern you! You get going now and I-I'll look the other way – seeing as we're busy!"

Nayla had to bite her lip to not join the Heart Pirates in their laughter at the man's painfully weak attempt to sound assertive and threatening as they gathered by the railing nearest to the marine ship. Even from behind them, she could make out their toothy, eager grins as they gripped their weapons and awaited their captain's orders.

It seemed Law had decided it wasn't worth his time to address the marine captain, openly ignoring him in favour of looking at his crew, the amusement in his voice carrying over as he spoke. "Ready?"

"When you are, Captain."

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Law raised his hand, alerting the frozen marines on board to snap out of it and finally train their guns on him.

"Room."

"Fir-!"

"Shambles."

It had seemed like all chaotic hell had broken loose between the Heart Pirates' and the marines' ship as fights suddenly erupted on both decks simultaneously. What had seemed in the first split second like each of the crews turning on each other was in fact Law exchanging a row of his own men with the row of marines that had been poised to fire at them.

The Heart Pirates still on the sub's deck pounced on the confused, exchanged marines that appeared in place of their comrades immediately, knocking their guns from their hands and swiftly throwing them overboard in their scuffle.

The remaining marines on the battleship were ambushed by their crewmates that had suddenly seemed to have turned into pirates in front of them.

Clutching the edge of the doorway and gaping at the spectacle, Nayla watched as the Heart Pirates easily took out the marines on their own ship, one after another. Penguin and Shachi were double teaming the stupefied marines like a well-oiled machine and Bepo was moving with an agility, extremely disciplined martial arts style and a viciousness she hadn't anticipated from him at all.

With a flick of his fingers - faster than the marines could have pulled their triggers, Law had completely confused them, divided the remaining forces on their deck by half and moved his own men to invade their ship. His 'Room' was covering the vast majority of all three decks; they were all trapped within his domain, unable to back themselves out of it without moving their ships. She grimly had to acknowledge what an unbelievable handicap it was to have him and his incredible Devil Fruit ability as an enemy.

"B-Back to the ship!" What seemed to be the authoritative marine leading the assault on the Kessinger pirates' deck commanded, immediately running for the gangplank. His comrades stuttered in their movement for only a moment before falling into line behind him and storming the precarious wood connecting their vessels.

Nayla looked back at Law as she heard the smooth sound of his sword being slowly unsheathed, he watched them, unworried and calm as always as the marines began running across the wood back to their battleship to apprehend his crew.

As soon as the last marine had left the Kessinger pirates' ship, Law sliced the gangplank clean down the middle from where he stood, re-sheathing his sword with a smirk as he watched the men plummet into the sea below, screaming.

"Yo! Save some for the rest of us would ya?!" Jeff yelled over the railing of the sub at his crewmates on the battleship as they pummelled the marines. He and some of the other crewmembers left behind on the sub's deck were busy setting their own connecting gangplank, holding it steady as their crewmates on the other end secured it well enough so that they could join them.

"Snooze ya lose, slowpoke!" Connor yelled down at him, grinning as he threw another marine overboard.

"Man…" He grumbled, finishing steadying the ramp as quickly as he could with the others before they quickly ran up the wood to board and help their crewmates with the remaining marines.

It was obvious from how relaxed they were, the way they'd anticipated their captain's actions and by how they did what they needed to do to help each other without direct commands from Law that they were more than used to this. The Heart Pirates were effortlessly overrunning and defeating the marines with what seemed to be a routine tactic for them; Law allowing them to go wild whilst he kept his 'Room' up and a watchful eye over the entire situation, ready to give direction or step in as needed.

"AIYAAAH!" Catching a glimpse of Bepo's orange jumpsuit, Nayla focused on him as he managed to kick down a flurry of marines as the Heart Pirates pushed them back, cutting them down and knocking them overboard left and right as they advanced easily to the further side of the battleship's deck.

Watching them in action was as entertaining as it was an eye-opener. Between their playful banter, goofy behaviour, cheerful personalities and the kindness they'd shown her, it was easy to forget that they were actually violent criminals…not that it stopped her from rooting for them, despite not having any personal animosity towards the marines.

"NOW!"

The entrance leading inside the battleship flew open, a rush of marines running out and across their deck as they headed for the gangplank leading to the submarine. Nayla wondered what their tactic was as she watched the men start running down the wood that was swaying on the gentle waves between the ships and headed towards Law. Had they not just seen him slice down the other gangplank? Did they think maybe he wouldn't do it to his own or that they could run across it fast enough?

They had obviously gathered their remaining forces behind the door but instead of coming outside immediately to help their comrades; it was as if they'd waited for the Heart Pirates to leave their sub. Maybe they thought they could end this if they could take out the Heart Pirates' captain, that they would cease their attack in their shock and turn back to help him. That was the only thing she could guess was on their minds as they barrelled down the gangplank towards Law at top speed with battle cries and weapons drawn.

If anything, the Hearts Pirates had briefly looked over their shoulders at the commotion before turning back to their own opponents with disappointed huffs and sighs. Completely unworried about the peril seemingly headed towards their beloved captain.

Law stood straight from leaning his elbows on his railing, watching the marines advancing towards him at ease and turning to greet the intruders of his ship with a laid back smirk as he withdrew his weapon.

Realising he'd allowed them to make their way safely across to his sub nearly out of boredom, Nayla watched in regrettable amusement as Law easily minced then mixed and matched the men that had dared to board his ship - now understanding the sighs of disappointment from the crew as he easily took out marines that they wouldn't get the chance to have fun with.

It didn't take the Heart Pirates long to take complete control of the battleship and for Law to tire playing with the marines on his ship. Releasing the suspended, mangled men with an unceremonious plop onto the hard wooden floorboards, he looked up at the higher deck of the marine vessel as his crew returned to this side of it.

"Man, couldn't you have saved just a few of them for us, Captain?" Penguin sighed, leaning on the railing of the marine's ship to look down at the scattered mess of moving, screaming body parts on the sub.

"Always overdo it." Shachi grumbled, slumping over the railing beside his friend with a long sigh.

Law chuckled at the childish pouts and dejected postures of his men as he re-sheathed his sword, offering a half-hearted apology as Nayla approached him cautiously, peering past him with interest at the peculiar, dismembered limbs and torsos on the wooden floor.

"Take everything of worth, load it onto the ship."

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Turning to the woman behind him with an amused smile as she prodded a lone torso with the tip of her shoe, Law resettled his Nodachi to his shoulder. "Enjoy the show, Nayla-ya?"

"Yeah…was my first time seeing your boys in action, they're really skilled." She caught the look of pride on his face as she looked up at him. "Though, gotta admit, was kinda hoping they'd kick your ass. Would have been nice to see you beaten to a pulp, dragged away in cuffs and to hitch a cushy ride back to land with the marines."

"That would also mean the capture and execution of my crew, would you really want to see all your new _friends_ die?"

Furrowing her brows at the emphasis he put on the word before dismissing it, Nayla pursed her lips at the thought of how she would have felt if the marines really had won this round. "No…no I guess not. Guess I'd have to break them out later and leave _you_ behind to rot."

He chuckled a little at her sulky tone as she looked around at the squirming massacre of marines. "Not worried they'll think you're my accomplice anymore?"

"No, I think they have more important things to worry about at the moment. I don't see you using your cool teleporty powers to return these men back to their ship so, I'm assuming you're gonna be submerging with them still on deck and drowning them." She muttered.

"What a good deduction." He smiled, taking in her distaste at his upcoming cruelty.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, please-PLEASE NO!"

"H-HAVE MERCY!"

They glanced down at the eruption of distressed cries of the disembodied heads scattered within ear shot of their conversation, Nayla flinched and looked down at her own feet as she felt something cling to her ankle.

"P-Please! I-mmph!" Law promptly slammed the tip of his weapon onto the scalp of the marine's head, forcing him to shut his mouth as his chin hit the deck and startling him into releasing his grip on Nayla's leg…from one of his many hands. There was nothing left of him but a talking head on arms, only one of which seeming to belong to him. To Nayla, he looked like a terrifying rendition of a human-spider.

Law turned his head to her slowly in amusement, watching as she looked up at him, silently questioning what he was finding so funny before following his gaze down to his arm where she'd clung onto him tightly in her horror.

Chuckling as she abruptly released him and backed away a few steps, Law turned his attention back to the squirming marine beneath him. "You've outstayed your welcome, Marine-ya."

Drawing back his Nodachi, he swung it in a way that reminded her of a golf club; cleanly striking the marine's severed head and lifting it from his deck. Nayla watched in shock as the marine went flying over the railing and into the water below.

'…Fooore! – That isn't funny, you sick freak.' Walking up to the railing cautiously to peer down at the sea, not particularly wanting to see the sad sight of a head on arms flailing desperately in an attempt to stay afloat, Nayla was relieved to see the men that had been thrown into the ocean earlier were already swimming over to his aid.

"…You really are a sadistic creep." She muttered, feeling Law stand beside her to peer down at the spectacle in enjoyment.

"Trafalgar Law." Looking toward the sound of a heavy clang of metal hitting the wooden rail, they watched as a couple of the Kessinger pirates threw across grappling hooks, pulling on them to bring their ailing ship into near-contact with the sub.

Nayla had nearly forgotten they were there this whole time, they'd taken the welcome diversion of marine-attention from themselves to patch up their critically injured, re-arm and rally together at the edge of their ship facing them.

"Oi! Just who the HELL do you think you a-?!" Law raised a hand to quieten the angry outburst of one of his crewmembers, silently reminding him of his earlier order to not address the Kessinger pirates. The crew had stopped moving cargo out onto the deck of the marine battleship and had stood still to watch the confrontation unfold carefully and await orders.

Law however hadn't take his eyes off of the man that had spoken and although Nayla didn't recognise him from any of the bounty posters she'd seen recently, it was obvious by the way he held himself and the way that the other pirates parted for him as he stepped onto his own railing, then onto Law's, that he was their captain.

"Kessinger-ya, how nice of you to join us. Though it's poor manners to board another captain's ship without invitation." He had spoken calmly and in his seemingly polite manner but Nayla could sense Law's immense displeasure at the man's presumptuous behaviour as he hopped down onto the sub's deck.

"Hmm, then perhaps you should have waited for the marine captain to give you yours before having your boys board _his_ ship, no?"

Peered around Law's side in curiosity, she watched as the man as he took slow, long, powerful strides over to them. Dark brown, leather boots carried him over carefully, black pants, a sword hung from his hip, a pistol from his other - he made an obvious show of keeping his hands away from both, always holding them in plain sight of Law at all times. An unbuttoned, smart, white blouse exposing tanned, muscled torso and other than the small, light scar over the angle of his jaw, the man had a clean-shaven, handsome appearance. Dirty blond, longish hair and brown eyes that locked gazes with her own, raising a slightly curious brow at her as he approached before offering her a small smile.

Nayla glanced up at Law as he held an arm in front of her, to her surprise, to push her swiftly to stand completely behind him as the rival captain came to a stop a few feet away. Though she was unsure from his neutral expression if it were a protective gesture or one that was discouraging her involvement. She'd spent enough time with Law now to know his guard was up; his eyes weren't missing a single movement of the other man with a Devil Fruit ability now stood in front of him on his own deck.

The tension between them grew as their crews looked on at their standoff, hands on weapons, awaiting even the slightest sign of hostility or the smallest suggestion of order to attack from their respective captains. The silence hung in the air thickly, before the other captain smiled, shrugging as he seemed to give up waiting for a response from Law.

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure of assistance from the great supernova Trafalgar Law?"

"My reasons for attacking the marines are my own. Be thankful we just so happened to be passing by, Kessinger-ya."

A displeased mutter at his condescension of their captain broke out amongst the Kessinger pirates, obviously ticked off with Law's rude insinuation that they ought to be grateful he'd just saved their asses, even if it were true. She imagined the Heart Pirates probably wouldn't take kindly to anyone speaking to _their_ beloved captain that way either.

Wondering how the other man would react and if a fight were about to break out, Nayla cautiously looked at the other man from around Law's side once more, ready to back off and get out of the line of fire if need be.

He seemed to be of similar height and age to Law, though if she had to take a guess, he was probably a little younger. Nothing about him, his attire or what weapons he chose to carry gave away whatever his Devil Fruit was capable of though.

The rival captain's gaze flit to his upset crew before looking down at the deck below him, biting the inside of his cheek as he seemed to mull something over before finally speaking.

"Actually, I am. It was very fortunate for us." Everyone was watching carefully as he closed the small gap between himself and Law. "I'm not sure what your reasons were and it may not have been your intention to help us but you did. As shameful as it is to admit, my men and I owe you our lives, I came to extend my gratitude."

Nayla felt the muscles on Law's back tense subtly, readying for an attack as the man in front of him raised his hand but he simply held it out in gesture of a handshake.

"Is that so…" Law eyed the other man's extended hand before looking back up at him. "Well then, Kessinger-ya. You're most welcome." Nayla watched in surprise as Law lifted his own, feeling the sudden, menacing shift in his demeanour as he abruptly veered his hand to its true target, thrusting it violently forward.

"Mes."

"CAPTAIN!"

The Kessinger pirates watched in shock as their captain fell to his knees, crying out and clutching his chest before collapsing face first to the deck.

Holding a hand to her mouth, Nayla spotted the cube as it bounced to a stop behind the man's body. "…Holy shit…"

In her initial surprise, it had almost looked as though Law was so freakishly strong that he'd managed to punch the man's heart clean out of his chest but she soon realised, he hadn't released his 'Room.' She'd read about The concept of organ removal for medical purposes last night, the predecessor of the Ope Ope no Mi had done it many times in miraculous and life-saving operations during his use of it.

Here she was seeing how a pirate - how Law, had thought to apply this miraculous ability to destructive and disturbing use…and she should _not_ have been as impressed, or awe-struck as she was about it…and should _definitely_ not have been finding it obscenely cool and badass. That was far more disturbed than the heart on the floor.

She watched in stunned silence as Law moved over to it, placing his foot on top of the pulsating organ's clear, cuboid container as if it were the most casual thing in the world to do.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"GET HIM!"

"YOU-!"

The rival pirates halted their rush to board the sub as their captain cried out in agony at Law's feet, stopping only when he released the pressure he applied to the man's eviscerated heart with his boot.

"B-Bastard…wha-?"

"I believe you can piece together this situation." Law cut across him smoothly, adjusting his weapon with a satisfied smirk. "Or would you like another demonstration?" He pressed his foot down firmly, ripping another cry of agony from the man on the floor beside him as he gripped the gaping hole in his chest in vain.

"Stop! STOP! What do you want?!" The man at the front of the rabble of upset pirates spoke up, holding an arm up to stop them advancing onto the sub in their distress to help their fallen captain. He appeared to be authoritative amongst the crew, most likely, the first-mate Nayla decided as she looked him over, eyeing his drawn sword.

"I want you to get this trash off my ship and leave." Law demanded clearly, locking eyes with the man.

What seemed to be the Kessinger's first-mate glanced back at the crew behind him before slowly re-sheathing his weapon. "…Ok, I'll go."

He held his hands up in surrender as he cautiously stepped onto the railing of his ship, waiting calmly as the waves settled and allowed him to step across safely onto the Heart Pirates'. Hoping down onto the sub's deck, he made his way over guardedly, never once breaking his wary gaze on Law as he stooped down to sling his captain's arm around his shoulders.

Watching as the man reached over to pick up the heart under Law's boot, he abruptly pushed it along the floorboards out of the crouched man's reach, prompting him to look up in question. "This, stays with me."

"W-…What?!" The man gaped at him, turning to his captain as he cried out in pain when Law applied threatening pressure to his stolen organ.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Get off my ship."

Gritting his teeth at his helplessness, the man stood, helping his pained, barely conscious captain to his feet as he all but dragged the man back over to the railing, wisely without turning around, never giving his back on Law.

Handing the slumped man over to his crew, he looked back at the Surgeon of Death as he stooped down and picked up his captain's heart, holding it nonchalantly.

"Trafalgar." Law cocked his head to the side and waited patiently for him to continue. "…In exchange for my Captain's life, I'll give you mine."

Stopping his causal tossing of the heart in his hand, Law narrowed his eyes at him, both of them ignoring the distressed cries of protest coming from the Kessinger crew behind him to visually size each other up in silence.

"What's your name?"

"Fidelis, first-mate of the Kessinger Pirates." He stated proudly.

"…Very well. Bepo."

"Yes, Captain?" Said bear yelled down from his viewing point on the battleship they'd commandeered.

"Restrain him."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo gave a firm salute, running down the gangplank as he partially unzipped the top half of his boiler suit, pulling a pair of handcuffs from inside. Nayla raised her brow at this, piecing together that Law must have told him to bring those in advance, in anticipation of his lucky new 'guest' today.

"Enough! Be quiet!" The first-mate of the Kessinger's held his hand up to the men behind him to silence their objections of his actions. "Captain has done more than enough for us, we owe him our lives…This is the least I can do for him."

A solemn hush fell over the crew as Bepo walked over to him, waiting for the man to hold out his wrists. "Trafalgar, do I have your word, as a man, that you will spare my Captain?"

"I have no intention of killing Kessinger-ya." He reassured firmly, watching as the man nodded sternly in approval of what he decided was Law's honest word before holding out his wrists for Bepo, watching as they were handcuffed and allowing himself to be led towards the main entrance of the sub.

He turned to speak to Law as he was walked past him, eyeing the beating heart in his hand. "You can return that without any problems, right?"

"Yes, if it were my intention to do so."

"…What?"

"I already said, this stays with me."

"Y-You said you'd spare my Captain's life!"

"And I did." Law motioned to his slumped captain being supported over the shoulder of a crewmate, pale, cracking an eye open and panting heavily as he watched. "No one said anything about returning this."

"…Bastard….BASTARD! You knew what I meant!" Bepo restrained the man as he turned to attack Law.

"What's the problem, Fidelis-ya? You wanted the life of your captain guaranteed and I've done that."

"To the brig, Captain?"

"…Theatre two." He smirked smugly at the irate man as Bepo began pulling him away with an affirmative of his orders.

Nayla looked up at the Heart Pirates watching from the marine ship as they nearly collectively, visibly shuddered. She had to admit, even she had goosebumps at the way Law had looked at him just now and the sinister tone of his voice as it had dropped an octave.

Connor had only pointed it out to her on the tour without taking her inside but he'd described 'Theatre 2' briefly as a place Law tried out new things with his abilities or would 'study' something interesting he'd found on their travels through the Grand Line. The look on his face hadn't been reassuring when he'd spoken of it, it sounded like it was Law's madman-laboratory. Honestly, she'd been more than a little tempted to take a peek inside but was more worried about what she'd see in there rather than what Law would do to her if he caught her.

Pulling his eyes from the struggling man as he disappeared into the sub, Law turned to look back at the defeated captain on the other ship. "Kessinger-ya, you have a very loyal and brave crew. It's a shame that it was their misfortune to have _you_ as their captain. You failed them."

"Captain Kessinger is n-!"

The angered crewmember abruptly shut his mouth as Law held the heart in his hand up in silent threat. "Do not make Fidelis-ya's sacrifice go to waste." He threatened darkly, turning his gaze back to the utterly defeated captain. "We will be boarding you and taking anything of value. I suggest you be co-operative and use this time to tend to your wounded properly before I take your medical supplies for myself."

The crew hesitantly looked at each other before taking him up on his suggestion, returning their attention to their injured comrades and helping their captain across their damaged deck. The men carrying him seemed to be urging him to stop talking and save his strength. From what little she could hear of what they were saying to him, it seemed that he was agreeing with Law, apologising quietly to his crew for his failures as they helped him inside. The Heart Pirates watched a moment longer in disinterest before returning to their job, pillaging the marine's cargo and valuable supplies.

Watching as Law turned around and caught her gaze as she leant against the railing, she found herself biting her lips in an attempt not to return the amused smile on his as he walked back over to join her.

He leant his own weight against the wood beside her as she glanced at struggling pirate crew behind him as they tried to prioritise who was most in need of medical supplies before they lost them.

"You're a truly evil man."

Law followed her gaze with a widening smirk before giving his attention to his men as they began carefully carrying crates down the gangplank to the sub. "You flatter me."

"You had no intention of killing Kessinger from the start, did you? You made that Fidelis guy give himself up for no reason."

"A fool's bargain. It's not my concern if he bartered for an outcome that I'd already decided and didn't word his terms well enough. I was going to be taking someone anyway, may as well be the one person that is willing to give up his life today."

"Poor guy." She sighed, pulling her eyes off of the broken crew to watch the more cheerful Heart Pirates instead.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with the idea of me abducting rival pirates for my 'experiments' before…Would you rather I release him and take one of these marines instead?" He teased quietly, making her look back at him.

"…No…keep the pirate." She mumbled, rolling her eyes at his taunt. "Do you always do this? Abduct people to hack them up like a crazy person?"

"Contrary to what you seem to think, I don't spend my free time vivisecting people I come across. There's nothing to learn from it. I hardly ever take prisoners Nayla-ya, it's exceptionally rare…they usually _are_ more trouble than their worth." He muttered, looking her way pointedly and earning a small smile from her as she watched some of the men reach the deck, carrying large crates of gunpowder.

"So what _are_ you taking him for?"

"A few tests, nothing you need know about." He dismissed vaguely, glancing briefly at the Kessinger crewmate that appeared to be their doctor as he tended to a serious gunshot wound on one of the men.

"Ya know, for a second there? I really thought you were gonna shake that guy's hand. Takes a big man to admit his weaknesses and show gratitude, especially in front of his crew."

"You think so, do you?"

Nayla caught the knowing look on his face as his smirk grew. "What is it?"

"He ate the Dorei Dorei no Mi. A paramecia type Devil Fruit that allows the user to 'drain' an enemy of anything they desire. Stamina, health, willpower, knowledge – particularly energy. It activates on touch." He finished smugly, enjoying her impressed expression.

"So he was just trying to sucker you in with that handshake, huh…Pays to do your homework." She muttered, watching as he idly twirled the organ he had stolen in his hand, examining it once more before sliding it into his pocket.

"Who knew Jeff was right, you really do go around stealing hearts. What are you going to do with it?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

Annoyed at another cold dismissal, she side-glanced at him, pursing her lips before smiling. "Ah I get it, personal hobby of yours? You like stealing the hearts of all the cute men you come across? Me too, who knew we had something in common."

Chuckling, he turned his attention back to her. "Thought he was 'cute,' did you?"

"Amazing how out of everything I just said, the only part you picked up on was that. That 'awkward crush' theory of mine is looking more and more likely by the day." She cooed teasingly.

"Well it seemed his impression of you was mutual. Had he succeeded in taking me out with that 'handshake' of his, I _wonder_ what plans he had in store for you. I'm sure you wouldn't have found him 'cute' for much longer, Nayla-ya."

"Oh, how sweet of you to notice. So does that make you the protective type or the jealous type?"

"Neither."

They stood in a strangely light-hearted silence despite the dire situation of the neighbouring crews and the decimated marines still on the sub's deck as they watched the crew finish pilfering the battleship. Kicking aside stray, unconscious men and body parts as if it were an everyday occurrence as they walked back and forth between the two ships, working hard and ignoring the combination of angry, distressed and pained voices coming from the two defeated parties both on and off vessels.

Nayla glanced down at the water briefly, noting with more humour than she'd like to admit that the 'arm-spider-man' Law had batted overboard was thoroughly freaking out one of his comrades by sitting atop his head and clinging on with his many arms.

"You're so gruesome…gotta admit though, head on a bunch of arms, that's pretty inspired. I liked that one on Sabaody too."

Surprised she had noticed from her distance that he'd done the same to a few marines in front of the auction house he raised a brow and turned to her. "You sure were watching me closely weren't you, Nayla-ya."

"Well, it's not everyday you see powers like this. Don't be too flattered by it." She laughed, looking away from his amused expression as she saw Shachi run up the gangplank to the marine ship.

"Just gonna do a once over, see if there's anything else worth taking before we move onto the next ship!" He called back to crew, now mostly gathered back on the sub's deck.

"You do that…Not trusting your definition of things worth stealing though…"

"Yeah, no marine panties please. No one wants those. Steal actual booty for a change, would ya? Like a real pirate."

"Useless panty pirate."

"Oi! I'm not taking that crap, especially not from a 'real pirate' with pink nails, jackass!" He called back angrily at Jeff's taunt and over the volume of snickering from his other crewmates.

"What?" Law asked as Nayla shot him a triumphant grin.

"Shachi is a 'Panty Pirate.' Called it."

"…I wouldn't take pride in predicting or being on the same wavelength as my men and their stupid sense of humour."

"Point taken." She laughed, turning to Penguin as he walked over, wiping his brow with the back of his sleeve.

"Took some repair materials, gunpowder, weapons, med supplies, their cash and some food. Not much else on there worth taking, want us to move straight on to the Kessinger's ship, Captain?"

"Yeah, start now. Search the ship in groups, they look worn but they're angry, wounded and desperate. Be alert, anticipate attack and don't take too long."

"Aye aye, Captain." Penguin waved over the rest of the crew as they made their way over to the Kessinger pirates' ship, the rival crew reluctantly moving aside as they were brazenly boarded.

Nayla realised then that Law _still_ hadn't disabled his 'Room,' seeming to be making sure he still had firm control over the area his crewmembers were in as they were potentially vulnerable carrying cargo between two enemy ships. It was easy to forget it was there if he didn't actively make use it, something she'd note in the back of her mind, should she ever find herself facing him for some reason. In fact, she was trying to take mental notes on everything she saw him do, just in case.

Sighing and looking up at the clear, cloudless skies and sun beating down on them relentlessly, she pinched her top, moving the fabric back and forth in an attempt to cool down a little. "It's really hot out…is it just me or has it been abnormally warm since late last night?"

In an attempt to ignore the flash of skin in his peripheral vision and advantageous view point he had down her top from his height as she fanned herself with it, he joined her upward gaze at the weather. "It's not just you. We're passing through the waters between two summer islands. Their surrounding, stable climates extend out and overlap onto the sea in this area. Deciding whether to stick to this route or take a longer one to bypass it had been what I was in the cockpit discussing with Bepo the other morning."

Nayla pursed her lips and looked away guiltily at the stern tone of his voice. The reminder of her behaviour that morning and what he'd overheard from her whilst in there, clear. "And I'm guessing, you decided to stick to the short but hot route."

"Yeah, stabilised climates around islands make travel safer and more predictable but it's only going to get hotter from here on out until we pass both of them completely."

"I'm sure Bepo was thrilled."

Law chuckled in amusement. "Less than. The temperature will break eventually, hopefully no later than tomorrow afternoon. Bepo will be doing his best to speed us through this part of our course."

"I'll bet…" Realising this had to be one of the weirdest moments of her life, Nayla laughed a little to herself.

"What's so funny?" Law asked with a raised brow.

"You ever have those moments where you just stop, look around and realise how messed up things are? I'm being held prisoner by pirates on a bright yellow submarine, in the middle of the Grand Line, enjoying idle chitchat about a navigator polar bear with the lunatic that took me after he just got through hacking men into pieces like it was no odder or more difficult than brushing his teeth and who has a beating heart in his hoodie pocket."

"When you look at it that way…" He conceded with a small grin, looking out at the water as they waited patiently for his men to finish their job, inwardly enjoying the pleasant sound of her laughter.

"Life sure is weird sometimes…" She sighed as her giggled settled, leaning her elbows back onto the railing beside him and resting her chin on her palm as she took in the bizarre sight of the men and parts of men in the water below them once more.

Law subtly glanced at their contacting arms, wondering if she had intended it or were even aware of it. More than once he'd found himself unable to understand how she could feel this much comfort around him when at the same time he could elicit fear in her with little effort.

It was difficult to understand or place their peculiar relationship. Not strangers but they didn't quite know each other yet either. Not necessarily enemies but not quite friends. Captive and captor, employee and boss and to top it off, a surprisingly intense sexual attraction that it was obvious neither of them thought was a good idea to pursue.

Overall he found himself unwilling to pick it apart and analyse it, not wanting to regard it as important enough to be worth his thought time. He already had so much to think about and partly because he didn't want to address that he was actually beginning to quite enjoy her company…when it was like this anyway. Causal, pleasant, comfortable company. The few and far betweens of her trouble-making…though even that he had to admit he quite enjoyed privately laughing about later. He wouldn't be shaking the image of Penguin handcuffed, half-naked to her empty cell anytime soon, he was pretty sure that would be a treasured, lifelong memory he'd have her to thank for.

They'd fall into step with each other eventually, once they got used to this and got over the 'how far can I push his buttons' phase that she seemed to be going through at the moment. Not that he had been any better with her...pushing someone else's boundaries to find where the lines were was a normal thing to do he supposed…

Sighing aloud at his off-track thoughts, he instead turned to diligently scour the Kessinger pirates still on deck as his men emerged from searching their ship carrying their stolen goods, scanning for any intention to attack but saw nothing but defeated, broken, injured men.

Spotting that his crewmembers taking up the rear as they left the ship were empty-handed, he assumed they hadn't found much of value worth taking and would be able to set sail again soon.

"Nayla-ya."

"Hmm?"

"The crew will be unsatisfied and restless after this level of confrontation, the majority of them will probably go do some training after lunch to let off some steam. I'd like you to join them."

Furrowing her brows, she turned back to him. "…Why?"

"A lot of reasons...You aren't worried are you?"

She tutted at his obvious goad. "Of course not but why are you egging me on so much to fight today? First the marines and now training with your men…Do you really wanna see me in action that badly?" She teased, earning a small grin, though he kept his gaze carefully trained on his men as they re-boarded the sub, having to turn their backs to the enemy crew to do so.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I only have your reputation, your word and the fact that Joker has hired you to go on as far as you being a competent fighter goes. I've haven't seen or verified anything myself. I'd like to make sure I'm not wasting my time."

"Oh, you are. I absolutely suck."

"Trying to convince me you're not a good combatant isn't going to work and isn't going to make me let you go."

"…Well Law, if you're so keen to see me fight then maybe you should give me my weapons back and I can give you one." She threatened lowly, making him turn to look at her with a raised brow and an amused smile. "The marine ship is in ok shape and there are enough unconscious men still left on that deck to man it. Maybe I should give you the ass-kicking you so sorely deserve and hitch a ride home."

Chuckling at her devious grin and the fact the thought to attack him here and run must have really gone through her mind, he turned back to watch as his men unhooked the grappling equipment tethering them to the Kessinger ship. Rubbing down the painted, wooden railing with a critical eye for damage and glaring at the other crew in annoyance.

"I plan on being there for their training, Nayla-ya so if you really feel like giving me an 'ass-kicking' then you'll get your chance then. I won't be returning your weapons and you aren't going to be using your ability though."

"What? Why?"

"Its _training,_ Nayla-ya. The point is to improve with, not kill your opponent."

"Pfft, then no thanks. I'll save your beating for when I can use both." She dismissed immediately, eyeing the large barrels some crewmembers were walking past with as she heard the characteristic sound of a fluid level swilling back and forth coming from them. Judging by the large grins on the faces of the men carrying them, the barrels' liquid contents were probably not water.

"Cold feet?" He taunted, leaning his back against the railing and crossing his arms as he watched his men carrying in what looked like large crates of dried food goods.

"No, but if it's just going to be hand-to-hand training with you, then I pass. I already get more than enough physical contact with you as it is." She muttered, though she inwardly enjoying the playful, contemplative once-over he gave her before turning to Bepo as he emerged from the entrance, skirting around the men carrying large, heavy goods inside before approaching them.

"That guy is in Theatre Two when you're ready for him, Captain but um…I…he was putting up a fight, some of the equipment on the table got knocked over and broke. I'm sorry. I cleaned it up already though."

"Its fine, Bepo."

"Captain, got some food, more gunpowder…their weapons and med stuff were kinda crap though so we left those behind aaand the bit of cash they had on 'em." The crewmember listed off, glancing up in thought as if trying to remember if he'd forgotten anything before speaking again. "Ah, yeah. Looks like they raided a merchant ship not long ago, some barrels of expensive spices and stuff but we figured you wouldn't want it, want us to take 'em or?"

"No. Get everything else on board, take inventory, re-do the supply lists for restocking at the next island and have copies left on my desk by the end of the day."

"Aye aye, Captain."

"Bepo, make sure everyone is accounted for before we leave then let navigation know to set sail, I want us submerged for the next few hours."

"Aye aye, Captain!" He saluted and hurried inside after the other crewmember to do as he was told.

"Avoiding marines by staying submerged? The sub sounds like it has the equipment to detect ships from miles away though…"

"It does, we're not submerging to avoid other ships."

"Just submerging to clean off the…well…this…?" A humoured smile spread across his lips as she scrunched her face and motioned her arm at the littered, distressed marine pieces further down the deck.

"We're submerging to avoid the midday temperatures on the surface. Heat rises, we'll be able to keep the sub more cooled at depth for the moment, even if it may be a little stuffy." Pushing off from the railing as he saw the last of his men carrying freshly stolen cargo inside and the others pulling in the gangplank they'd set to connect them to the marine ship, Law walked across the deck towards the entrance, motioning for Nayla to follow.

Giving the Kessinger pirates' silent, hateful stares one last smirk as he finally released his 'Room' he ushered Nayla ahead of him, making sure the last crewmember got inside and sealed the entrance securely behind him before they began walking down the hallway.

"Aww come on man, that's gross!"

"No it isn't, shut up already. You're just pissed you didn't think of it!"

"Seriously, it's gross. It's like, cross-contamination or something. It's nasty."

"What is?" Nayla asked curiously, trotting to catch up with Jeff and Connor further down the hallway and wondering what it was Jeff was defending adamantly.

Watching the other men around them tense immediately, they began pulling their caps down and hurried 'casually' further down the hall ahead of them as they argued in a hushed tone with their backs to her, apparently trying to conceal whatever it was Jeff was holding onto.

"Uh hey, lil lady. Didn't see ya there." Jeff turned to her with a nervous grin as she tried to peer around his side and over his shoulder.

"…What's gross?" She asked Connor suspiciously, ignoring Jeff's strained greeting.

"Nothing, sweetie. Hey did you enjoy seeing the awesome Heart Pirates in action?" Connor attempted to deflect, mirroring the other man's nervous grin as the other crewmembers slinked away quietly down the hall, hoping to not get caught up in the other two's nonsense.

Nayla looked at the peculiar bulge of the top half of Jeff's boiler suit before looking back up at him sceptically.

Law moved past them, reaching over to silently pinch the fabric of Jeff's boiler suit and pull it away from his chest, causing the item he'd hidden in it to tumble loose, through his pants leg and to the floor before smoothly continuing his way, not sparing the dislodged item a glance.

Stooping down to collect the magazine, Nayla eyed the page it had fallen open to in interest, silently pushing between the two embarrassed men to continue down the hallway after their captain as she turned through the pages of scantily clad and nude women.

"I-I had nothing to do with it sweetie, I swear! It was him! That fucking pig never switches off!"

"Me?! Geez, way to throw your buddy onto the tracks yo-!" Realising how far ahead she'd gotten as she started descending the stairs they stopped grappling with each other to catch up. "O-Oi! Nayla-chan!"

"Two ship-loads of men and you only found _one_ magazine between them all? I find that hard to believe, did you already bring the others you found on board or did you only pick the cream of the crop to steal?" She asked levelly, flipping through the pages.

"U-Uh…well I-"

Raising a brow at Jeff's stuttering she turned to look at him, finding his sudden anxiousness unusual for his personality. "What are you so nervous about? We're all adults here, geez. You have any idea how _normal_ it is for _straight_ men _especially ones at sea_ to keep these?" She asked loudly, looking back down the stairs at his captain.

Law exchanged an amused look with her at her unsubtle digs about their earlier conversation as he reached the landing ahead of them and began walking down the next flight.

"R-Really? You aren't mad about it?"

She furrowed her brows in confusion, as the two pirates behind her caught up. "Should I be?"

"Well…" Nayla followed them as they began walking down the next set of stairs.

"Though I gotta agree with Connor on this one, second hand porn magazines are like…I mean some other guy has been touching this and himself at the same time, ya know? It _is_ a little gross." She subconsciously moved her fingers to the very edges of the pages as she flipped through them to keep minimal contact, crinkling her face in disgust as the thought crossed her mind.

"THANK YOU!" Connor sighed, raising his hands up.

"Aww come on though, this one's a gem! Couldn't leave this one behind, guy had good taste." Jeff defended, reaching for the magazine but Nayla swiftly moved it out of his arm's length.

"You _really_ had the time to sift through all the crew cabins of enemy pirates looking for their porn 'gems?'" She laughed, looking back at him with a cynical smile.

"These were marine cabins." He grinned devilishly at the surprised expression on her face.

"Seriously?! _This_ is a marine's?" She asked, re-checking the title of the magazine on the front before looking back at the page she was opened to. "…Wow…dirty bastard."

"Sure was." He agreed happily as they reached the second floor and began descending to the third.

"Look who's talking, the guy who _took_ the 'dirty bastard's top mag. What does that make _you_ exactly?" Connor ribbed.

"Don't be asking me for it later then."

"The hell I will, I draw the line at second hand, think I'm gonna go for third? Especially not when it's _your_ dirty mitts we're talking about."

"Oi! And you! Give me that back." Jeff turned back to the woman behind him to pull the magazine from her hands as he reached the third floor's landing ahead of her.

"Are you going to be 'reading' it right now?" Nayla teased, again holding it out of his reach.

"Well, no but-"

"Then you don't need it now. Gives _me_ something to read whilst you guys are busy. Besides, it looks like your captain wants you." She nodded down the hallway littered with crates of stolen cargo stacked against the walls as it grew quieter and Law began instructing how he wanted things separated and reorganised amongst the storage rooms.

Laughing at the sigh of defeat Jeff emitted as he and Connor walked ahead of her, she spotted a large wooden crate low enough and sat herself down. Deciding to stick around here for the morning to watch the men work and possibly make herself useful with helping them take inventory, she shuffled to rest her back against the wall, welcoming the coldness of the metal after being outside in the heat.

Flipping through the pages in growing disinterest, her mind wandered back to trying to work out what other reasons Law had to see her fight. It must have been obvious to him that she didn't fight hand-to-hand often considering her ability and weapons…then again he probably didn't either, he had his Devil Fruit and weapon too. She wondered if he were any good at it…maybe she really _could_ kick his ass if she tried. The thought of catching him off guard and punching him in that smug smirk of his made her giggle to herself quietly.

Nayla couldn't help but wonder what his reasons for wanting her barely dressed tomorrow were either, it was honestly difficult to figure out his reasons for a lot of the things he did…what was he going to do with that heart he stole anyway? And with the poor guy that was being held upstairs in Theatre Two…so many unanswered questions…

Stopping abruptly and raising her brows in surprise at the centrefold she tilted the magazine the other way, quietly impressed by the glamorous image.

"Wha-hey!" She protested as Law swiftly plucked the open magazine from her hands, turning it to face him with a raised brow of his own as he examined the page.

"Oh? Is she your type?" He teased lowly, locking eyes with her from his full height as he came to a stop in front of the crate.

"No."

"That was an awfully interesting expression on your face, are you sure? No need to be embarrassed, we're all adults here." He taunted, snapping the magazine shut and holding it out of her reach in much the same way she'd just done to Jeff.

"I don't expect you to know this but there's a fine line between attraction to and envy of other women." She huffed, giving up and lowering her hand.

He glanced briefly at the other men by the store rooms before leaning in to speak more quietly. "A likely story. If I hadn't already been through your things I'd say _you_ were the one hiding a 'stash.' You're quite the little pervert aren't you, Nayla-ya."

"Like you're one to talk. I bet you hide yours so well because you don't want anyone to know that a sadistic freak like you has some kind of dark, dirty feti-"

"Where do you intend to be until lunch?" He asked, deciding to cut off her temper before her voice rose too high.

"…I'll be here." She sighed out, taking a deep breath.

"Wouldn't rather come watch me perform my 'experiments' like a 'psychopath' upstairs?"

'Kinda curious actua-' "No, absolutely not. I'd like to keep my appetite before lunch."

"Fine but try to be more productive. Perhaps you should offer your friends some help instead of sitting around reading porn."

"I-That's what I was gonna do!" She yelled up at him as he stood and started walking back towards the stairs.

"Then do it, make yourself more useful. See you at lunch _and_ at training afterwards." He promised, smirking at her over his shoulder as he made his way back up to the floor above.

"Aww! COME ON! You LOST it already?!"

Turning away as Nayla's annoyed glare was interrupted by Jeff's distressed outburst, he listened to her apologise to him for getting his new 'gem' confiscated. Pleased with how things had gone this morning and already looking forward to the rest of what promised to be an interesting day, Law chuckled to himself as he made his way to go see to his new 'guest.'


	41. Martial Law

"Nayla-ya."

Flinching as she paused mid-step, she reluctantly turned around, wearing a meek, hopeful smile. "Yes, Law?"

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, taking long strides towards her through the hallway.

"I was gonna go hang in the rec room, ya know…chill out a little after that lunch. Didn't see ya there, too busy with your 'new' toy to take time out to eat?"

Smiling at her attempt to divert the conversation he came to a stop in front of her. "Someone brought me my lunch upstairs…We agreed you'd be joining the crew for training after lunch."

"It was more like _you_ 'requested' I did annnd I didn't really commit to it either way. Decided it would be a no, so…" She smiled, turning to the rec room door but stopping when she felt Law lay a heavy hand on her shoulder and begin pushing her past it as he resumed walking down the corridor.

Groaning and rolling her eyes, she reluctantly fell into step beside him, shrugging his hand away to shake off the uncomfortably pleasant sensation of his bare skin on hers. "Isn't it unhealthy to do physical exercise so soon after eating? Shouldn't you be telling your crew to wait like, at least an hour to train, _doc_?"

"I've told them that many times, hasn't changed the outcome."

"Well that's a real shame they don't take your expert advice but I will, so I'll just go sit this one ou-" Chuckling, he tightened his grip on her shoulder and continued pushing her forwards as she tried to turn and go the other way. "You're really going to insist on this, aren't you?"

"Yes."

It had been far, far too naïve to have been as hopeful as she had that Law may have forgotten all about this training thing he wanted when he hadn't turned up to lunch. He had been absolutely right though, lunch conversation had more or less been the unsatisfied grumbling of his restless men who had hoped for more of a challenge today.

After a long grouch, some boasting of their individual efforts and some heated banter they had, on cue, decided to go blow off some unvented steam with some afternoon training and had gone ahead to change into their workout gear. Well, at least the ones that didn't have other duties to get up to this afternoon.

Nayla had tried to use the opportunity to slink away quietly but was in no particular hurry to return to the first floor where Law was probably slicing the poor, captured pirate into fine, still-wriggling, ribbons. She had thought that perhaps ducking into the rec room would have been a good place to avoid him for now, plus all the entertainment items in there looked like a lot of fun. Maybe she'd get to know some of the other crewmembers who had decided to hang there instead of train a little better too.

" …Do you need to change?" Law eyed her outfit as he side-glanced at her.

Following his gaze down to her skirt, she pursed her lips in thought for a second before shrugging. "Nope, this will do."

"You're going to fight my _men_ in a miniskirt." He stated levelly, resuming his forward gaze.

"Yes. No different to being caught off guard and having to fight against a guy in a real situation, is it? I wear stuff like this daily."

'Noticed,' he inwardly rolled his eyes. "Do you usually spar with others in inappropriate clothing?" He asked flatly, reaching the door of the sub's training room ahead of her.

"I don't usually spar."

Law turned to her with furrowed brows. "At all?"

"How can I? I'm alone most of the time."

"How do you improve your combat skills without a partner to work with?"

"Real-time experience on the job I guess, not a lot else I can do…" Fidgeting under Law's quiet, scrutinising gaze, she gestured to the door he'd lay his hand to "…Can we go in now?"

Raising his brows and shaking his head, he turned and pushed open the door, ushering her in ahead of him before following.

The room had impressed her greatly when Connor had briefly shown it to her on their tour. A lot of space on this floor of the ship had been put aside for it and with good reason. It was easily able to accommodate at least half of the crew at any one time and had been fully equipped to allow them to hone their skills and maintain their physical fitness. No expense had been spared here either, though as Connor had bluntly put it, their lives depended on their ability to fight and be physically strong enough to maintain a large vessel like this one. It only made sense to provide them the best equipment around.

The light, wooden floorboards in this room were immaculately smoothened and maintained, interrupted only by the sea green panel mats that spanned the centre of the room in a neat row. Each large enough to accommodate and cushion harsh impacts on the floor of sparring crewmembers. There were already a couple that she vaguely recognised going at it with a flurry of punches, kicks and grunts on one of the more central mats

Three of the walls in this room had been painted a pale, fresh green but the one on the left was fully mirrored with unbreakable glass. She'd been told as much when she'd questioned the smartness of the idea to install that much glass in one place on a vessel that was likely to experience so much turbulence at sea, though she'd thankfully not seen much of it yet.

Alongside this wall were exercise machines that enabled the systematic training of each muscle group arranged in order from upper, middle and lower body.

The part of the room to the left of the door held several bench presses and a variety of weight sets – all extremely well secured and bolted. The shelving of the wall here held a variety of miscellaneous training equipment; gloves, tape and brackets filled with blunted and wooden training weapons.

The side of the room opposite the door held cardio and stamina machines such as treadmills and cycles. There were two portholes on this wall, lined with open, white blinds that allowed natural light into the room…or would if they weren't submerged at the moment. They couldn't be too deep though, the portholes were currently letting in a gorgeous blue-green hue from the sunlight that trickled through the shallow depth, complimenting the natural colours of the woods and greens of the gym nicely.

The further half of the right side of the room was lined with suspended and rooted punchbags, training dummies and the like of variable sizes. The nearer half of this side of the room had some wooden benching for the crew to sit on and take a breather. Some shelves holding clean towels were affixed to the wall behind them and a small, linen hamper sat in the corner for used ones.

The short stretch of wall to the right of the door held nothing but a large water cooler and a little waste basket for used, disposable cups. As she spotted him, Dean raised his brows and offered a small wave as he guzzled the last of his drink down. Seemed he'd been off-duty from the galley today and had been in here for a while already, if the towel draped around his neck and the amount of sweat soaking into his tank top across his chest and upper back were any indication. Smiling, Nayla returned the greeting as she followed Law into the room.

"When was the last time you trained your hand-to-hand combat?"

Turning her attention back to the man in front of her as he eyed his crewmembers fighting in the centre of the room, she hummed in thought. "Quite a while ago actually…I don't do bare hand-to-hand stuff often, seeing as it's a little redundant. What with the amount of weapons I pack and my ability."

He raised a brow at her over his shoulder as he walked over to the wooden benches. "Hand-to-hand training is never redundant."

"Well redundant is kind of a strong word but I don't see me getting into a combat situation when I'm not able to use my ability _or_ my swords _and_ I'm not wearing any bladed clothing often."

"Didn't it happen just three weeks ago, Nayla-ya?" He sat himself down, propping his Nodachi against his shoulder as he leant forwards and rest his elbows onto his thighs.

"Well…yeah…but that has never happened before, it was just a one-off." She defended, coming to a stop in front of the bench and looking _down_ at him – a rarity.

"A one-off that nearly cost you your life. You should train your hand-to-hand ability more seriously."

"Aww come on, what were the chances I lose my weapons to a walking magnet, run into someone Warlord strength when I'm still recovering from my ability _and_ who wouldn't have been phased by kicks with bladed boots? That was a fluke beyond flukes." She sighed, crossing her arms and turning to look over her shoulder at the two men still sparring on the mat in the middle of the room.

"Do you have some issue with hand-to-hand?"

"It's not that I have an issue with it per se, I actually quite enjoy it. It's just..." Turning back to face him she held her hand out, pulling his sword gently from his shoulder to stand it upright beside her. "Like you so _kindly_ pointed out, I'm barely the same height as your weapon. I'm usually at a huge physical disadvantage from the start with pretty much any opponent so I prefer to use other methods."

"Being short is no excuse to skip corners on hand-to-hand training."

"…Calling me short is kinda rude, ya know." She mumbled, letting him pull his sword back from her grip to rest it against his shoulder once more.

"Then what else would you call it?" The corner of his lip tugging up as he found her mild offence entertaining.

Finding a little humour in his expression she cleared her throat and spoke in a faux-haughty voice. "I do believe people of my stature would prefer to be referred to as 'petite'…or 'vertically challenged.'"

Smiling at his slight chuckle – a sound she'd started to quite like being the cause of, Nayla took a seat beside him. "So, are you just gonna sit around and watch me kick your crew's ass one by one?"

Surprised by the new, challenging tone to her voice he spared her a glance, enjoying the small edge of mischievousness in her gaze. "Do you think you can?"

"I think so, yeah. It won't be pretty though, you sure you wanna watch this?" She warned, leaning back on her palms.

"There's absolutely no way you can overpower anyone on my crew without your ability, you're simply not strong enough."

"Women don't have to be physically strong to be powerful, Law. That, is a serious life lesson." She boasted proudly with a raised index finger and a smile...before it slowly faded as his last sentence sank in.

"…Wait, if you know how much stronger they are than me then why would you insist on me fighting with them to begin with? You just being a sadistic creep and hoping to watch as I get the crap kicked out of me or what?"

"Not at all. I said you can't overpower anyone on my crew, not that you can't defeat them. In fact, I'd say the chances of you doing so are high…" He glanced down briefly at the hem of her skirt before lifting his eyes to the door as a few crewmembers came in. "…and I have a very good idea of how you'll accomplish it already. I'd just like to see it for myself."

"Oh hey, Nayla-chan, Captain. Whatcha doing here?" Penguin greeted as he and the others behind him filtered in and spotted them.

Despite the fact they'd all changed into a collection of sweats and light tops, the majority of them still sported their signature hats. It was difficult not to laugh a little at how it was practically a miracle they'd managed to separate themselves from them long enough to go swimming with her the other day.

"Your captain wan-"

"She's here to do a little training with you." Law answered before she could finish, earning an annoyed glance back at him.

"Oh really?…" Shachi exchanged a slightly worried look with Penguin as they walked over to them.

"Without her ability." Law added.

"Aww come on…" Nayla grumbled at what she felt was an exaggerated, visible ease of the men as they sighed in relief.

"No offence sweetie but not many of us can use Haki yet. Don't really feel like getting our heads smashed in like the compartment wall, ya know?" Connor clarified, slinging his towel over his shoulder as he sat beside her, eyeing her curiously for a second before speaking again. "Need a sec to get changed?"

"Nah, I'm good." She waved off as she saw Dean and the two crewmembers that had been sparing break off to walk over out of curiosity.

"So…who gets to wrestle with you first?" Shachi grinned.

"Spar." Law corrected with a mild warning stare, wiping the grin off of Shachi's face in record time as he knit his fingers together across his open lap. "Penguin."

"Yes, Captain?"

"You first."

Nayla stood, tugging her clothes straight as she watched the man wince and nervously rub the back of neck in clear discomfort. "Something the matter, Penguin?"

"Uh…no I just…I'm not so good at, ya know…hitting girls."

"Which is exactly why I told you to do it." Raising a brow at Law's stern tone, she began to wonder if this was one of his reasons for wanting her down here. It was painfully obvious his crew were way too soft on women…not that it bothered _her_ in any way.

Putting on her sweetest smile she grabbed Penguin's hand and tugged him towards the nearest mat. "Don't worry, do your best. I won't hold it against you, Penguin."

"O-Ok…"

The other men began wolf-whistling at the couple walking hand in hand and settled onto the bench on either side of their captain for what promised to be an interesting show. Law smirked at the subtle, crafty look Nayla cast him over her shoulder as she led his crewmember away. She'd wasted no time in beginning to abuse her feminine charm; her manipulation of the poor man had started before they'd even reached the mat. Law had expected no less.

They quietened down and watched as Nayla released his hand and took a step back, exchanging hushed words with the blushing man, seemingly putting him at ease. The cute head tilt, the clasped hands behind her back – subtly emphasising her chest, the slant of her hips as she leant her weight mostly on one leg and bent the other, the gentle smile. All fake. That much was easy for Law to tell.

Analysing the stance she took as Penguin did the same, Law could only deduce that it was the result of some type of formal martial training but couldn't place the style yet.

"Avoid the left side of her back if you can, she still has healing rib fractures. Other than that, don't hold back, Penguin."

"Aye aye, Captain."

"Ready?" He waited for them both to nod their affirmative, not missing what distinctly looked like Nayla mouthing 'be gentle' to her opponent with a small wink. "Begin."

To his credit, Penguin immediately launched with a kick, taking his captain's orders seriously even if he weren't entirely comfortable with the idea. He was thankful it hadn't come down to a physical confrontation when he'd been ordered to bring Nayla to the sub back on Sabaody.

What soon became obvious to Law was how swift she was on her feet, her speed was respectable and her agility in dodging his crewmember's blows were far better than he'd anticipated though she made no move to attack back, not yet anyway, seeming to be contemplating how best to deal with Penguin's relentless and rapid strikes.

No more than fourty seconds into the fight, Law furrowed his brows when Nayla suddenly visibly flinched as Penguin threw a punch at her head. She was more than capable of dodging that blow, she'd just proved as much with her display of speed. It confused him in that split second before he saw Penguin panic at her reaction and try to pull his fist back before it contacted her.

Side-stepping him neatly, she allowed the momentum of his punch to throw him forward past her before swiftly sweeping his feet and pushing him to the ground face first, setting a knee to his back and pulling the man's free arm into a hold.

Law sighed as the men beside him started roaring with laughter; he'd expected this sort of outcome but had hoped it would have taken her longer than a minute to take down one of his best fighters. With a single fake-frightened flinch no less.

"She got you good!"

"How'd you fall for that one?!" Shachi called out, holding his sides as he watched Nayla remove her knee and release his friend's captured arm.

"I'd like to see YOU do better!" Penguin yelled, sitting up and rubbing his sore shoulder with a pained grimace, looking up at Nayla in irritation as she extended an apologetic hand to help him up.

"You kiddin' me? No way any of us would have fallen for that, soft bastard." Shachi laughed, wiping the tears from his eyes under his sunglasses.

"You think you won't then go ahead!" Penguin challenged, gesturing to the mat for Shachi to take his place with his free hand as he stood.

"You got it, I'll show you how it's done. That ok with you, Captain?"

Seeing Law silently gesture his hand towards them, Shachi got up from the bench, stretching his arm muscles, as he walked over to the centre of the room. Grinning deviously at Penguin as he slumped past giving him an annoyed glare.

"Alright, sorry Nayla-chan but this is where things get serious. No hard feelings, ok?"

"Ok." She smiled, taking up stance as soon as Shachi did and waiting for Law's signal to begin.

Choosing not to take the initiative after his captain's signal, Shachi waited for Nayla to make a move first this time. Hoping to have learnt from his friend's mistakes, choosing not to go at her head on and to see how _she_ would attack instead.

After a moment of sizing each other up, Nayla went on the offensive, aiming a lithe kick for Shachi's stomach and following swiftly with a punch to where she had predicted he'd dodge to but he pulled his forearms up to his face to block with ease.

Finally able to see her attacking, Law tried to place a name to the style of martial arts she was using, wondering where she trained. Despite her apparent reluctance to engage in hand-to-hand combat, she seemed to have been taught well. The kicks were neat, the punches were fast, her aim, co-ordination, reflexes and balance were admirable. The choice of combinations and predicting her opponent's movements spoke volumes of her previous experiences. Law wasn't surprised she knew more than she let on, he'd come to expect that of her by now but she was clearly beginning to become impatient with her lack of ability to physically break through Shachi's effective blocks. Smartly, he was feeling her unfamiliar fighting style out cautiously, waiting for an opening in her attacks, assessing her movements as he carefully blocked and evaded her.

Law looked down at her feet as he heard her land more harshly onto the mat from a kick than she had been up until now, wondering if she was already beginning to tire. Noticing she had began to switch to high and jump-kicks, he realised that she was beginning to land more harshly on purpose, nearly groaning aloud as he watched Shachi's attention seem to waiver with each successive move she made.

Law was certain, even without seeing the direction of the man's gaze through his sunglasses, that he was trying desperately not to look at and be distracted by the gratuitous panty shots she was giving him with each kick and the deliberate jostles to her chest with every harsh landing. Each time his concentration waned, she got closer and closer to landing a decisive strike.

"Shachi, focus!"

"R-Right, Captain!"

Blushing a bit at being caught but taking his captain's prodding to heart, Shachi's went on the offensive with renewed concentration, pushing her back…though she still found a moment to shoot Law a displeased look at his interference.

Nayla stumbled slightly as she seemed to land shakily from a kick. Seeing the slight wobble to her balance, Shachi immediately went in for the kill. Quickly grasping her shoulders he swept her standing leg out from under her, intending to pin her to the ground as she'd done with Penguin. His brows raised in surprise as he felt her raised one suddenly curl around the back of his knees, buckling them and pulling him down with her, landing him face first into her chest with a thump as they hit the ground.

Quickly propping himself up on his hands, he whipped his head up in shock to find her smiling slyly up at him, her hands on his arms, her leg still curled around him and him lying between her thighs.

"I thought you said no _hard_ feelings, Shachi-kun." She purred lowly for him, making the man jump off of her completely and back away, much to the amusement of the men seated on the other side of the room.

Law narrowed his eyes at the man as he blushed and clamped his nose shut, wondering what it was Nayla had said to him to make him back off so fast.

"Taking that as a win, Law." She called over the laughter as she started standing, straightening her clothing out and shooting him a winning smile.

"Show me how it's done, was it?" Penguin yelled over, making his friend snap his head over to him.

"The look on his face! What did she say to you?" Dean managed out between laughs.

"Mever mou minphh!" Shachi grumbled angrily, stomping back over to the benches and grabbing the towel he'd left there to pinch his nose shut with.

"Absolute loser, look at that nosebleed. How easy are you?"

"Connor." Law prompted, cutting the man's laughter short as he was addressed.

"Uh right, right Captain." Clearing his throat and getting up, he tossed the towel from around his neck behind him onto the bench as he walked towards Nayla, chuckling. "Alright sweetie, fun and games are over."

"You got this?" She laughed, getting back into stance.

"I got this." He affirmed, smiling at her as he readied himself too.

"Begin." Law sighed, resting his cheek to his hand, wholly unimpressed at how rapidly a pretty face and alluring body was taking out his top fighters.

Connor quickly executed a well-calculated, well-practised series of kicks, sweeps and uppercuts. Taking her seriously, dodging her counters and forcing through her blocks easily, wasting no time in seeking a winning hit.

Jumping back, Nayla tried putting some more space between them to allow her some time to see an opening but Connor mercilessly closed it, forcing her to move further as he launched a strong roundhouse kick her way.

Realising the length of his leg would make a simple jump back unable to carry her far enough out of his range she quickly flipped backwards instead, immediately needing to dodge again as he closed the gap almost instantly with another.

Placing her hands onto the side of his approaching leg, she pushed down on it hard, using it to launch herself upwards for what seemed to be another evasive flip back but instead used the additional height she'd gained to wrap her thighs around his neck before she leant backwards, placing her palms to the floor and pulling him off his feet in his shock to flip with her - landing flat on his back on the mat below with a heavy thud.

Sat on his chest, panting a little at the effort it had taken to pull a man of Connor's muscled weight from his feet with her legs. Nayla grinned down at him as he blinked up at her from between her thighs. It had taken a lot longer than it should have for her to have flipped him, it had been slow. Had he not been so stunned by the unexpected view she'd given him by all but mounting his face with a short skirt on, it most likely, wouldn't have worked.

Correctly assuming he'd be too surprised and embarrassed to make any further move, she bit back a laugh at the priceless look on his face, waiting patiently for him to make a counter or throw her off.

"Don't wanna do anything about this, Connor?" She prompted, laughing when he nervously shook his head in a 'no' from its position on the floor trapped between her thighs, holding his hands up away from her on either side as if to let everyone in the room know he wasn't touching her and wasn't encouraging or provoking this.

The stunned men on the bench started whistling and laughing as she stood up, reaching a hand down to help him off the ground and trying not to laugh as he made every effort not to look up her skirt any longer from his position as he took it and got up.

"What was that about being easy?" Shachi taunted as Connor numbly walked back over towards the benches, making the pale man snap out of it in his annoyance.

"At least _I_ didn't have a nosebleed like a horny, prepubesc-shit…" Lifting the back of his hand up to his nostrils as he felt moisture, Connor swore again as he pulled it away to find fresh drops of blood on his skin.

"Better clean that up." Shachi cooed, provoking another round of laughter at the man's expense as he flung a towel at his face.

"Oi!" Pulling it off of his head angrily, he pointed a threatening index finger at Shachi's grinning face as he neared the bench "You watch it, you little fu-!"

"Alright you idiots, settle down…Captain?" Looking to his captain for permission, Dean got up as Law nodded in approval silently, eyes closed as he rubbed his temple in frustration. This was a lot easier for her than he had hoped. He wasn't sure whether to blame her or his men at this point.

"No nonsense outta you, cheap sexual taunts aren't gonna work on me, lady. You got it?" Dean half-heartedly warned with a grin as he walked over to Nayla.

"Got it. No sexual taunts, I promise." She agreed, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling up at him innocently as he came to a stop in front of her on the mat.

Law opened his eyes, feeling the beginning of a headache starting as he looked at the woman causing it. She didn't change to a fighting stance as Dean got into his. Not willing to wait any longer for her to bother doing so and suspecting she had some other stupid tactic up her sleeve, Law grumpily signaled the start of their spar.

Dean waited a moment to see if she'd change into her fighting stance but when she remained as she was he dashed forward, launching a kick towards her stomach.

"I'm pregnant."

The shocked chef swore loudly, trying desperately to halt his forward momentum, failing and stumbling clumsily in his effort to not hit her. Side-stepping him neatly she easily used his imbalance to floor him, quickly placing him in the same restraining hold as she'd done with Penguin.

"You did the worst outta all of us!"

"What was that, like, five seconds?!"

"Nayla-ya." Effectively silencing the crew's loud laughter, they turned their attention to their captain as he stared down the woman in the middle of the room in, openly vexed. "Not that I didn't expect this kind of behaviour from you but I'd appreciate it if you took this training more seriously."

"Hate to say it Nayla-chan but it's pretty disrespectful of you to play us off like this. You're not taking us seriously at all." Penguin grumbled from Law's side.

"Yeah, you're a _lot_ more underhanded than I gave you credit for, Nayla-chan." Dean groaned, rolling onto his back and looking up at her as she released him.

"They're right, sweetie." Connor chimed in, patting the last of the blood from his nostrils off before glancing back up at her. "You fight pretty damn dirty."

"Sorry, I don't mean it to be disrespectful but I _am_ taking you guys very seriously." Watching the confusion on the men's faces as they quietened down she decided to elaborate. "I saw you all fighting, today. Seeing how unbelievably disciplined, well-trained and strong you guys are? It'd be more insulting of me to think I could beat any of you bare-handed in a fair fight. I'm taking you guys on the same way I would for anyone I thought outclassed me in a hand-to-hand fight. I'm not making fun of you guys at all."

Watching them exchange looks amongst themselves, her attention turned back to Shachi as he spoke up over their quiet muttering. "Still, it's damn unfair."

"You guys are _pirates_ , you aren't really going to whine to me about fighting fair like a child are you?"

"Well…"

"Then how about just fighting with a little more honour then? Sometimes it's better to go down fighting the right way than to win the wrong way." Connor grouched, watching Shachi shut his mouth at her retort.

"I used to think that way too…let's put it this way. Let's say the next time you guys are fighting, you face off against a stronger opponent than you. One that you _could_ have stopped if you'd decided to play dirty but instead of doing that, you go down with honour and they're now free to move on to kill your comrades too." She gestured to the other men sitting beside him.

"…Well…if I thought they'd do that then of course I'd do what it took to win but other than that I'd rather go down." Connor said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"That's the kind of shit _I_ should be saying, not you. You have _sooo_ many people that would miss you. Dying with a sense of honour is more important to you than preventing your friends having to suffer the emotional burden of your loss? That's not fair, Connor. Do what it takes." Closing his mouth at her stern tone, he quietly mulled over what she said.

Realising Law was giving her an analytical stare, seemingly trying to mentally discern the origin of jaded words she relaxed her posture a little trying to veer the conversation away from anything that sounded too personal.

"Anyway, look, I agree. It's not fair, it's not honourable, it's not respectful and it's dirty but, I use it. Sometimes even if I _do_ think I can defeat the person in a fair fight. If I can take someone out without a full on confrontation then I've saved vital energy, stamina, time and prevented unnecessary injury to myself. All things I can use for the next opponent or to help a comrade in need so believe me I'll do it, without even blinking or thinking twice about it. It's really not my fault if someone falls for it."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Glancing back at Law as he finally spoke up, she felt a little wary of the small grin he had on his face as he twirled the sheath of his sword idly on its tip against the floor. "It _isn't_ your fault if they fall for it, it's theirs. Which is exactly why you'll be sparring with my men as frequently as possible from now on."

Sighing as she felt the wariness increase, she crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, willing her patience to deal with Law's cryptic demands. "…Why?"

"I want them to get used to fighting a female opponent and to get used to every single devious, underhanded, stupid little trick you have up your sleeve. Every flirtatious, embarrassing little ploy and every 'weak and helpless' act you have. You're far more shameless then I'd anticipated, the chances of my crew coming across another woman that abuses her charms to a worse degree than you? Are slim to none. They get wise to _your_ tricks, they'll have no problems fighting other women in future."

Still not entirely trusting of his (rare) explanation, Nayla narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, waiting for the horrible catch. "…Why would I do that? What benefit do I get out of giving away every trick I have?"

"You mean aside from the benefit of helping ensure your friends survive a possible combat encounter with another woman as manipulative as you? In exchange, my crew will help you improve your own combat skills."

"I do just f-"

"Everything I've seen about the way you fight so far screams compensation, Nayla-ya. When you can't use your ability, you compensate by using your weapons. When you can't use your weapons, you compensate by using concealed blades. When you can't use your concealed blades, you compensate by using manipulation."

"I'd call it identifying and addressing my weaknesses, not compensation." She mumbled, looking away.

"Your fighting style seems to be a composite of several martial arts disciplines you've trained in but you've only displayed the moves that compliment your speed and agility, leaving out all of the powerful attacks. You're basically defensive, relying on and hoping for an opportunity to go on the offence to come along. Am I wrong?"

Biting her lip and wondering why exactly he was critiquing her to begin with she looked back at him. "…Fine, no. You aren't. I leave the offence moves out because I don't seem to do much damage when I _do_ manage to land hits. I mean look at me-" She gestured down at herself. "-to begin with, to throw a proper punch I need a fucking step stool first. You know how stupidly difficult it is to have to practically jump two feet in the air to land a punch to someone's face and not their chest? Forget trying to _kick_ someone in the face, geez."

Nayla shot Penguin a mild glare as he muffled a snicker behind his hand at the thought. "It's not funny, you bastard." Though she found herself smiling as the others around him struggled not to laugh at her short-plight.

"Kinda is, makes my wonder why such a half-pint got into this kinda lifestyle in the first place." Connor grinned at her.

"That's a very good question." Law smirked, watching her purse her lips together without offering an answer, not that he'd expected one. "So, capitalising on your opponent's _stupidity_ -" He shot a pointed look at his chuckling men, earning some indignant 'hey!'s as they stopped. "-has been effective for you so far?"

"Well, yeah…I mean, it's so unlikely I'd be in a situation where I had no option but to go bare hand-to-hand anyway but when it _has_ happened, they usually fell for something stupid and got their ass kicked."

"What if you're up against someone your tricks won't work against?"

"…Like who?" She asked, eyeing his growing smirk unhappily.

"A homosexual man, a woman or…just someone who has enough intelligence and foresight to simply not fall for them." He explained, leaning his Nodachi to the edge of the bench beside him and removing his hat.

"…So which category do you fall into? The first or the second?" She mocked, inwardly a little nervous as he pushed his sleeves up further as if readying himself.

"Either you fight Dean properly or I'm your next opponent." He stood and began walking over to her.

'Oh my god…yes. YES. – No. – YESSS! – How about nooo? – Tackle him. – I'm not going to tackle Law. – Throw him to the ground and have your wicked way with him. - …You realise there are other people in the room right now don't you? – Details, details. Come on, let's do this, get his hands all over yo-'

Nayla rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes in frustration, hoping Law would just assume the action was in response to him and not a way of willing her brain to shut up. "Why are you being so insistent on this?…" She muttered, glancing at Dean on the mat beside her as he got up at his captain's prompt.

"It's the only way I can really see where you need work and how we can help you improve."

Stunned for a moment she looked up at Law as he came to a stop in front of her. "Why would you want to? What do you care? No one asked for your help."

Law motioned silently with his finger to the chef behind her to move off the mat, waiting until he was a sufficiently out of earshot to speak to her more quietly. "Stop questioning me. Like I keep saying, you're no good to me dead, Nayla."

A little surprised at the seriousness of his tone she paid attention, dropping her crossed arms as she tried to read his neutral expression.

"You now know from experience the kind of untrustworthy man Joker is. There will always be something off with or omitted from the jobs he gives you and I can assure you that the types of people he works with and puts you against won't fall for these tricks. I don't want you to get caught off guard when you're unarmed and unable to use your ability."

Letting his words sink in, she glanced at the men on the benches murmuring quietly as they watched them, probably trying to decipher the missing part of the conversation they weren't privy to.

Law was right, she knew that. If she worked a war and went straight back out on another covert job for Joker without her weapons and things went south, she'd be in trouble. No one who hired her knew she couldn't use her ability as freely as she'd like, Joker could deliberately put her in the firing line without realising she wouldn't be able to use it.

This was why she picked her jobs carefully. This, amongst other things, was a prime example of why she didn't ever want to work for someone like Joker again. Suddenly feeling angry at the man in front of her for putting her in this situation she glared up at him. "You realise I wouldn't even be working for that dickhead if it weren't for you, right? I know my limits, Law. I'd have avoided him altogether if it weren't for you."

"I know, that's why I'm helping you, Nayla." Not expecting that response or the sincerity in his tone, she was shocked into silence once more as he kept her gaze and leant in closely. "The offer is still on the table for help with that delightful temper of yours too. Though I'm sure that will be _much_ more difficult to remedy."

She laughed, enjoying the small, amused grin he had on his face as he'd said it. "I'll keep that in mind…Alright, fine." She smiled up at him as he stood straight, leaning back from her.

"Aww come on! Tell me they AREN'T banging!"

Only now seeming to remember they weren't alone in the room, she whipped her head in the direction of the loud, exasperated outburst in shock. "Connor!"

"Oh…uh…sorry, sweetie." He offered sheepishly as the men on the bench beside him nudged him harshly for being a loudmouth and giving away their topic of conversation.

"Dean."

"Yes, Captain." The man trotted back over to them from his position stood beside the other, apparently speculating, crewmembers.

Law smirked widely at her annoyed pout before walking away to take his seat again. Reluctantly, she turned to face the man beside her on the mat as he took his stance, readying herself as well as they awaited his captain's signal.

"Begin."

This time around, Law watched closely as the two sparred properly, genuinely impressed that Nayla's speed (and size) allowed her to evade most of Dean's attacks relatively easily but when she had no choice but to block he pushed her back significantly and had managed to break through it entirely several times. She lacked the physical strength to consistently hold an effective defence against a man Dean's size and weight, she also struggled to keep from being pushed across the floor when she did.

Finally earning a legitimate opening to land a good punch after a decent and unexpected dodge, Law watched as Nayla managed solid contact to his crewmember's cheek making the man stumble back mildly but could see by the 'oh shit,' expression on her face that it hadn't hurt him nearly as much as she'd hoped, immediately having to jump back to avoid the counter-punch he sent her way.

Taken by surprise at the sudden move to land a kick on her, she tried to use her better speed to her advantage, attempting to lash out and kick him first…but her foot barely grazed him from their distance apart whilst his landed with ease. The miscalculation in the difference of their limb lengths sent Nayla flying backwards as he got a clean kick to her stomach.

"S-Sorry, hun. You ok?" Dropping his stance, Dean ran over to help her up as she clutched her stomach.

"I'm fine…Geez, you lanky bastard. My fault, misjudged how far I could reach versus how far you could reach." She grumbled, getting to her feet and noticing now as he stood straight that he was about the same height as his captain.

"Your form is excellent, Nayla-ya." Looking across the room she watched as Law pulled his hat back on and started to stand. "Good reflexes, stamina, agility and you execute your attacks well. Sadly, managing to land a hit with no physical power behind it, isn't very effective."

Watching as he picked up his Nodachi and gave her a smug smirk, she frowned at him. "Thank you for the critique, already aware of the problem. What do you think I got the ability for?"

"So even your ability is simply a compensation for how physically weak you are."

"To be fair, Captain. She packs a pretty mean punch for a girl her size, hardest I've felt from a lady anyway. If I hadn't been bracing for it it'd have hurt a hell of a lot more actually." Surprised at his defence, Nayla beamed up at the cook beside her, earning a smile in return.

Law watched the exchange with a raised brow before rolling his eyes as she spoke. "I've tried to build more physical strength through weight training and stuff before but it hasn't gotten me very far. Kinda plateau'd here."

"Don't bother weight training. Spar." He said levelly, heading towards the door.

"Sparing doesn't give me more physical strength, Law."

"Not really no but it will help you to better utilise the strength you have. You already have the right idea, playing to your speed and agility. Learning when to apply what physical strength you _do_ have to be its most effective will come through sparring. You plateau'd because you stature isn't going to allow you to build much more muscle mass than you have now and because you haven't had the opportunity to work with others to improve your skills."

Trying not to show how genuinely impressed and surprised she was at his completely accurate analysis of her in such a short amount of time of observing, she watched as Law lay a hand to the door and looked back at her. "You have enough talent to become pretty formidable unarmed with some effective training. Women don't have to be physically strong to be powerful, right?"

She smiled despite herself as he smirked at her over his shoulder, pushed the door open and left. "...Right."

* * *

Nayla couldn't remember the last time she'd had that much fun training, it was definitely no chore when you did it in good company. Between cracking up at the crews banter and taking breathers together to enjoy idle chat at the benches, it had been a really enjoyable experience. One that she was already looking forward to repeating, hopefully.

The time had flown by, dinner would be up soon and admittedly, she'd already learnt a few things today. They had all been more than eager to teach and to help, stopping her here and there and given her pointers. They had a _lot_ of hand-to-hand experience. In return she had given tips and demonstrated several common traps and lures women often used against vulnerable male opponents. Pointing out when they got distracted by a jiggle here or a flash of panty there. Law hadn't been kidding, they really were mush around women for the most part…he was also right about her definitely taking solid satisfaction in knowing she was helping them back too.

Unsure of what to make of Law's insistence on having her training with his own men, she'd been mulling it over since he'd left earlier. He'd explained it away, again, as simply not having any use for her if she died easily on him...Maybe he was really going out of his way to make sure he didn't feel like he'd wasted so much time and effort on her if she got killed before she could bring any information that would be of help to him. Maybe he was just using mutual benefit of her training his men and vice versa to keep her settled, happy and to give her another reason to stay put. Maybe he was hopeful she'd build stronger bonds to his crewmembers through regular training with them for the same reason too. Maybe it was a sense of guilt or responsibility on his part, knowing he was forcing her to take dangerous jobs she didn't want to do, making sure he did his part to address and help her improve her weaknesses.

She really did hate the part of her that wanted it to be because he cared, even if it was just a little bit, about her. Or the part of her that hoped he was simply finding excuses to help her, another of his weird and subtle streaks of kindness…Sadly, most of his actions so far were that of a selfish man that held his needs over her own, any benefit she reaped from being here was probably just an accidental or well-plotted byproduct.

Sighing a little and making a note to remind herself of this 'he's really just a selfish jerk' epiphany for the next time she felt attracted to him, she reached the first floor landing. Heading towards Law's quarters to shower up and change for dinner, she wiped her brow with the end of the gym towel wrapped around her neck, freezing as she heard a blood-curdling scream coming from down the hall.

Nayla stared wide-eyed at the only other door on this side of the hallway, the one next to Law's quarters that Connor had pointed out as 'Theatre two.' He hadn't shown her the inside though and from his reaction to the room in general, she hadn't asked much more about it.

Listening as the scream slowly died out, she gulped quietly to herself as silence took over the hallway again. Just as she was deciding whether to ignore she heard anything to go shower, bolt back down the stairs or go take a look, she heard movement coming from inside the room. The distinct sound of long, booted strides as they neared the hallway door.

Rooted to the spot, Nayla watched as Law left the room sighing, running a hand through his hair before he stopped and looked her way as he spotted her. Following her line of sight as she looked at his other hand still gripping the doorknob he finished closing it shut behind him and walked towards her down the hall.

"…Um…hey, Law." Slightly unnerved by his expressionless face as he looked away from her silently and crossed the hallway to another door, she tried again. "So…how is Mr. Fidelis doing. He ok?"

He barely spared her a glance as he made his way into the room Connor had pointed out as some sort of lab for medical tests that sat on the other side of the imaging room. "If dead comes under your definition of 'ok,' then yes. Fidelis-ya is fine." He muttered sarcastically disappearing into the room and leaving her alone in the hallway.

"…Ooo…kay…" Pursing her lips together as she glanced at the door to Theatre two again, she decided for once, just once, to not let her curiosity get the better of her. Instead, she quietly entered Law's quarters, keeping a slightly wary eye on the lab Law had just walked into and decided to do what she came up here to do; shower, go down for dinner and now, she'd be adding 'avoid annoyed, psychopathic doctor-pirate' to the list.

* * *

Dinner had been twice as satisfying and delicious after such a hard workout, though it had been the second mealtime that had been short a certain pirate captain today. The conversation had been light and as fun as always and had carried over to the rec room as the crew relaxed after a hard day's work, enjoying a generous nightcap of stolen Kessinger rum.

The excitement of today's action, the incredible double-ship haul, how 'cool' their captain was, theories as to why Law had stolen Kessinger's heart and mercilessly teasing Jeff about how he'd missed all the 'fun' training with her this afternoon because he'd been busy on duty had all but erased the scandalous aftermath of Shachi's panty thievery and her hickey. That, she had been grateful for and had seen no need to remind them of, though she was sure she hadn't quite heard the end of it. They'd remember to bring it up again eventually.

It was late now, things had quietened down and the crew were heading to bed. As much as she'd been trying to avoid Law and thinking about what it was he had done to that man she had little choice in the matter now as she headed up the stairs for her own rest. Although he'd given an outwardly calm demeanour earlier it was obvious to her that he was deeply irritable. Whatever that captured pirate had done to deserve that painful-sounding death it had apparently pissed Law off royally.

Pausing on the steps, Nayla furrowed her brows as she realised how much more she was able to read his mood…though she supposed living with the man on a daily basis would do that. He could probably read her a hell of a lot easier by now too.

Rolling her eyes at the thought of how effortlessly he got under her skin when he wanted to she glanced under the doors in the hallway as she reached the landing. Hoping to find the lights on in any room other than Law's quarters but unfortunately they were all off. The small rustle of paper coming from behind his door as she approached it confirmed he was already in his own quarters for the night.

Fiddling with the fabric she was carrying in her hands anxiously before steeling herself and knocking on the door, she waited for Law's usual one-worded permission before opening it and seeing herself in. Spotting him on the sofa in his living quarters, she looked him over in an attempt to see if he were feeling less irritable than earlier.

He was sat at the end furthest from the door, legs crossed, the book she'd given him held open on his lap, propping his elbow onto the arm of the sofa and resting his cheek to his hand. His expression was neutral and his body language relaxed, though he didn't bother to look up at her as she shut the door, she felt relieved as she decided that overall, he didn't look as annoyed as he'd done that afternoon. Though he still seemed a little broody.

Nayla waited a moment to see if he had anything to say to her before deciding from his silence that he didn't and walked towards the bathroom to get changed for the night. "Sooo…why'd ya kill him?"

"I don't need to explain anything to you."

"No I know that, just…curious. He seemed pretty mouthy, did he say something to upset you?" She paused at the archway leading to his bedroom to wait for his response.

"No."

"…Then why di-"

"It wasn't intentional." He sighed out irritably, hoping to end her prodding if he gave her a simple answer.

"Oooh so _that's_ why you're so moody. Killed your toy before you could finish playing with it."

"Be quiet."

Holding back a snicker, she made her way to the bathroom, leaving him in grumpy peace to go get changed and brush her teeth for the night. Taking a quick detour after leaving the bathroom to put her clothing away and pull out a small makeup bag from 'her' drawer, she made her way back into Law's living quarters, heading to his desk.

Glancing up briefly in annoyance as she made herself at home in his chair he did a stunned double-take at the amount of bare skin he saw as he glimpsed her. "…What are you wearing?"

"One of Shachi's old, baggy tank-tops." She replied, setting her bag down onto the desk's surface as she made herself comfortable.

It was a light grey, thin top. Long and over-stretched enough to behave as a short night dress…barely. She had more leg exposed now than when she'd been wearing her skirt and if she were wearing a pair of shorts underneath it…well then he'd have to question why anyone would even bother to make a pair so short that it couldn't be differentiated from underwear. Although the oldness and over-stretching of the fabric allowed it to hang low on her, it meant the neckline plunged uncomfortably deeply over her chest…obviously no bra on for night time.

Blinking the afterimage away as he looked back down at his pages, Law listened to her rummage around inside of the makeup bag for whatever it was she was looking for, seemingly completely at ease with her attire."Why?"

"Because it's incredibly hot and the boys said the temperature was gonna peak overnight as we pass the islands. The top you gave me is too thick and I'm not gonna survive the long shorts either. This'll let me breathe a little tonight."

Law watched her pluck out a few items onto his desk in his peripheral vision, reluctant to say anything further. If he knew anything about this woman by now, it was that she would pounce on the opportunity to tease him if she felt for even a split second that he was 'bothered' by her lack of clothing…in fact he started questioning if she were provoking him on purpose. Narrowing his eyes at the thought and at the intrusion of his personal working space, he set his book down flat onto his lap, giving her his full attention. "Why are you at my desk?"

Looking up at him in surprise of his suspicious tone, she considered him for a moment before smiling a little to herself and pulling out some cotton wool. "Because I needed a surface to set my stuff on. There's no coffee table in front of the sofa in there-" She motioned to his bedroom with her free hand. "-and because I'd rather keep my distance from you when you're in such a foul mood." Partial lie, not that he needed to know she simply didn't want him to see her nails bare.

"Why _my_ chair?" He asked as calmly as he could as she pulled out a small bottle.

"Because the ones on the other side of your desk are too short for me to rest my hands onto the desk comfortably…Any other questions?"

Not liking the odd smile on her face when by all accounts he'd expected her to get angry with his cold behaviour he decided to let it go as long as she remained quiet and resumed his reading, not bothering to reply to the strangely entertained woman across the room. Silence settled but didn't last long as he clenched his jaw and looked back up, zeroing in on the small bottle she'd opened as an invasive, strong scent wafted over to him. The distinct scent of acetone; she was removing her nail varnish.

"What are you doing?"

"My nails, I chipped a few during training earlier." She replied curtly, not looking up as she rubbed them clean.

"You can't do them here."

Raising a brow at him as she looked up from her task, she broke out into another amused smile, furthering his irritation and theory that she was messing with him on purpose. "Where else am I supposed to do them, Law?"

"I don't care but not here."

"I live here. Your choice, not mine."

"Yo-"

"I'm not getting changed again by the way, changed three times today already so, I _can_ move back to the rec room if you really insist but I'd be going there like this. That ok with you?"

Gritting his teeth and deciding not to waste another breath on what could quickly become a petty argument, he ignored her in favour of his book once more.

Biting her lips to stop from laughing she took his silence as the signal to continue where she was. "I'll be as quick as I can, promise I won't take long." She attempted to smooth over, the back of her mind reminding her not to push the testy pirate too far if she didn't want to end up sliced into fine pieces like the marines she'd seen earlier that day.

Quickly but neatly re-painting her nails, she recapped her varnish and tossed the items back into their makeup bag. Blowing gently across her fingertips, she sat back and watched Law across the room.

Aside from his irritability, his quietness and aloofness with her was beginning to remind her more of the man she'd become familiar with on Amazon Lily. Quiet, introverted and antisocial. It was a lot different to the teasing side of him that she'd seen more of since she'd arrived on his sub…she had to admit, she quite liked his playful side and seeing him smile, even if it was at her expense.

Recalling some of their funnier moments together this week, Nayla giggled quietly to herself as she examined her nails, looking back across the room when she saw Law glance up at her, probably wondering what she was laughing about though he didn't ask, simply turned the page and resumed his reading. After a few minutes of enjoying the quiet, calmly observing him and waiting for her nails to sufficiently dry she got up, taking her makeup bag with her as she went back into the bedroom and returned it. Exchanging it for her small notebook before walking back out into the living quarters.

Greatly amused by his persisting silence and refusal to even look up at her as she re-entered the room, Nayla sat on the other side of the same sofa, amused even further when he still remained quiet despite obviously wanted to say something about her presence. Smiling to herself as she pulled her pen from the metal rings binding her notebook, she flipped it open on her lap to resume her idle doodling, wondering how long it'd take for him to finally-

"Why are you sitting here if you're trying to keep your distance from me when I'm in a 'foul mood?'" He asked levelly, keeping his eyes on his book though he looked at her, taken aback when she began laughing again.

"Listen, Law. I know you're annoyed that you broke your 'new' toy too fast but don't misdirect your grumpiness at _me_."

"No one is misdirecting anything at you. You're annoying in your own right, Nayla-ya." Giggling to herself she ignored him and busied herself with her own book. He narrowed his eyes at her odd behaviour, fully expecting to have provoked her temper by now, not make her laugh. "What exactly about being called annoying did you find humorous?"

"It's not that. Seeing you all sulky and pouty like this is what I find funny."

Surprised by that, it took a while for him to find his tongue. "…I'm not 'pouty.'"

"But you are though. You have this expression on your face like a kid that dropped his ice cream cone to the ground after one lick." She laughed meeting his gaze. "Honestly?...It's kinda cute."

Enjoying the brief look of horror on his face, she grinned widely as he shook it off, turning away from her to read his book. "…I'm not even dignifying that with a response."

"Aww come on, who knew the terrifying 'Surgeon of Death' had such a cute spoilt-brat-that-didn't-get-his-way pout. What's not to find funny about this?" She cooed patronisingly, reaching over and pinching his cheek.

Shocked at her daring invasion of his personal space he glared at her. "I'm warni-"

"Oh, hey! This is the part I got to! Damn, you got through this so fast." Nayla closed and set her notebook and pen aside, shuffling closer to him as she spotted the familiar page of the open book on his lap.

"…What are you doing?"

"Reading." She stated as she curled up closely to his side, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world

"Can't you wait until I'm done?"

"Why should I have to when you're right here and you're on the page I left off at?"

Noticing his brief downward glance at her chest where it contacted the side of his arm she smiled deviously up at him, making him inwardly kick himself for his small lapse and decide to nip the taunt in the bud before she had the chance. "No, Nayla-ya. It doesn't 'bother' me."

"Good, then what's the problem?" She teased in a honeyed tone, obviously unconvinced.

Pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand, he removed the arm she was leaning on, settling it over the back of the sofa behind her instead. "If it will keep you from talking and stop you from saying such stupid things then fine, there's no problem. Just be quiet."

"Aye aye, 'Captain.'" Giggling at his grumpy, frustrated sigh, she settled more comfortably to his side, eagerly resuming her read of the book she'd been forced to stop part-way through.

Little by little, she could feel the tension in Law's muscles subside as she kept her word, behaved herself and stayed quiet. They read comfortably together in silence as the night wore on, interrupted only by her asking him to wait a little longer for her to finish the page before he turned it or him beating her to it and asking if she were done yet. He seemed to read and process the terminology of the text faster than her, which she guessed was only natural for a doctor. The only other time she'd spoken was when Nayla had tentatively asked the meaning behind one of the more formal terms that she hadn't known, hoping not to spark his irritation for interrupting his peaceful read but to her pleasant surprise he'd explained it for her calmly, seemingly undisturbed by it.

Eventually she leant herself more comfortably against his side, resting her tiring head to his shoulder as it got later and later and her long, physically active day caught up to her. Law had tensed only sightly at it but had soon paid her no mind, saying nothing about it as he seemed to relax at her contact once more.

Nayla was so glad her brain was too exhausted and engrossed in the book to have been too vocal, though it did tiredly register how pleasant this all was. His body warmth, his scent, his firm muscles felt easily through his clothing, the slightest feel of his jaw as it brushed against the top of her head now and then and his strangely soothing, strong presence. This was probably, by far, the most relaxed and safe she'd ever felt around him. It was a shame it would have to end eventually and that he'd go back to annoying her on purpose in no time.

As if on cue, she turned to the door as she heard a knock at it, grudgingly sitting up to move away from Law before anyone came in, only to have him slide the arm he'd rest on the back of the sofa around her shoulders and pull her back to his side firmly. Smiling down at the sour look she gave him as he spoke. "Enter."

"Sorry it took so long Captain but finally tracked down the last couple of lists and spoke to navi-" Penguin stopped shuffling through the papers in his hand as Shachi nudged him, gaping at the sofa through the doorway from behind him. Doing a double take as he spotted what had his friend speechless, Penguin lifted the brim of his cap, as if to see more clearly. "…What are you two doing?"

"Reading." Law smugly answered, still holding her peeved glower before she smiled back and turned towards the doorway as she wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing him tightly.

"Cuddling." She corrected in a sickly sweet, girly voice, glancing back up at Law as his smirk got knocked clean off of his face. "Your captain is a _real_ cuddler."

Clenching his jaw as he looked down at her victorious smile, he addressed his confused crewmembers at his door. "The lists, Penguin." He prompted.

"Oh, r-right, yeah. Lists I'll um, I'll just set them here." He offered awkwardly, laying them onto the coffee table in front of them before backing up to the door rapidly. "And uh, the nav boys were saying We'll be out of both summer island climates by late morning but the waters where the heat meets the cold airs coming off of Ashibumi look more turbulent then they expected, so chances of arrival tomorrow are looking slim. We'll probably be arriving early the day after."

"Fine, I'll speak with them tomorrow morning."

"Ok, I'll let them know. Night Captain, uh Nayla-chan." Penguin uncomfortably bid, starting to close the door.

"Night Nayla-chan...Looks good on ya by the way!" Shachi grinned at her through the last of the closing gap between it and the doorframe.

"Looks good on ya by the way." They heard Penguin mimic mockingly on the other side of the wood.

"Oh shut up, you're just jealous she picked my top instead of yours." They heard Shachi angrily retort as they began walking away.

"Forget that, did you _see_ them-?"

"Can still hear you by the way!" Nayla yelled impatiently, hearing their footsteps still before they hurried down the hall, mumbling rushed apologies. Shaking her head at the two she turned back to look at Law, still leveling a mild glare at her. "Don't look at me like that, _you_ started it. What was that about _me_ only liking to play games when I'm winning? Told ya you were a sore loser, Law."

"Go to bed."

"No way, you'll get ahead of me and then I'll have to wait again."

Slamming the book shut as she looked down at it with the hand that was resting on its spine, he released his hold on her. "I'm done for tonight. Go to bed."

Sighing in defeat and admittedly, tiredness, she got up and stretched. "Fineee."

Setting the book back onto the coffee table in front of him he watched her walk into his bedroom, stifling a small yawn as she made her way over to the sofa. Smiling a little to himself as he got up to join her, he realised his mood was actually a lot better than it had been before she'd come back upstairs. He couldn't for the life of him understand why her ridiculous and annoying behaviour made him smile so often.

* * *

It was getting unbearably stuffy and hot as the sub suffered the overlap of not one, but two summer climates. Law had to keep reminding himself that it was worth it, that one night of uncomfortably warm temperatures was a small price to pay for stable seas, it was the safer route and the wisest option.

Nayla had made the right move in finding something lighter to wear tonight. He'd been unable to tolerate his top and sweats, discarding them both soon after lying down and greatly amused by Nayla's attempt to not stare at him as he'd lay on his bed in nothing but his boxers. A quick taunt at her inability to keep her eyes shut long enough to sleep had her huffing and rolling over to face away from him in a grumble though.

He was beginning to regret not taking up that interior designer's suggestion to install more air conditioning options into the vessel's ventilation system. It had seemed like the right choice at the time, they wouldn't always be travelling through abnormally hot or volcanic areas and it would have wrecked every room of the ship to install, that he didn't want. Not just because of the mess and inconvenience it would have caused but because it would have prolonged the job immensely and…well Law just wanted to get rid of that man as soon as damn well possible. Regretting it now though, definitely regretting it. The current system was clearly not able to cope with the incredible amount of heat outside even though it was night time.

Sighing as his mind immediately stirred, pondering whether it would be a worthwhile investment to overhaul the air conditioning system and when to time having such lengthy work done, he rolled over to the cooler part of his bed. The side closer to the sofa, closer to Nayla.

She had somehow managed to fall asleep but it seemed to be fitful, shallow at best. Lying on her back it was obvious she was struggling to remain comfortable in this warmth too, her breathing seemed heavier than usual...Drawing his eyes away from her heaving chest, Law eyed the crumpled blanket she'd tossed off, half on the floor, half across her lower legs...Realising he was probably also taking longer than necessary to notice that, he pulled his gaze away from admiring the way moonlight seemed to glaze the soft skin of her thighs, abruptly stopping it at her hips as he noted how far up the top she was wearing had ridden in her tossing and turning...Apparently she _wasn't_ wearing a pair of shorts underneath.

Law looked up at her face as she moved, worried momentarily that she was awake and had caught him staring but she simply groaned softly in discomfort as she rolled more onto her side to face him though her eyes remained closed.

Feeling his gaze being drawn against his will to the low, baggy neckline of the oversized tank top she was wearing as her breasts squeezed together, he abruptly rolled onto his other side, suppressing a groan of his own as he closed his eyes tightly and refused to acknowledge the enticing temptation of the half-naked woman within his reach, behind him on his sofa.

It took great effort to ignore the unwelcome reminders of how enjoyable their prolonged physical contact had been that evening, how amazing her hair had smelt beneath his chin, how much he could feel of her breasts as she leant against him in that thin material and how pleasant her embrace had felt when she'd wrapped her arms around him.

It took even greater effort not to recall the way her thighs had felt wrapped around his waist, how soft her skin was, how good it had tasted, how much of a pleasant handful her ass cheeks were and how beautifully she had moaned for him when he had been between her legs.

One more day and they'd finally reach the next island. Another woman to sate his growing need would be within his reach soon. The worst was already over, he only had to persevere for one more day and ignore his exaggerated cravings for the one in his room.

It was definitely just the heat talking.

* * *

Nayla had lost count of how many times she'd woken up that night, it was so annoyingly hot. It had been a long time since she'd had a frustratingly disrupted sleep because of heat, she'd forgotten how irritating it was to be so damn tired and unable to rest.

Sighing quietly, trying to hold onto the dregs of her sleep and not stir into wakefulness too much, she rolled over onto her stomach, seeking the cooler part of the sofa's cushions, unhearing in her delirum of heat and exhaustion, the approach of the lips that had hovered over the back of her shoulder until she felt them press softly to her skin.

Snapping her eyes open, she tensed as she tried to piece some kind - any kind of explanation for the sensation that suddenly had her so wide awake, aside from the obvious one that just...couldn't be right. Her breath hitched as she felt the distinct graze of a very familiar goatee below this set of lips as they pressed a gentle, tentative kiss to her neck, lingering over her hickey as she felt hands slide up her top to rest on either side of her waist.

Nayla felt her eyes close and a small gasp leave her as a tongue ran up her flesh, tasting her bruised skin as the grip tightened. A hard, topless body pressed gently against her own and the cushions below her sank as they began to support the additional weight of the man lowering himself to her.

Feeling her heart skip a beat between its rapid, heavy pounding, she turned slowly to look over her shoulder, confirming who she already knew it was, his face clear as day under the moonlight that filtered in through the porthole above them.

"Law?"


	42. AWOL

Feeling the rest of her words catch in her throat as she caught the intensity of the look in his eyes, Nayla suddenly felt muted and unable to breathe under Law's piercing gaze. She realised how pointless her words would have been even if she had managed to get them out; to ask what he was doing when the answer was already obvious.

In all three weeks or so of knowing him, she couldn't recall ever seeing a less guarded expression grace his handsome features, even though it seemed that he was trying. Lust, desire, frustration…the smallest hints of guilt, shame but what struck her the most was the amount of restraint he seemed to be struggling to maintain. He remained silent, stilled as he leant over her with one knee on the sofa, his other leg supporting the rest of his weight on the floor, assessing her reaction as she numbly rolled onto her back beneath him. He looked as though he were waiting for her response, any sign from her that she wanted him to continue, that she wanted _him_ , that she wanted or needed this as badly as he did.

With her heart pounding heavily in her chest, Nayla lifted her hands hesitantly; placing them on the forearms on either side of her, the tension in his muscles surprised her, as if he were forcing himself to keep his hands still where they rest beneath her top on her waist. The tension only increased as she slid her hands up his bare, muscled arms, Law's gaze returning to hers once it was no longer able to follow her movements as she reached his shoulders.

Biting her lip as she ran her fingers over the tattooed heart on one of them, Nayla tried to think clearly between the heat, lack of sleep, attraction and the earlier, generous helping of rum that was probably still impairing her ability to make good judgements - struggling with herself between what she wanted to do and what she felt she _should_ do.

Swallowing a little unsurely she ran her fingers over his collarbones, following the beautiful black lines that were emblazed upon his bronze skin down to his chest with her eyes; his bare, toned muscles making them move gently back and forth with his slightly more rapid breathing.

They were a day away from the next island, right? She'd probably be able to slip away for good soon…she _had_ promised herself she could allow a little fun with Law before she left. Would she get another opportunity other than this one to have him before they arrived? If she did manage to escape successfully on Ashibumi, would she look back at this and kick herself for not letting him have her? How long after she left would she notice his picture in the paper everyday and regret never having tasted him when she'd had the chance?

Gently running a hand up the side of his neck, Nayla could feel the quickening of his pulse and pause of his breathing as she moved to rest her palm to his cheek, her fingertips gently running across the soft hairs of his sideburn and the craving in his gaze intensifying further by her encouraging caress.

Law removed one of his hands and rest it over the one on his face as he leant down to her slowly, keeping her eye contact up until the moment his lips touched hers, brushing his softly across the sensitive skin for a moment before he pressed them together.

Closing her eyes as he finally, finally kissed her, she returned the soft pressure he gave her almost instantly. Very few first kisses with other men had been as incredible to her senses as this one. Those rare, special first kisses that made your heart stop, made you hold your breath, muted and paused the world around you and everything in it. This was definitely one of them.

Nayla couldn't feel or process anything but his kiss, the gentle, promising wave of arousal it sent through her and strangely, the amount of sheer relief it brought with it. Even she hadn't realised how much she'd longed for it, having done her best to push the nagging sense of want and rejection aside…but only now could she feel how much it had burdened her as the weight finally lifted with the feel of his lips on hers.

Removing his hand from hers, Law ran it gently through her hair, tilting his head slightly as he ran the tip of his tongue against her lips. Nayla wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to her more as she opened her mouth and invited his intrusion.

They seemed to simultaneously sigh as their tongues finally met, they smiled at that as they kissed, both finding some humour in each other's apparent relief, the tension and uncertainty between them rapidly melting away as he chuckled and she giggled quietly between the soft, wet smacks of their kissing.

Law wrapped his other arm around her lower back as he met her tongue with light, teasing strokes of his own. His pace was pleasant, relaxed and inviting, taking his time in inciting her senses as he lowered more of his weight onto her and as she tightened her hold around his shoulders.

Feeling the sofa cushion beneath her body sink as Law knelt his other knee to it, Nayla bent hers, gliding her bare inner thigh across the bare outer thigh of the leg he had placed between her own. Exhaling audibly at the contact, Law delved his tongue more deeply into her mouth, shifting himself to slowly slip his other leg to rest between her thighs.

Nayla felt him move his hand from her hair to slide it over the thigh she'd curled around his waist, increasing the intensity of his kiss as she hummed lightly at his touch. Placing his hand behind that knee, and pulling, Law wrapped her leg around him more firmly, as he closed the small gap still remaining between them and lowered his body fully onto hers. The kiss becoming more heated as she moaned at the feel of his hardness pushed against her. The building passion, dominance and aggression of Law's tongue now was more like what she had anticipated from him from their previous encounters.

The sensory overload that came from Law's near-bare body lying on top of her own was overwhelming. The heat of his skin, the short, shallow breaths he took dancing across her face as he began to explore her mouth more thoroughly, the brush of his wild hair against her forehead, the feeling of his muscled arms holding her strongly, his hard abs meeting her stomach, his firm thighs between her own and the heavy heat of his arousal pressing between her legs.

Beginning to feel that dangerously light-headed level of arousal, Nayla moved her hands down his back, eager to explore him before she lost her senses to him completely. Running her palms down his rippling muscles slowly, she reached the hem of his boxers, sliding her fingers teasingly under the fabric and provoking a smile from him against her lips.

Placing a hand on each of his bare cheeks she squeezed hard, pulling down towards her firmly to bring his hips into hers as she did, making him break their kiss with a small growl and darkly pleased expression on his face as she forced his erection to grind firmly against her panties.

Biting her lip with a smile Nayla ignored the warning on his face as she groped and squeezed his ass tightly again.

"A disobedient little brat in bed as well, I should have known." Law muttered lowly, tilting her head aside and laying kisses to her neck as she wrapped her other leg around his waist, holding him tightly against her.

"Been wanting to do that for a while." She confessed, closing her eyes, savouring each and every soft, flutter of his lips across her skin.

"Hmm, since when?" He purred against her neck, running his tongue over her hickey.

"…Since you threw me over your shoulder and gave me such a good, long look at it." She admitted breathily.

Law gently sucked her flesh, pressing himself to her womanhood with a gentle thrust, chuckling at the immediate, soft moan the action elicited and at her confession.

Nayla squeezed him roughly in retaliation, the tips of her nails making threatening contact across his flesh and his response was to immediately return a threatening graze of teeth to her neck and another, harder thrust.

Moaning again she abandoned that losing game in favour of running one of her hands, still beneath his boxers, around to his front, making him groan as she contacted and began to rub his bare erection.

Enjoying the intense lust in his eyes as he lifted his head and met her gaze, Nayla wrapped her fingers around his thick length, enjoying the feel of the intensifying throbbing of his hot flesh as he watched her touch him.

Reaching her other hand around his slim waist to his front, she used it to peel the fabric of his boxers down slowly, feeling excited yet a little anxious at the same time to finally see just what it was that had been pressed against her twice before.

Looking down between their bodies as she undressed him, Nayla sucked her lower lip and caressed his length gently as she watched him come into view. She took her time, eagerly drinking in the sight of his fully aroused length and girth but was soon interrupted as Law lowered his face back to hers, a smug, entertained smirk on his lips.

"I take it from that expression that you don't still think I'm 'compensating.'" He said huskily against her lips, taking them again before waiting for her response and pulling her hands away from him by her wrists before moving his own to the hem of her top.

Nayla groaned in protest as he stopped her from touching him, denied her her retort and began pulling her top up her body. Her heart skipped another beat as she felt his unsheathed erection press against her as he leant forward to pull it over her head.

Watching Law's face closely as he gazed at her topless and dropped the fabric in his hand carelessly to the floor beside the sofa, Nayla was suddenly aware of how rapidly she was breathing as she felt his beautiful, steel eyes rake over her chest appraisingly.

A devilish grin spread across his face as he lowered it to her breasts, kissing the flesh of one as he moved a hand to the other, cupping a full handful and kneading it gently.

Pressing her lips together to hold in the moan that tried to leave her, Nayla ran her fingers through his hair as she watched him place soft, light, teasing kisses across her skin. Slowly planting them from the top of her breast, to the outer side, drawing a moan from her as his tongue lashed out to lap the underside in one long stroke before resuming his kisses on the inner side.

Nayla felt her back arch as he licked her nipple with a feather-light touch, running the circumference of it agonisingly slowly before finally taking it into his mouth. Sighing in satisfaction as she felt the heat and moisture of him around her skin, she lay her head back, closed her eyes and thread her fingers more deeply into his thick locks.

Moving her free hand back down between them, she cupped him, rubbing her fingers back and forth against his sensitive skin; earning a deep, guttural groan from him that echoed so pleasantly through the flesh in his mouth that it pulled a moan from her as well.

She took a gentle grip of him once more, wrapping her fingers around his throbbing member and beginning to pump him softly between their stomachs as he teased her breasts.

Enjoying the sound of his moan as she stopped at the end of his shaft and ran her thumb in circular motions over its tip, she felt him move his mouth to her neglected breast, lapping her flesh firmly before drawing her other nipple into his mouth, sucking strongly as she increased her grip and resumed her strokes.

Nayla opened her eyes as she felt Law's hands moving down her sides, gently squeezing her hips before sliding his fingers under either side of her panties and beginning to pull them down.

As he sat up, Law pulled a gasp from her with a small graze of teeth across her nipple as his mouth left her chest. Leaning back he slid the fabric of her panties down her thighs slowly, gliding over her skin with open palms all the way down her legs as he removed them then tossed them to the floor to join her other piece of discarded clothing.

Nayla felt breathless as she watched him look over her naked body hungrily, parting her thighs once more as he crawled back over her and took her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. She moaned loudly as she felt his tip graze against her wet entrance as he positioned himself, eager to feel him inside of her.

Re-wrapping her legs around Law's waist as he reached a hand down between them to grip his base he stroked himself teasingly against her soaked lips without entering, smiling against her mouth at the frustrated whine it caused before he broke their kiss.

Figuring she should have known that he'd be a terrible tease in bed too, Nayla looked up at him expectantly, initially in a huff but then paused as she took in his expression. How Law was nearly wearing the same, genuine, handsome smile she had seen him wear in the photo downstairs in the messdeck. It made her heart flutter unexpectedly strongly to see it being worn for her.

"Nayla-ya."

Some of her arousal ebbed as she realised he hadn't dropped his '–ya' suffix. She noticed already that he didn't use it on people he knew well and considered close; his crew…but he _had_ dropped it with her a few times when he'd spoken more seriously. Was Law not taking her seriously right now?

She realised she hadn't responded to him when he called her name again. "Nayla-ya."

This time was even stranger, his tone of voice wasn't right at all. It had been so deep, so husky, so full of lust just a second ago.

"Nayla-ya."

Blinking in surprise at his now slightly irritated sounding tone she looked up at him with furrowed brows, wondering when the room had gotten so bright…What time had he woken her anyway? How long had they been making out? Had she been so caught up in their foreplay that she hadn't even noticed the sun had risen and daylight had started to seep into the room?

"…Say something already."

"…Law?" Gaping at him in horror as she realised she was fully dressed, he was hovering over her with a towel wrapped around his waist and that she had been asleep until this moment she sat up, pushing his face out of the way before holding her hands up to her own.

'Oh my god…oh my god…oh my god… - Dammit, why'd he have to wake us before we got to the good part? – Are you being serious? He just woke us up from a filthy, _filthy_ fucking dream about him, which I'm blaming YOU for by the way and he doesn't even know it! Awkward. As. Fuck. – Blame? You should be thanking me! I was doing a pretty good job too, shame he had to go ruin it. – He did us a favour just…just help me try to act natural please. – As I see it? He owes us. – …Owes us? – Yep, now we're all hot and bothered because he woke us up before Dream-Law could get to banging. Real-Law owes us, tell him to take responsibility and finish the job! – …Are you on drugs that I'm not aware of?'

"…Nayla-ya?"

'I can't even _look_ at him right now! – Dammit, we were so close… - Stop whining, geez my cheeks feel like they're on fire. - That's not all that feels like its on fire. God, he was sooo hot…I'll do my best to make sure Dream-Law gets further next time we fall asleep. – You better damn well not!'

Startled as she felt a hand on her shoulder Nayla lowered one of hers slightly to peek up at Law, surprised to find the expression of concern on his features as he scrutinised her.

"Are you alright?"

Clearing her throat a little and trying to level her rapid breathing a bit, she did her best to sound undisturbed by his proximity. "Yeah…yeah I'm fine, sorry. Just a bad dream."

"What was your dream about?"

"Uh…nothing, really." She turned to him in surprise as he pulled a hand from her face and looked at her closely; stopping his gaze at what she knew must have been an impressive blush across her now-exposed cheek.

Groaning in frustration as she saw his raised brows lower and a small smirk make its way onto his lips; she pulled her hand out of Law's grip, re-covered her face with it and slumped back down to lie on the sofa.

"…It seemed to be about _something,_ Nayla-ya."

Rolling to turn away from the sound of his smooth, satiny, knowing tone she closed her eyes tightly in irritation. "It was about nothing. Is the bathroom free yet?"

Ignoring her question, Law leant down further to speak lowly, closely to her ear, making her tense as her brain flooded her with unhelpful reminders of her vivid, erotic dream. "If it was about nothing, then why were you saying my name in your sleep?"

Law watched in amusement as she stiffened completely, her eyebrows raising high above the fingertips covering them before she peeled away a hand unsurely to look back up at him.

"…I was?"

"Yes, you were. You were calling my name over and over and over again." Smirking he leaned in even closer so that his lips could brush against her ear teasingly, thoroughly enjoying her embarrassment. "…Did you enjoy me that much, Nayla?"

Sitting up, she abruptly shoved him away again in her anger, glaring as he chuckled at her temper spike. It had been a little while since he'd managed to annoy her to this extent, he'd missed it.

"Ok fine, so you were in it. It doesn't mean it was _that_ kind of dream. It was a nightmare."

"Oh? Then what was the nightmare about?" Law asked calmly, crossing his arms and waiting to enjoy the entertainment of what promised to be a poor cover-up or her usual temperamental response along the lines of; 'it's none of your business.'

"I was reliving the moment I got my scar, only this time the guy on the ground that I'd thought I'd killed? Was decapitated, so I thought I was safe, took a step forward to walk past him and got that spear through my gut again. I looked down in shock, this guy's head _was_ off but he was smiling up at me, totally fine. Looked back up across the battlefield and saw _you_ on it. You'd cut his head off with your Devil Fruit ability and got me killed on purpose. I was using my last breath to curse you out for being a back-stabbing bastard in my dream. _That's_ why I must have been saying your name out loud."

Law watched her with raised brows as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead in frustration. That hadn't been a lie, she'd really had that dream, he could tell that much. Though unbeknownst to him, she'd had it a couple of nights ago, not last night.

It hadn't actually bothered her in the least, if anything Nayla had found it funny. Generally, dreaming about the moment of her most violent near-death experience did happen to her from time to time but was no longer that disturbing, it was the least bothersome of her recurring nightmares by far.

"…Then why were you moaning?" Feeling a grin pull at the corner of his mouth again, Law noticed the stutter in the movement of her hand before she tried to resume it normally.

"I was moaning?"

"Yes."

"…Well, I guess most people would moan if they got stabbed through the stomach, Law."

"It was not that kind of a moan, Nayla-ya." He chuckled as she groaned in frustration and swore under her breath, seemingly talking more to herself now than to him.

"…For fuck sake, of all the times, _all_ the times for me to talk in my sleep…I…I mean I _never_ talk or moan or anything in my sleep…"

"How would you know? You're alone most of the time, aren't you?" He watched her ruffle her bed head in irritation at herself, wondering if she'd ever catch on.

"But _still_ no one I've ever slept with or near has ever told me I did. You're the first per-…" Looking up at him, mouth agape as the realisation suddenly hit her, she watched in utter fury as his smirk widened. "…I didn't make any noise in my sleep, did I?" She asked levelly, feeling her anger bubble as he began chuckling again.

"No, I was just bluffing. You were just tossing and turning a lot. Very interesting to know you dream of me thou-"

"You bastard!" Promptly shutting him up with a pillow to the face, Nayla shot to her feet, shoving him aside as he caught it to stomp angrily to the bathroom.

"You probably wouldn't have had such lewd dreams about me if you hadn't spent half the time before you fell asleep staring at me in my boxers."

"Fuck you. Don't flatter yourself. I was just trying to see if you were ridiculous enough to have gotten your Jolly Roger custom printed onto your underwear too you self-important prick."

Knowing it was a lie as she'd already been through all his clothing already, Law watched her stalk into the En suite in complete enjoyment. "By the way Nayla-ya, keep in mind what I'd like you to wear for your examination when you choose what to wear for today. I'd like to get it done as soon as possible, how about after breakfast?"

"Get bent. Get fucked. If you so much as come near me within the next few hours I swear to god I will make every-EVERY living effort to shove that fucking sword of yours all the way up your ass. With or without its sheath."

Chuckling as she slammed the door to the bathroom shut so hard that it made the items on the bedside cabinet adjoining that wall rattle on their surface, he placed the pillow back onto the sofa for her, as well as the underwear he'd removed from the bathroom. Deciding this morning's entertainment had been well worth the 'favour' he'd done her by removing them before his shower.

* * *

The heat was much more tolerable now; they were on the verge of leaving the edges of the large, stable climate of the last summer island they were passing. The navigators Law had been briefed by this morning had told him they expected to begin entering the stable winter climate of Ashibumi by night. In the meantime though, the waters they travelled in between the two differently climatised islands could be treacherous, it was expected to be a stormy and turbulent ride, the worst of which would be best avoided by remaining submerged for the majority of the day.

By the time Law had joined the messdeck for breakfast, most of his crew (plus one still-very-peeved woman) had nearly finished their meals. The other men at the table at breakfast had sensed the escalated tension between them as soon as he'd sat down to join them but had wisely chosen not to ask about it as they'd glanced between the daggers Nayla visually shot at him and the wide, knowing grin Law had returned.

The incident with the marines yesterday was reported in today's newspaper, though there was little mention of his attack on the Kessinger pirates. Pirate on pirate violence was rarely of much concern to the public, it was only authority versus pirate activity that was worth reporting to them but Law had no doubt that the few conscious and semi-conscious marines they'd left alive had seen what he'd done and had reported it to their superiors at their nearest opportunity. One heart towards his Warlord title offering, getting his name thrown around marine headquarters as a menace worth noting and a lot of useful supplies added to his own, it had been a fruitful encounter.

He was a duck today, apparently. Reaching the centrefold of the paper Law saw that Nayla had taken the time to draw a duck's bill onto his printed face, a stethoscope around his neck and an old fashioned doctor's head mirror on top of his hat. His speech bubble today simply read: "Quack." A reference to what she thought of his medical expertise he supposed. A glance up at her as he tore out and folded the newspaper page was met by her steady gaze as she took a large, loud bite from her apple. It made him briefly wonder if she were envisioning it as his head.

Expecting to provoke another round of insults and swearing when he said he expected her to be ready for examination after lunch, Law was genuinely surprised at her restraint in her reply, not failing to notice her brief glance at the other men at the table before deciding to swallow down the disrespectful words that had seemed to want to emerge from her mouth with her bite of apple.

Deciding to reward her efforts to improve her behaviour and remain civil with him - in front of his men at least, he agreed to her request to be examined after dinner as they usually did. He had plenty to go over before they arrived at the new island tomorrow anyway.

* * *

Walking into lunch a little late, he was pleased to hear Nayla laughing at his table, seemingly in a better mood and to hear she'd spent the morning productively, helping Jake and Ichirou to clean up after breakfast so that they could get a head start on preparing lunch.

Apparently she planned, on Jeff's insistence, to do some training with him and a few of the crewmembers again this afternoon. Sending the man in question a non-verbal warning that he'd better behave himself, Law warily accepted the situation to be a good one. Nayla would kept preocupied and she'd embraced the idea of helping to address one of his crew's major weaknesses. He was already looking forward to seeing the results of both parties of their time spent training together.

Sometime before dinner, Law had heard Nayla enter his quarters across the hallway from his lab, presumably to shower up after training. Knowing that she would be re-dressing, the temptation to go in there and remind her again of his instructions to wear clothing easy to remove and something revealing underneath to allow him to examine her near enough to naked as possible after dinner was extremely high. Her reaction would undoubtedly be priceless…but he'd try not to aggravate her so soon to needing her to be cooperative.

A little while after he'd heard her go downstairs for dinner, Law followed suit, noting that as soon as he had arrived in the messdeck that Nayla had slowed her eating pace down considerably. As if to prolong her meal and put off having to follow him back upstairs for her examination. In fact, she'd slowed down to the point that he'd finished his own meal whilst she was still picking at her own.

Grinning a little at her understandable anxiety coupled with her fury with him for this morning and with whatever she'd dreamt about him playing in the back of her mind, Law chose to openly remind her that he'd be upstairs waiting for her, knowing that his crew would badger her into complying and that sooner or later, she'd be in his infirmary for the inevitable.

Satisfied with her grumbled agreement to be up as soon as she'd finished her meal, he'd left to complete his preparations for her in the infirmary, sure that she'd take her sweet time but would be up eventually.

Sweet time had been an understatement. Law had not only called down to the galley to have one of his chefs prompt her to get a move on but had gone down himself once already to scold her into hurrying up to find her slowly working her way through her desert.

Agreeing that she come upstairs immediately after finishing it, he'd left. That had been about fifteen minutes ago now. Law wrapped his fingers on his infirmary desk impatiently as he looked up at the clock on the wall. Finally sighing in frustration, he got up from his chair and stalked to the door. He'd been generously patient, enough was enough. Leaving the room, he made his way down the stairs, hell-bent on dragging her back up them as soon as he spotted her.

Expecting to find her still sitting in her seat in the messdeck, Law narrowed his eyes when he saw that only Penguin and Bepo were left at the table. Everyone else in the room had long finished their meals and were leisurely chatting over their empty plates, gradually moving on to their evening duties or to relax for the night.

"Where is Nayla-ya?" He interrupted whatever their conversation had been about as he approached. Watching in irritation and a bit of dread as the two shared a confused look, Law turned his attention to Penguin as he finally answered.

"She's not with you, Captain?" Reading the expression on his captain's face that conveyed his non-verbal response of; 'if she were, would I be asking?' he quickly spoke again. "Oh right, um well she left about five minutes ago to go meet you for her examination. We thought she was already with you in the infirmary."

"Maybe you missed each other on the way down here, Captain?" Bepo suggested, sharing another confused look with Penguin.

"How? We use the same set of stairs." Law sighed; glancing around the room in what he knew would be a fruitless attempt to perhaps spot her still here.

"Maybe she took the ladder up?" Bepo offered with a small shrug.

"Unlikely…" Law grumbled before turning back to look at Shachi's empty seat, wondering if perhaps Nayla had tagged along with him elsewhere. "Where's Shachi?"

"He and Connor left to go have a drink in the rec room a little while ago." Penguin watched his captain wordlessly turn around and leave the messdeck, hoping he'd find Nayla soon, before his obvious annoyance got any worse. For her sake.

Walking a little way down the hall, Law entered the rec room, scanning it quickly from the doorway but not catching sight of the woman he was after. Settling his gaze onto Shachi as he happily greeted him, Law ignored it in favour of getting to the bottom of this disobedient disappearing act.

"Where is Nayla-ya?"

Feeling his brow twitch as he watched Shachi and Connor exchange confused looks with each other on the sofa, Law tried to keep his growing irritation in check. "Isn't she with you, Captain?"

"If she were, why would I be asking?!" Well, he'd tried.

"Oh right, yeah…Maybe she's still taking baby-bites of her food, have you tried the messdeck? – Ok, you've tried the messdeck." Shachi quickly tacked on as he saw the expression on his captain's face darken.

"Where's Jeff?" Law turned to Connor, ignoring Shachi's currently unhelpful input to his woman-troubles and wondering if perhaps Nayla had wandered off with him instead.

"Right here, Captain!" Turning in the doorway, Law found Jeff a few feet down the hall, on his way towards the rec room. "What can I do for ya?"

"Nayla-chan's missing." Connor summarised for him as he came to a stop next to his peeved captain in the open doorway.

"Lil lady's missing? Isn't she with you, Ca-?"

"You see her, you escort her to me. Now." Law abruptly cut off, turning on his heel with an annoying sensation of Déjà vu. This was the second time that damn woman had gone AWOL on his sub.

* * *

Nayla pushed open the door quietly, peering around the edge of it cautiously to scan for any crewmembers inside the dimly lit room before deciding the coast was clear and entering it, shutting the door softly behind her as she looked around.

This was the first time she'd entered this room though Connor had pointed it out during the tour he'd given her. Their, apparently seldom used, quiet lounge for crewmembers to relax in if the rec room was too rowdy. The entrance was on the third floor, a door at the end of the hallway past the storage rooms that led up a short staircase to the large, circular room that sat happily on the surface of the lower deck of the Heart Pirates' sub.

She hadn't thought it to be strange that the crewmembers didn't seem to use it much other than to adjust the ship's second sail that was set atop the roof of this room manually. It was much further than the conveniently placed rec room on the same floor as their own cabins and was a space for peace and quiet, which didn't suit most of their rowdy personalities at all…but looking around at the beautiful room now, she couldn't believe it had taken her nearly a full week to bother taking a look inside of it for herself.

It was simple, pure and clean. Aside from the sail-raising mechanism and the root of the ship's second mast that was stood in the centre of this room, there was sparse furniture in here. Several low, soft-looking sofas and plush floor cushions lay around the room's circular walls in seating arrangements. A few large circular rugs were placed throughout the room under some of these, woven of a natural, thick fibre. The walls and all the fabrics of the furnishings were plain. No bold colours or patterns only smooth shades of whites, beiges and light browns.

The only other item of furniture in this room was a plain wooden shelving unit that sat to the left against the wall. Its only contents were some unburned, thick white candles and some incense. This space had been left completely free of sensory bombardment, nothing but soothing, neutral tones and clean open space. The ideal place to empty one's mind and soothe one's nerves.

The room's only lighting fixtures were plain white sconces, placed in-between the numerous portholes that spanned the room's circumference. The portholes themselves held no curtains or blinds, apparently always open to allowing whatever natural lighting there was available into the room to paint it and its furnishings into whatever colour Mother Nature had to offer that day…and right now it was breath-taking.

The room was bathed in an indescribably beautiful hue; a colour in-between that of a fiery, glowing red and a soothing purple. They were submerged but they couldn't have been too deep and apparently the sun was still setting. The sky above the surface of the water must have been dyed red by the sunset if the light that filtered through to them at this depth was such an unusual and striking colour. She'd never seen it coming in through the portholes like this before, though then she was left wondering if they'd ever been shallowly submerged during a sunset before.

Nayla walked around the circumference of the room in awe, running a hand over the thick, cool glass of the portholes as she passed them, the sound of her feet tapping quietly across the wooden flooring accompanied by the audible swirls of the waves that flowed past the walls.

Although this may not have been the room of choice for most of the men as they unwound from a hard day's work, this was the ideal space for the quieter and more solemn crewmembers. Apparently Jean Bart had taken a liking to this room to relax in quietly when he was off-duty and some of the other crewmembers that held more spiritual connection to their martial arts training would come here for quiet contemplation or meditation. Nayla imagined that if Law wasn't as busy as he seemed to be these days that he might also enjoy a moment away from his own duties and loud, boisterous crew's antics in here too.

So taken by the peaceful ambience and the beautiful view out of the portholes, she failed to notice the presence of the other man in the room before his cold voice cut through her silent admiration of it.

"What are _you_ doing in here?"

Pulling her hand from the glass, Nayla whipped her head around in surprise, looking rapidly but still failing to see the other person. "…I was just curious to see the inside of this room." Stepping away from the porthole and towards the central mast mechanism to look at the seating on the other side, Nayla scanned where the voice seemed to have come from.

Narrowing her eyes at the small scoff she heard in response, she walked over to one of the sofas that had its back towards her, now able to see a boiler suit-clad figure lying on it as she approached. Legs crossed at the ankles, arms behind his head, his cap pushed forward enough over his face to obscure it but she recognised the man by the colour of the hair of his goatee.

"What are _you_ doing here, Kotta?" She returned his cold tone, resting her arms to the top of the back of the sofa as she peered down at him, still pissed off with his rudeness towards her on the beach earlier that week.

"I'm a crewmember. _I_ have every right to be here." Although his words seemed angry he didn't speak in a way that conveyed it. Just an odd, level, unemotional, factual bluntness. Same as he had been the last time she'd spoken to him.

"You have a problem with me being here?"

Lifting a hand to tilt his cap back, he locked gazes with her at her challenging tone, a slight animosity apparent in his blue eyes. Very rare, she noted, for someone to be born with both red hair _and_ blue eyes. In fact, if she remembered correctly, it was _the_ rarest hair and eye colour combination humanly possible. A strikingly handsome feature. 'Shame he seems to be a prick though...Hmm, prick plus handsome, where have I seen _this_ before.'

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"And why's that?"

"You shouldn't be here. In this room or on the sub in general"

"Well aware. Didn't have a lot of say in the matter so don't take your irritation about it out on me. It's not _my_ fault I'm here." She grumbled with an eye roll as she thought of Law's smug little face the day he'd come down to see her in the brig.

"Yes, it is. Had you been stronger or smarter than you are, you wouldn't be here." As if ending the conversation, Kotta pulled his cap back down over his eyes to block out her shocked expression at his brutally honest statement.

Closing her gaping mouth, Nayla realised that she couldn't fault that. Had she been stronger she wouldn't have been in a position to need Law's medical attention to begin with and would have been able to outright confront him if she felt confident she could defeat him. Had she been smarter she would have never uttered the word 'Joker' to him or gotten on board this sub to begin with. It _was_ absolutely her own fault she was here.

Gritting her teeth at the realisation she'd been shoving to the back of her mind all week, Nayla pushed up from her lean on the back of the sofa and began walking around to the other side of it. "So, what? You think I'm weak and stupid and you just hate weak and stupid people? _That's_ your issue with me?"

"No, it's nothing to do with that. I just hate women like you."

Pausing mid-step on her way over to the sofa opposite the one Kotta was on, she turned back to look at him incredulously. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I hate women like you."

Turning to face him, Nayla tried to reign in her temper as she saw the man's demeanour was still entirely apathetic and indifferent. She didn't want him to gain any satisfaction from managing to rile her up. "You don't even know me."

"I don't have to know _you_ to know your type."

Running her tongue along her teeth inside her mouth, she restrained the sudden desire to march back over to the nonchalant man on the sofa and punch him square in the nose, crossing her arms to busy her tempted hands instead. "Oh well then, what _type_ am I?"

The man turned his head to face her, pushing his cap up slightly once more. "You're the kind of woman that thinks she can skate through life on looks alone. That you can get anything and anyone you want with a bat of your eyelashes and who goes out of her way to wrap the people near her around her little finger to suit her needs."

Hearing how he'd apparently interpreted and categorised her, Nayla uncrossed her arms in surprise but didn't feel the need to respond to it.

"I don't like manipulative women. I don't like your type. I don't like the way you interact with my crewmates…and I don't like the disrespect you show my captain after he saved your life, twice." Definitely more emotion in his voice on the latter part of his sentence, he was surprisingly angry about the way she treated Law.

"Don't forget that whole attacking me from behind and kidnapping me part. Give the man credit for _all_ his good deeds, Kotta. Wouldn't want to sound bias, would you?" She mocked scathingly.

"Like I said, had you been stronger and smarter." He shrugged, turning away from her and closing his eyes once more. "You got your answer, now stop talking to me."

"…You seem to think you know me pretty well for someone I've only spoken to twice in three weeks." Annoyed by his opting to remain silent, Nayla resumed making her way to the sofa across from him, unsatisfied with him thinking he'd 'won' this exchange and his unruffled feathers.

Smiling to herself as she settled down onto the soft, plush furniture, she decided to take a different tact into getting under this man's skin. "So, you hate 'manipulative women.' I wonder why."

Watching him carefully as she placed a cushion over the arm rest and lay herself down, she noticed that although he still remained silent that his body language seemed a little more rigid than before. 'Definitely hit a nerve there,' she thought to herself, filing away what was almost certainly bitter, personal experience with a woman that had taken him for a ride in the past, most likely an ex. It always was an ex.

"You know Kotta, I don't like your 'type' either. Judgemental, think they're better than everyone else, think they know-it-all when they know shit and to top it all off, you're a sheep. A blind, mindless little follower so enamoured by your deeply bromantic admiration for your _insane_ captain that you can't acknowledge his faults or when he deserves to be on the receiving end of less than nice behaviour."

Hearing that he still remained silent, Nayla closed her own eyes, adamant to keep going until she got to him. He wasn't going to be rude to her and get away with it unscathed twice. "Maybe your attitude with me is nothing to do with you disliking me. Maybe you're just worried I'm gonna wrap all your lovely little crewmates around my finger and charm your captain."

Hearing a rustle of fabric coming from his direction she cracked an eye open to glance at him, she'd hit a nerve again, he looked openly unhappy now. Nayla opened her other eye to look at him, unable to be sure that he wouldn't attack her, she barely knew him after all…not that the thought of upsetting a violent pirate enough to lunge at her stopped her from pushing his buttons some more.

"Is that what it really is that's bothering you, Kotta? You worried about what I'm gonna do to your friends? Or are you just worried I'm gonna steal your beloved captain away from you?" She purred teasingly, enjoying the first real show of emotion on the man's face as it darkened in his anger.

To his credit he restrained himself, clenching his jaw as he bore into her with his glare silently for a moment before he turned his gaze away with a dark threat. "You try to manipulate Captain and I guarantee you'll regret it."

Letting the dark aura coming off of the man seep into the room for a moment, Nayla couldn't help but smile wider. Aside from the amusement at finally breaking Kotta's stone cold demeanour and finding and poking his buttons she felt a strange happiness at how much the other crewmembers and Law meant to even someone like Kotta. Law really had managed to build such a wonderful crew.

After a moment to allow the man to simmer down she spoke again. "I don't mind if you don't like me. I don't like you either."

"…Am I supposed to care?"

"No, I'm just making it clear where we stand. We don't have to like each other but for the time being, I'm here so deal with it like an adult and stop being a pouty little shit about it."

"Like I said, you shouldn't be here."

"Like I said, I agree. Feel free to take it up with your captain if you'd like to change that."

…

After several long minutes of silence, aside from the sound of the rapid waves rushing past the portholes, Nayla heard the man sigh heavily. "Why are you still in here?"

"I'm enjoying the quiet lounge, it's nice in here…Or well, it will be when you shut up and let it be the _quiet_ lounge again." Nayla bit her lips together to stop from laughing aloud as she heard his grumpy moan.

She could hardly remember seeing Kotta around the ship since their last conversation on the island. Maybe once or twice amongst the crowd in the messdeck but that was about it. She could only conclude that if he weren't on duty, (whatever it was that he did here) or eating in the messdeck that he must have been in here if not his own cabin. This seemed to be 'his' spot.

"…I was here first."

'Yep, definitely 'his' spot.' "Pouty little shit behaviour coming out again. Grow up a bit Kotta, would ya? Learn to share your toys."

"Get out."

"Make me."

Growling in defeat he fidgeted in his irritation before settling down on his sofa again. Nayla watched him in amusement, trying to ebb his own temper and resume his relaxation.

Feeling satisfied about getting under the man's skin and at finding an unlikely hideout from Law for the time being, Nayla smiled to herself and closed her eyes once more. Enjoying the silent, soothing ambience of the room.


	43. Demon doctors and holy fruit

Pressing her back to one of the messdeck's double doors, opening the other a crack and peeking down the hallway, Nayla scanned for any signs of a certain probably very-pissed-off-by-now pirate captain before deciding it was safe to trot down the corridor quietly.

Although she'd spent a significant amount of time picking at her dinner earlier, she'd actually been too anxious to eat much of it. A combination of hunger and Kotta leaving the room she'd sought sanctuary in, made her begin to worry that he would run into Law and mention where he'd last seen her and had driven her to sneak into the galley to fetch a quick snack.

Nayla had stayed in that lounge for far too long anyway, eventually someone would have thought to check for her there if they were looking so now was about the right time to hide out in a room that Law would have already checked; the rec room.

It wasn't as though she thought she could carry on avoiding him forever in an enclosed space like the sub, she was just hoping to avoid him long enough for it to become too late in the evening for him to do…whatever it was he wanted to do to her today. Hopefully he'd decide to reschedule her examination to another time, that was her goal.

After a day of mulling it over, she'd decided she needed out. As far as Nayla was concerned, she was going to be leaving this sub as soon as tomorrow or as soon as she saw a chance to slip away during their stay on Ashibumi. So in her mind, there was no point going through another examination with Law - especially not one that sounded as though it would be the most uncomfortable one to date, if she were this close to escaping. It was all sorts of unnecessary awkwardness and teasing, she did not need.

Tip-toeing the last few steps, she pressed her ear to the rec room's door, filtering through the voices of the men inside for any indication they were talking to their probably-irate, fuzzy hat-wearing superior or for his own dulcet, soothing tones seeping through the wood.

Nayla _had_ been feeling indecisive about whether to leave or stick around for a while. Her time on board had had its ups and downs but mostly ups; overall life was fairly comfortable and enjoyable with the Heart Pirates so far, up until last night.

The dream she'd had hadn't freaked her out and pushed her indecisive mind towards the option of leaving…per se. It wasn't wildly unusual to have sexual dreams about people you knew, even ones you barely thought about or didn't even find attractive. She wasn't remotely bothered by the fact she'd had a steamy dream about a highly attractive man she'd had some risqué encounters with, had seen practically nude and was currently sharing a room with. It probably would have been more worrying and abnormal if she hadn't.

What _was_ bothering her was the alarmingly emotional response she'd had to it. For example, the fictional-relief that she'd felt in her dream when Law kissed her that had carried over as real-disappointment when she'd woken up. That dream had unfortunately highlighted to her that she really _was_ burdened by an unsettling sense of rejection and want that she really couldn't understand the origin of and that couldn't really be fully attributed to pure physical attraction.

Worst of all the peculiar emotional responses she'd experienced was the horribly strong flutter she'd felt in her chest when he'd smiled at her. How much fictional-joy she'd felt to have been the cause of his genuine smile and that too, had carried over as real-disappointment that it hadn't truly happened when she'd woken up.

A desire to make Law smile or to make him happy that Nayla hadn't even known she had…That, out of everything, disturbed her to a very, _very_ high degree.

There was no point in sugar-coating it and no point in trying to understand how and why. What was felt was felt and no amount of picking it apart in her brain would change it, so the sooner she admitted it to herself the sooner she could do something about it.

For whatever reason, she didn't hate Law even though she probably should. She really couldn't even bring herself to take a serious disliking to him. She did like him…overall…generally speaking…and held his opinions about and feelings towards her in high regard. High enough that his actions or inactions were sufficient to begin causing her emotional upset.

In short, she was beginning to like and care enough about Law to give a damn about what he did, said, felt and thought. Irrefutable proof that she was starting to develop ill-seated and unwanted attachment to him on some levels and that was dangerous. It absolutely needed to be nipped in the bud. Nayla needed to get off the sub as soon as possible.

Pulling her ear away from the door, she decided the crew sounded too relaxed for their probably-gonna-kill-her-on-sight-by-now captain to be in the room with them. She pushed the door open with her free hand and slipped inside quickly, wincing as the room silenced as she entered, confirming that Law had indeed come looking for her here already.

"Nayla-chan! Where have you been?" Penguin called over to her, setting the drink he'd been lifting to his lips down onto the coffee table in front of the sofa he was sat on.

"Captain's been looking all over for you!" Shachi chimed in from beside him.

Holding her hands up in defence, Nayla put on her best, relaxed smile. "Guys guys, don't worry. I already went to go see him, I'm all done with my examination for today."

"Oh, really?" Shachi exchanged raised brows with Penguin.

"Yup, he was mad I kept him waiting though, huh?" Nayla attempted a sheepish look as she walked over to sit on the sofa opposite them.

"Sure was, amazing you're still in one piece, sweetie. You have some nerve skipping out on Cap like that." Connor looked her over as if to confirm it as he shuffled a little to the side to give her enough room to settle onto the sofa next to him.

"Well, can't say I like his examinations much." She fiddled with the apple she'd taken from the galley in her lap, avoiding his gaze shyly. Connor did have a tendency to blurt things out without thinking but he was far from stupid, she hoped he was buying her lie and act.

"…Guess I can't blame ya. Did it go well?"

"Yeah, went fine. Don't mind me, you guys get back to whatever it was you were talking about." She waved her free hand dismissively, relaxing against the back of the sofa and taking a bite out of her fruit.

All she had to do now was hope that Law would decide raking through the sub looking for her would be a waste of his time and that he wouldn't check in here again. Nayla was pretty sure the men already here would go straight to their cabins to sleep once it was late enough and would be unlikely to run into Law and blow her cover. Hopefully.

"There ya go, lil lady." Looking up as Jeff walked over from the bar in the corner and handed her a fresh drink, she reached out and took it from him with a thanks as he sat down on her other side. They'd come to learn she preferred sweeter drinks over their usual hard liquors and beers. Turns out, Jeff actually held a bar-tending licence though Connor had quickly squashed her awe of that by adding he'd only learnt how to mix drinks to impress and or intoxicate beautiful women.

Conversation soon picked up again and Nayla took the opportunity to mentally go over her plans for their arrival tomorrow as she munched her apple and sipped her drink. She wished she could be less preoccupied with her own thoughts so that she could enjoy what might be her last evening in the presence of the jolly Heart Pirates' crew but she was anxious. She wasn't sure how much slack Law would be giving her on her leash on land, how to pack up her things to leave, how to get back her weapons and how she'd be able to find a good hiding spot or quick transport on the island.

Maybe she could sneak away once she left Ashibumi to go do her job on Kattou…Law didn't even want her to contact him when away on jobs so, it was likely he'd leave her be to go work. Maybe that would be her best opportunity to-

"You ok Nayla-chan? You're awfully quiet."

Glancing up at Shachi as he checked on her she realised how uncharacteristically sullen she'd been since she'd sat down. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Deciding to leave her plotting until she was lying in bed and enjoy her time with them, she smiled and finished her mouthful of fruit.

"I'm fine, was just thinking."

"About what, apples? You were just spacing out, staring at yours like you were trying to see into its soul." Jeff nudged her with a laugh.

"Actually, yes. I was thinking about apples." She laughed.

"Fascinating, do tell." Connor mocked from her other side.

"Well, I was just thinking…Ya know how they say garlic repels vampires?" Waiting for him to nod his confirmation as he sipped his drink with a smile, she carried on. "Did you ever wonder if apples were the equivalent for doctors? Ya know, that 'an apple a day, keeps the doctor away' saying."

"I think the saying implies you're supposed to _eat_ one a day, not use them like you would garlic against a vampire." He scoffed, smiling in amusement as he set his drink back down onto the table in front of them.

"Right, _implies_ we should eat them but that must be wrong because I've been eating these every day since we left the island and they're not working. Law won't leave me alone." She frowned at the fruit in her hand before taking another bite.

"So what, you think wearing a necklace of strung apples around your neck, will keep you safe from Captain?" Jeff snickered.

"Yeah, do you think Law would hiss like a spooked cat and shrink away from me if I did?"

Laughing around the mouthful of his drink at the mental image of their captain doing just that, Penguin quickly swallowed it, leaning forward to set his drink back down. "No, I don't think apples work that way against doctors, Nayla-chan."

"Well what if I took the core of this apple and fashioned it into a stake then. Think I could kill Law with it?" She asked cheekily, taking another bite of it as she watched the men do their best to press their lips together and not laugh at their captain's expense.

"Don't think that'd work either." He chuckled, sitting back and resting his arm over the side of the sofa.

"Though, gotta say, would love to see ya try it." Shachi grinned, turning his head to Penguin. "Cute lil Nayla-chan pouncing on Captain from around the corner with an apple-core stake and smushing it into his chest all over his hoodie. Can you imagine the look on his face?"

Laughing at the thought herself, Nayla finished chewing and swallowing her mouthful. "Alright, well, if you don't think _that'll_ work, how about this. If vampires can't handle holy water, do you think pure apple juice is the equivalent for doctors?"

Hearing Jake snort around the bottle in his lips on one of the beanbags to the side, struggling to keep the liquid in his mouth as he started chuckling, she turned to him. "Whaddya think Jake? If I kept a flask of apple juice on me at all times and sprinkle it at your captain when he gets too close do you think it'd keep him at bay?"

Seeing him fight to keep a straight face and swallow his drink down, she pressed on. "Think he'd grow fangs, hiss and shirk away? Think the drops of juice would burn his skin so bad that it'd start steaming? Or do you think he'd just melt into a puddle like a witch as soon as it touched him?"

"Nayla-chan, quit it." Jake choked out between his coughs and chuckles as the men burst out laughing.

"Come on sweetie, you make poor Cap sound like a demon or something." Connor snickered, as he settled down.

"Not far off...There's another thought though, I should try repelling him as if he were a vampire _or_ a demon. I could probably fashion a cross out of two apple cores and some string, should work against both, cover my bases. Maybe I could hold that up to his face every time he got near me to keep him away."

"Worth a shot, go for it. Just promise us you'll do it when we're around." Shachi chuckled, before looking behind her and clearing his throat loudly to alert the others. "Oh well, speak of the devil, hey Captain!"

Freezing and gulping heavily as she felt an ominous aura enter the room and the distinct feeling of two piercing grey orbs settling quickly onto the back of her head, Nayla refused to turn around and look at the doorway, trying desperately to think of a way to weasel out of this situation.

"What did I order you all to do as soon as you saw her?"

Grimacing at the stern tone, lack of name and emphasis on the 'her,' Nayla quickly downed the rest of her drink before her inevitably rapid departure. Yep, she'd already given up on getting out of this one - no point in letting the drink Jeff had bothered to make her go to waste now was there?

The crew quietened, looking at each other with furrowed brows and confused expressions before Shachi spoke up. "Uh, escort her to you but she said she'd already had her examination, Captain."

"…Is that right." Tensing as she heard how much closer Law's voice had sounded from behind her, she listened closely as he took the last few long strides to stand directly behind her. "Nayla-ya."

Clearing her throat as she clasped her now-empty glass tightly in her lap, she tilted her head hesitantly to look up at Law's face hovering over the back of her seat. No sword with him – good thing, looking exceptionally pissed off – bad thing, she quickly noted.

"Hi, Law…Apple?" She meekly offered, holding up what was left of her make-shift supper.

Swearing she could see his jaw tense and a suppressed eye twitch, he, without a word, reached down, gripped her waist on either side, lifted her from her seat and threw her over his shoulder. Silently turning to leave the room and ignoring her surprised shriek and yells of protest.

"LAW! Geez! I'm sorry, ok?! I'm sorry! I'll walk! Put me down!" Quickly tossing her empty glass onto the sofa's cushions as he began walking away, she used her free hand to prop herself up on his back, trying to pull out of his hold and looking at the others for help only to have them look away sheepishly, Jeff even having the nerve to nonchalantly whistle as he picked up the glass she'd discarded beside him.

"Bastards!" Scowling at them for their complete abandonment, she heard Law yank the rec room door open before carrying her out into the hallway.

…

"Her examinations really must be bad…" Penguin said pitifully as they watched the door swing shut behind them.

"Think we shoulda helped her?" Shachi muttered, wincing a little guiltily as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wel-"

"THE POWER OF FRUIT COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF FRUIT COMPELS YOU! DEMON BE GONE!"

"How much have you had to drink?! You push that apple into my face one more time and I SWEAR I'll kill you Nayla!"

"…Guess it didn't work." Connor snickered, breaking the surprised silence at their captain's outburst before turning back around from watching the closed door and taking a casual sip of his drink.

* * *

"I still don't get why."

"You don't have to, just do as I say."

…

"Nayla-ya..." Rubbing his forehead in frustration, at her, at how much time it had taken to finally pin her down and at his overly trusting men, Law slapped his pen down to the clipboard on his lap.

"If you'd just say _why_ then I'd do it no problem."

"I-"

"Don't have to explain myself to you, I'm the captain of this ship, I'm Trafalgar Law, bla bla bla. I got it." She rolled her eyes as she turned away from him and crossed her arms.

"I don't see what your issue with this is. I've seen you near enough naked plenty of times already, I'm only asking you to strip down to your underwear, privately and in a medical context. It's not any worse than walking around wearing a bikini in front of the entire crew…If anything your underwear will be more modest."

Narrowing her eyes at the snide, quiet dig, Nayla looked back down at him, sitting on the stool in front of the infirmary bed he'd 'gently' set her down on when they'd arrived. "Voluntarily being half-naked and being forced to be are two different things. Just tell me why first."

"You really can't even figure this much out, Nayla-ya?" Law sighed, resting his arms across the clipboard on his lap as he leant forward and looked back up at her.

"…You're a dirty pervert with an awkward crus-?"

"How else am I going to _see_ your ability if your skin is covered. Isn't it obvious?" Law cut off, almost beginning to regret teasing her about today's examination now that he was hitting a stubborn brick wall with her cooperation.

Blinking at his frustrated expression and deciding it was a fairly reasonable request – though could have been phrased in a less unsettling way yesterday afternoon, she broke out into a smile of amusement at how exasperated he seemed at the moment, in no small part, due to her. "…There, now was that so difficult?"

Choosing not to reply and refraining from rolling his own eyes at her, Law crossed his arms expectantly as he watched her place her hands on the hem of her top and begin to peel it up, stopping as she looked back at him."…Do you have to watch me like a creep?"

Groaning and getting up to walk back over to his desk, Law wondered if he'd ever encountered a woman that made the thought of throttling them cross his mind as frequently as Nayla did before.

"Shouldn't you be offering me a chaperone or something for this examination, _doctor_?"

'Definitely not,' he inwardly concluded, slamming the drawer of the cabinet behind his desk shut as he pulled another sheet of paper from it and turned to glare at her over his shoulder as she smiled cheekily at him, pulling her top over the rest of her hair before tossing it onto the bed behind her.

"Of course, would you prefer Jeff or Shachi?" He asked dryly, attaching the new sheet he'd retrieved onto his clipboard.

"What about Bepo?"

"He's busy…but I can get him if it would make you more comfortable…and cooperative." He glanced up at her pointedly as she undid the zip of her skirt.

Ignoring the sarcastic add-on, Nayla smiled, a little surprised at the offer. "I'm just kidding, it's fine. I'd prefer it if we were alone anyway." Watching a fine brow rise on his face she quickly corrected what she'd said as she realised how it had sounded out loud. "Not in that way. As in the way that means I can keep the details of my ability between us. "

Shaking the thought that had intruded into his mind, Law silently finished labelling the new sheet with her name before walking back over to her as she stood to slide her skirt down her legs and throw it onto the bed to join her top.

"Shoes." He prompted, sitting himself back down on the stool in front of her.

"Floor's cold." Catching his annoyed glance up at her (seemed after her hide and seek stunt he'd be less tolerant of her nonsense) she quickly tacked on; "I'll remove them when you need to see my feet."

Reaching behind her to pull the folded blanket from the end of bed off, Law dropped it to the floor in between them. "Shoes."

Sighing, Nayla kicked off her flats and stood on the blanket to keep her feet off of the cold tiling. "…So, what do you want me to do?"

"Turn around and use your ability."

Hesitantly turning around, she did as she was told, feeling his eyes on her lower back as she allowed her ability to flow freely from its seal.

"Full body, Nayla-ya. Like the photograph in the news article."

Sensing his displeasure at what he, rightfully, assumed was her still trying to withhold what she could about her ability from him, she sighed again. Reluctantly doing as he asked, she allowed the flow of dark energy to extend throughout her body, knowing Law was visually following the black lines that spread over her skin, wrapping themselves in elegant, tribal patterns all the way up her back, over her shoulders, down her arms, to her fingertips and all the way down her legs to her feet.

Hearing silence, she wondered if he could already feel the increase in the unsettling aura her ability emitt-she tensed as she felt Law's hand on her lower back. "What are you doing?"

" _Examining_ you. I would have thought you'd know what that entailed by now."

Closing her eyes and trying to ignore the soft tickle of his fingers tracing the lines on her skin, she heard a rustle of clothing as Law lifted his other hand to her. Sliding his hands over her bare flesh, he settled them onto her hips, rubbing over her tattoo gently with his thumbs.

Sucking her lips into her mouth and placing her palms onto the bed in front of her, Nayla tried to take no notice of how pleasant his touch felt, growing restless as the seconds ticked by and her mind began to wander over to thoughts of other instances she'd like him to hold onto her bare hips.

Snapping her eyes open as she felt him pull the hem of her panties down slightly, she whipped her head around to glare down at him over her shoulder in warning.

"Relax Nayla-ya, I wouldn't remove them without as-…" Law stilled his hands as he looked up at her, meeting her gaze.

Silently he stood, removing the clipboard from his lap to set it onto the stool he'd just occupied before reaching up to place a hand on each of her cheeks, turning her around to face him as he studied her eyes in open interest.

Feeling a little uncomfortable at the intense scrutinising stare as his eyes looked between her own and his extreme closeness in her current state of undress, Nayla delicately cleared her throat after a moment. "…Um…Do you think you could let go of my face?"

Ignoring her and tilting his head to recapture her gaze when she looked away Law furrowed his brows in thought. Red irises. This would explain why, even in a black and white newspaper photo, her eye colour had seemed far too light to have been her own.

"How does it affect your vision?" Law asked, releasing her before walking over to the cabinets.

"Makes it better."

Shooting her a look over his shoulder, he quickly retrieved a pen torch from a cupboard and closed it before making his way back over to her. "Care to elaborate?"

"Um…" Not waiting for her to find the words to more accurately express her response, he came to a stop in front of her once more, gripped her chin and tilted her head back up to face his.

Blinking and wincing a little as Law shone the small light into her eyes and examined her pupils, Nayla reflexively rest her hands onto his hoodie as he leaned in closely to keep distance between their bodies.

"I dunno, just sharper, clearer...can see movement more? Can't really describe it better than that…Can definitely see much farther than I normally do."

"So keeping one eye covered when you fight doesn't impair your depth perception?"

"No not really. I can actually see better with one eye like this than I can with two normally."

Humming in thought and making a mental note to do a visual acuity test with and without her ability for comparison on her next examination, Law switched the pen torch off and slid it into his pocket for now, moving his gaze across her face at the dark lines that skirted around its edges, seeming to partially curl over her jaw line and cheeks but spare the centre.

"You said your ability only increases your strength."

"I said it 'pretty much' only did that." She countered.

"Try leaving anything out again or saying anything along the lines of, 'well you didn't ask' or 'it's none of your business' and see what happens, Nayla-ya." He threatened quietly, annoyed at her constant omissions. "What else does it do?"

"Um...Not a lot else…Speed and balance is a little better…Little less prone to injury…Uh, ah-well there's this." Holding a hand up in front of his face, Law backed off as he felt the maleficent presence of her ability increase tenfold. Warily watching as the lines on her palm moved and aggregated to its centre before emerging from her skin completely, twirling delicately in the free air between them and dispersing a visible, dark, discomforting aura.

Having seen what such a small amount of this black substance had done to the pirate he'd inadvertently killed with it just yesterday, Law kept his distance, much to her amusement as she began to giggle quietly at his reaction. "If I could kill you with it, I'd have done it by now."

Not sharing in her humour of that at all, Law narrowed his eyes at her, stepping forward again to examine her hand and the flow of malevolent energy emerging from it. He looked back up at her face for any signs of malicious intent, noticing now that the unnatural colour of her eyes seemed to have a slight, surreal glow to them.

Unable to see anything but an amused shine to her gaze and a good-natured smile, Law strangely found himself instinctively believing that she wouldn't harm him. Trusting that he wasn't naïve, stupid, a poor judge of character and the instincts that had never steered him wrong before, he cautiously lifted his own hand to hers, lacing his fingers through the fine black lines and smokey aura surrounding them.

It was incredibly unpleasant but painless. Grimacing at the foreign sensation, he furrowed his brows before grasping and holding her hand completely, watching as the onyx waves seemed to flow over and through his flesh without causing him any harm…though the ominous feeling of impending doom and dread they gave off was unbelievably unsettling.

"…No one's ever been this close to me when I've done this." Looking up at her face, Law found her watching their joined hands in surprise before seeming to realise what she'd just said out loud and clearing her throat. "Feels messed up right? Like holding onto a hundred cursed blades at once. Makes a lot of people sick to their stomachs."

"If this causes no harm, then what use is it? Intimidation?"

"Yeah, I basically use this to spook people. It scares them, makes a lot of people think twice about engaging me. That's pretty much all it's good for." Narrowing his eyes at hearing those two words again, Nayla laughed nervously choosing to divulge something else instead. "If this is how horrid it feels coming out of one hand, you should see the full version. I bet even the mighty Trafalgar Law would run and cower in the corner at this one."

Sensing a non-disclosure but willing to let it slide for now in favour of something she _was_ currently willing to share with him, he humoured her with a small, challenging smirk. Though noticing her brief, slightly wistful gaze at their joined hands, as if she expected him to drop it and run away from her, he found it dropping a little as he spoke quietly. "…Show me."

Interlocking their fingers, he held onto her hand firmly in an unspoken refusal to accept she'd successfully scare him into releasing her and backing away…Which he hoped she'd interpret as defence of his pride as a brave and fearsome pirate and not as some misplaced offer of reassurance.

Watching her expression change into one of surprise as she looked at their hands then looked at him, Law reluctantly – but inwardly, accepted it might be a combination of the two…but it was mostly defence of his pride he was sure.

"Alright, you asked for it." He was absolutely going to ignore the radiant smile on her face as she returned his grip gently.

Feeling his gaze drawn to her body as he saw movement, Law watched intently as the tribal patterns waivered, seemingly flowing with more fervour as they thickened, additional lines and curls stemmed from them, covering more of her flesh as the same black, visible aura began to seep from her skin to permeate the air around her.

A transparent, smokey, smouldering, foreboding darkness that had a practically palpable sinisterness to it. Remembering to take an analytical eye to what he was observing, Law felt it could be best described as a massive increase of influx of her ability, to such a degree that it freely oozed from her body to her surroundings in its overflow.

It was easy to see why this was effective in striking fear into the hearts of other people and discouraging their contemplation of confronting her. The sight of it combined with her armour, masked face, a single glowing red eye, blades drawn, likely blood splattered, plus or minus having just watched her decapitate her enemies would be more than sufficient to cause intimidation.

Couple the sight with the feeling the aura emitted…it sincerely irked every natural instinct in him. It was a sensation that provoked primal fear, a 'fight or flight' response, a fear of the unknown, the kind that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and that twisted your gut. Every fibre of his being was telling him to move away from what his body was perceiving as an immediate threat to life…but she was simply stood still with a small, impressed smile on her face as she watched him assess her, she was no danger to him.

"…Bloody Bête Noire, indeed. 'Someone who is hated and avoided'…this would certainly make people want to avoid you. It's quite terrifying."

"You don't look terrified." She mused quietly, watching as his smirk returned to his face, a slight triumphant edge to it as he drew his gaze back to hers.

"Because I'm not." Realising after a silent moment of eye contact that they were still holding hands, Law let go of her gently. "Release it and turn back around."

Watching him pick up his clipboard before retaking his seat, Nayla did as he asked, leaning her palms back to the surface of the bed as she allowed the aura to fade.

Law watched the extra lines that had appeared recede slowly over her skin. Did they always appear in the same places? Could she add more to where she needed them selectively? Could she control the speed of her ability's flow? How long could she hold that aura for? Could she fight _and_ use it at the same time? The questions that ran through his mind were endless…he'd never be able to get through finding out everything he wanted to know in a single examination.

As much as he'd have loved to have concluded understanding her ability today, Law realised it would definitely need more examinations and observations to pick it apart and understand it as fully as he wanted to as he watched the last of the additional, flowing curls merge and coalesce into her tattoo.

"This part-" Nayla tensed a little as she felt his fingers gliding over her lower back to illustrate where he meant. "-remains static. Even when you're completely unconscious."

Knowing which part he was talking about without looking, Nayla relaxed again under his touch. "Because that part is just a tattoo."

"Didn't you call this a seal?" Law challenged slightly, wondering if she'd been deceitful in anything she'd said about it previously.

"The seal is the central part, it's actually quite small and it does move when used. I got a tattoo over it." Sensing the next question on the tip of his tongue, she jumped the gun. "Because unfortunately, a few people can recognise the symbol so I tried to disguise it by getting my…'tramp stamp,' as Connor so politely phrased it." She grumbled with an eye roll.

"…Who could possibly recognise it?" Law wondered out loud, nearly to himself as he ran his fingers over the centre of the tribal design, trying to distinguish where the lines of the seal ended and the lines of her tattoo began.

"Occult freaks, religious weirdos…Hey, did you know exorcists really exist? Because yeah, I didn't. Did _not_ get that memo."

"I didn't know but I take it you found out the hard way?"

"Sure did. They aren't the elderly, fragile little priests you'd think they'd be either. They were actually pretty young, badass and gave me a _lot_ of hassle."

"They thought you were a demon?"

Hearing the amusement in his voice, Nayla turned to look at him over her shoulder. "It's not funny, bastard." She muttered, turning back as he began chuckling, smiling to herself secretly at the enjoyable sound.

"I'm not really sure what they thought but highly spiritual people seem to be _very_ sensitive to the horrible aura surrounding cursed items. I didn't even have my ability active when I walked past them, they felt it and unfortunately my lower back was exposed in what I was wearing at the time."

"They didn't say anything?" Law removed his hand from her, adjusting his clipboard to rest comfortably on his lap as he picked up his pen.

"Nope and I didn't think anything of it other than, 'why are these pervy, priests staring at my ass?…Then boom, four grown men armed to the teeth come crashing into my hotel room that night, guns blazing, blades drawn trying to 'slay the demon.'"

"And how did you respond? Slaughtered them all, wrote cryptic hell-related messages on the walls with their blood and hissed in tongue at the hotel staff at the front desk on your way out?"

"Close, but no." Nayla laughed, not surprised by his morbid sense of humour as she heard him uncap his pen and begin to put it to paper. "I just fended them off, asked what the hell they were doing and we eventually established that yes, I am human and harmless-mostly. Turned out to be pretty nice guys, still friends with them to this day actually and they were the ones that suggested I obscure the mark on my lower back with a tattoo. They gave me a lot of useful advice...real nice guys…once they got over the whole trying to kill me thing."

"It doesn't sound as though you were given much advice or information about your ability when you got it." Looking up at her silence he noticed her tenseness at his prod, apparently sensing where he was going with this conversation.

"Nope. Nope I did not."

"I can't help but wonder, how does one get 'cursed' exactly?"

Waiting patiently as she seemed to contemplate her response, Law met her eyes as she turned slightly to look at him, a sullen look on her face."…Do you feel like sharing how you got your Devil Fruit?"

Law remained silent as her gaze flit over what he could feel was a sobering expression on his own features as the question brought up unpleasant thoughts and memories.

"Exactly. It's personal and not really something I feel like sharing with someone who only wants to hear it because they're looking to sate their curiosity or relieve their boredom."

"…Fair enough, Nayla."

Double-taking the sheet of paper on his lap, she tilted her head slightly as she looked at it. "…Isn't that a diagram for mapping out injured areas on a burn victim?"

Feeling a small grin tug at the corner of his lips at how quickly her sombre mood lifted at her own curiosity and at her interesting breadth of medical knowledge, Law aided her attempt to look at it by turning the clipboard for her. "It's similar to a Lund-Browder chart, yes. Though the human model is printed larger and shows side views as well as front and back to allow more detailed annotation of sites of injury. It's suitable for what I need it for here."

Looking over the blank, human body templates she spotted the one Law had been working on; the back view. "You're mapping out where these lines on my skin are, how come?"

"They don't seem to be placed randomly, all of them are overlying major vessels, muscles and other underlying structures. I'm certain where they are is important to how your ability allows you to utilise it and in how and where it causes damage during its use."

"…So it really does cause damage." She mumbled, pulling her eyes away from the diagram as he turned the clipboard back around to face him.

"Yes, but you already suspected as much."

"Yeah…Was just going on how I felt after using it for a long time though, never really had any solid evidence that it did for sure...So what is it doing to me exactly? You said you'd give me some results today, right?"

Motioning for her to turn back around so that he could resume mapping out the lines on her back, Law chuckled at her sudden perkiness and eagerness as she complied. "I _was_ going to."

"…But?"

"Do you really need me to remind you of your annoying, childish, time _and_ food-wasting behaviour this evening?"

"Oh, right yeah…I wanted that apple by the way - _you_ were the one that threw it away-" She mumbled, glancing over at the infirmary waste bin mournfully. "-and really this is kind of an unfair, petty punishment Law, I mean it's my health we're talking about."

"Would you prefer I find some other way to punish you for it?"

Nayla was so glad she had her back turned to him as she screwed her eyes shut in frustration at how rapidly and loudly her brain took to answering the invitation of suggestions for other forms of punishment.

'Spanking. – Shut up. – Ask him to spank us instead, say it! – No, freak! – We're close enough to it already. Room alone together, half naked, already turned around so just bend over a liiittle iddy biddy bit more and demand a thorough spanking. - … - Oh and make sure to have him call you a bad girl too, oh oh and-!'

"…Withholding my tests results is good." One stray thought that managed to cut through all the filth currently clogging her brain was whether or not he was holding onto her results as incentive for her not to attempt escaping on Ashibumi. If she wanted to hear what he'd found out then she'd have to stick around…speaking of incentive to stick around...

"By the way, about the chance I was supposed to get to learn some medical stuff whilst I'm here…" Complying with his gentle tug on her arm, she held them both out to her sides to allow him to see the patterns decorating the backs of them.

"I haven't forgotten, in fact, I've asked the medic I have in mind to speak to me this evening so that I can make sure he sets aside time to teach you once we leave Ashibumi. He's been busy this week and won't have time during our stay on the island."

"…Fine." Following his prompt for her to turn all the way around to face him, she wondered which of the medics on board he'd ask.

She'd found out during her time here that there seemed to be roughly three unofficial tiers of medical training. Law had made CPR and first-aid mandatory training for all crewmembers, which was sensible, considering they were battle-prone, likely to suffer traumatic injuries and how important initial treatment was. The entire crew knowing the raw basics could be enough to prevent an easily avoidable death of one of their comrades.

Most of the crewmembers fell into what she'd mentally decided was the second tier, where the majority of them had a little additional medical knowledge and could work the machines in the infirmary. It wasn't as though they had any particular interest in the subject, it was more that they wanted to be able help their captain and help him to help their fellow crewmates. Even with his Devil Fruit, Law couldn't do everything single-handedly, he needed a theatre team to help him when he operated and if there were ever a situation where more than one crewmember were seriously injured at a time then he'd need other people capable of looking after the lesser injured whilst he focused on the most critical ones. It had been _their_ initiative to offer to support him and Nayla had been blown away by their dedication when they'd told her that Law had never asked or demanded they learn anything medically related beyond what he considered mandatory.

Apparently very few of the crew were considered 'real' medics, what she was unofficially labelling the top tier. Some of them had been formally trained in some way shape or form before joining the crew but some had taken to learning more about medicine after. Penguin had pointed a couple of them out in the messdeck when she'd asked if there were any other doctors on board other than Law but Nayla hadn't really spent much time with those crewmembers. Though now she was interested to see what they knew and who would be teaching her.

"Remove your bra."

…

"I did say to wear something more revealing so that you wouldn't _need_ to remove your underwear Nayla-ya, it was you that chose to ignore me. Just do it, I've seen you without one on at least three times already."

Sighing she reached around and unhooked her bra as she realised he was right and wondered how in the hell a man she wasn't sexually involved with and had only known three weeks had gotten her topless three times so far.

"…and apparently the crew has seen you without one on at least once." He added quietly, busying himself with amending his diagram and smirking a little as he felt the heat of her glare on the top his head.

"…Interesting that you knew how many times you've seen my breasts without even needing to think about it. Have you been keeping count or are they just that memorable?"

Pausing his pen at the sound of the honeyed, flirtatious tone her voice took, Law looked up cautiously as she slipped her bra down her arms, taking in the sight of her…ability…professionally.

Chuckling as he looked up at her face and noticed the slight victorious shine to her eyes at his silence and attentive gaze, he rapidly began noting down where her ability coursed through her flesh. Paying particular attention to the area over her heart and deciding to maintain conversation to distract his thoughts. "And you think _I'm_ arrogant. Three isn't a difficult number to count up to or remember...All those lacey, transparent undergarments you own and today of all days you pick an opaque set to wear."

"You should probably refrain from commenting on my underwear when you're staring at my breasts. Makes you look like a real pervert."

"And yet, I'm not the one having sexually explicit dreams."

Promptly closing her mouth at that and pursing her lips together in an amused defeat at his grin, she chose to simply shut up, stop teasing and let him do what he needed to do. Trying to take her mind off of his glances up to her chest and back down to his lap, Nayla watched him draw in the lines of her ability over the diagrammatic human's chest and as he completed it, she pulled her bra back on, not waiting for him to have to tell her and reached around to re-clasp it.

"Peel the top of your panties down."

Blinking at him in shock, she rest her hands limply back down to her sides. "…Be serious."

"I am." He wasn't going to bother explaining the significance of noting where her ability flowed across her reproductive organs or point out her inability to conceive again. "…Would you like me to do it for you?"

Nayla huffed and smiled a little at his low, playful tone. "...No it's ok, I've got it."

Placing her thumbs under either side of her panties she slowly peeled the fabric down, teasingly, holding his eye contact and raising her brows suggestively, earning a humoured smirk from him but coming to a stop as low as she could manage whilst remaining, somewhat, dignified.

Pulling his gaze from hers Law glanced at her newly exposed skin before putting his pen to paper and filling in the diagram.

Although she'd been good-natured and playful about it, Nayla really did wish her brain didn't feel the need to yell at her for her refusal of his assistance or the need to replay the images of him pulling her panties off in her dream last night. Very, very unhelpful reminders of how he'd slid his hands down the entire length of her legs as he'd done it…

"Turn around."

Cocking her head in disbelief at what she assumed he was asking to look at next, she crossed her arms and looked at him sceptically. "I don't think there are any important 'underlying structures' on my ass, _doctor_. The lines there prooobably don't really need to be documented, no?"

"I like to be thorough…Turn around."

Wondering why that commanding, low tone had sent a shiver down her spine she found herself slowly doing so, placing her hands back onto the bed, trying not to lick her suddenly dry lips as she felt Law's gaze rake over her flesh. An array of indecent thoughts, images and fantasies bombarding her mind as she stood against his infirmary bed with her panties pulled down and Law behind her.

The silence was stifling, all she could hear was the soft sound of his pen to paper and it was nowhere near sufficient enough a distraction.

"All the days you've worn thongs on my ship and you chose today not to." He muttered quietly, almost to himself but she was thankful for something to mentally latch onto as a diversion.

"Noticed?"

"It's hard not to when you force me to look at them every morning before I shower, Nayla-ya."

She laughed quietly, finding his resentful, bitter-sounding tone a little funny. "Well what exactly did you _think_ was going to happen when you had the ingenious idea of having me live in your quarters with you? Sharing a closed space with someone of the opposite gender that you barely know, of course it's going to be awkward and uncomfortable and we're going to step on each others' toes but you only have yourself to blame. Feel free to give me my own cabin."

"No."

"Then stop whining."

"...Take a seat." He sighed, ignoring her laughter as she righted her panties and turned around, hoisting herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. A combination of its height, the lowness of the stool he sat on and his slouch as he leant forward made it so that his face was only a little higher than the edge of the bed she sat on.

Setting his clipboard onto one thigh, he reached forward and gripped her ankle softly, placing her foot onto his free leg, briefly examining the lines across her skin before filling in the details on his sheet.

Glancing around the room as he quietened and diligently annotated the dark streaks across her skin, she wondered briefly what he'd found out about them as she spotted her folder on his desk, looking significantly fatter now with all the test results and images he'd been filing away into it.

Feeling his bare forearm glide under her calf, Nayla turned back to look at him as he curled his arm under her knee, placing his hand on her outer thigh as he gently moved her leg outwards a little to look at the lines on the inner side of her thigh.

Noticing the tension in her muscles at his position and at his touch, he couldn't help the small grin on his face as he looked up at her. "Is something the matter, Nayla-ya?"

Seeing her bite the inside of her cheek with an irritable smile at his silent, physical intrusion of her personal space, she seemed to be refraining from saying anything, though interestingly from the look in her narrowed eyes she seemed to be half-heartedly contemplating something quite sinister.

"Now _that's_ an interesting expression…what are you thinking about, I wonder." He asked lowly, rolling himself closer as she watched the hand of the arm around her leg glide up higher on her outer thigh with his movement.

"About how many men I've killed in this position before." She answered bluntly, returning his devious, amused smirk.

"Oh? Would this be about the right time to have drawn that lovely hidden dagger of yours?" His gaze flit to her chest briefly at the thought of it.

"Better." She said lowly, placing her other foot onto the stool beside him, trapping his torso between her thighs and leaning down closely, though Law made no attempt to move back and held her eye contact challengingly. "Do you have any idea how easy it is to snap a man's neck from here?"

"Any fool with half a brain would see it coming when you moved your hands." His brow rose as she slowly slid her unheld thigh up his side to rest her knee over his shoulder and pull him in slowly as she bent it.

"I don't use my hands." She purred proudly, making her point by pressing her knee to the angle of his jaw gently and tilting his head to the side with a small amount of pressure. Illustrating how easily the required twist and force to break a person's neck could be applied from between her knees or even her thighs.

"What an underhanded way to kill…Where did you learn it?" His eyes never leaving hers as she rest her knee back to his shoulder, inwardly enjoying how the soft skin had felt pressed briefly against his face and the fragrance of the moisturiser she used.

"You'd be surprised how many schools are out there that teach women ways to kill during sexual acts." Nayla smiled, secretly savouring the warmth of his hand on her thigh and the way his breathing danced across and tickled the bare skin of her legs.

"And how many of those did _you_ study at?" He asked quietly, a devious smile in place as his eyes settled onto her lips, contemplating just how many different ways she knew how to kill a poor, unsuspecting soul that thought they were about to get lucky…'Extremely lucky.'

"Captain, I ca-" Entering as he knocked, Kotta stopped abruptly as he caught sight of Nayla's unclothed back…and what little he could see around her side of what seemed to be his captain's head between her thighs.

Law watched in amusement as Nayla slammed her hands over her chest in reflex and turned to glare at the shocked man in the doorway. "Don't you know how to knock properly?! Get out!"

"Uh…" Kotta looked at his captain unsurely for confirmation as his head peered around Nayla's side from over the top of her bare thigh.

"Give us five minutes, Kotta. We're nearly done."

Nodding numbly, he began backing out of the room. "R-Right, sorry, Captain. Didn't know you were…"

"We're not." Nayla immediately denied.

"It's fine." Law immediately corrected, enjoying the warning look she briefly directed his way before returning her attention to the door, watching Kotta until he left the room and shut it completely before sighing in relief.

"You should reall-LAW!" Whipping her head back around to face him as she felt his tongue lap her inner thigh, she slammed her hands to her mouth as she realised how loudly he'd made her yell his name. There was absolutely no way Kotta hadn't heard it and that was probably his goal, judging by the look on his face as he smirked up at her, laughter in his eyes.

That image of Law between her legs, licking the skin of her inner thigh - so dangerously high and that playful, devilish look on his face, she knew, had just instantaneously burned into her mind forever.

Growling in annoyance at his smug, entertained expression and at the shrill, girly shriek he'd gotten from her at his inappropriate tease, Nayla slammed her legs together. Unsurprised that he was capable of stopping her from clamping her thighs around his neck with his Haki-clad forearms she moved to slap him instead, only to have him reach his hands up to grab her wrists as he stood. The clipboard and pen that had been on his lap, clattering noisily to the tiled floor below.

Trying not to wince as he slammed her hands down on either side of her to the bed, Nayla defiantly met his eye contact, reading the mixture of anger, amusement and lu– he pressed himself to the edge of the bed between her legs. Nayla could feel her breathing quicken as she registered the lust in his gaze as he leant his face close to hers and felt his hips slide between her own.

"…What if I hadn't been able to use Haki?" He asked dangerously quietly, his neutral tone giving away nothing. If anything it confused her more, she couldn't tell if Law wanted to kill her or take her and from the look on his face Nayla wasn't sure even he knew at this point.

"I figured you could but if you couldn't, then I guess you would have had your throat crushed or your neck broken." She responded levelly, though far too breathily for her liking. Clenching her jaw, she tried to hold onto her annoyance but his closeness was doing terrible things to her.

Releasing her hands when he felt no attempt from her to lift them, Law ran one of his own over her lower back, pulling her body closer and his other to the hair at the back of her head, taking a harsh handful - not unlike how he'd done in the brig, causing her to hiss a little as he tilted her head back.

Her heart was pounding so fast inside her chest, the intensity of his steel grey gaze was paralysing. Raising her hands to his chest, Nayla gripped his hoodie but wasn't sure if it were to push him away or pull him in more closely, her brain hadn't gotten that far before it went blank as she felt his lips on hers.

She closed her eyes as Law tilted her head more, pressing against her lips before sucking her lower one into his mouth gently, humming as she gasped softly and pulling her body flush to his…but no sooner had he done so did she feel him hesitantly pull back a little, searching her face intensely before settling his eyes back onto her mouth.

...

Law exhaled audibly in his frustration as he brushed his lips against hers once more. "…You'd better get dressed, Nayla."

Feeling an honest shudder of arousal at the intensity and gravelly tone of his husky voice, she swallowed as discreetly as she could as he removed his hands and backed away, his gaze still heated as he looked at her. It had almost sounded like a threat.

Following his eyes as they flit over to the infirmary door, Nayla only just remembered the presence of the man on the other side of it. Now wondering if Law had stopped because he'd regained control of himself or because he'd only just remembered too.

He slipped out from between her legs and leant down to pick up his clipboard and pen before walking back over to his desk silently. Breathing rapidly as she watched his retreating back Nayla licked her lower lip, subconsciously tasting him and wondering what had just happened…and what _would_ have happened if Kotta hadn't been stood outside the door...'Another reason to hate the guy,' she thought bitterly to herself as she numbly halted her ability, reached behind her, pulled her clothing off of the bed and began re-dressing.

Taking his seat and running a hand over his face as he sighed quietly, Law busied himself with filing away the new sheets of paper into Nayla's medical records on his deck. Looking up as he heard a tentative knock at the door, he glanced at her as she zipped up her skirt and slipped on her shoes, confirming she was sufficiently dressed before allowing the man back into the infirmary.

"Sorry Captain…everything alright?" Kotta shut the door behind him, glancing unsurely between the two of them, probably sensing some kind of tension as he entered the room.

"Everything's fine. I know we've been lax about it in the past but we have a woman on board now. Enter no rooms until you hear a response after knocking from now on."

"Aye aye, Captain. Sorry…What was it you wanted to see me about?" He made his way past Nayla towards Law's desk, not sparing her a glance as she picked up the blanket on the floor and set it on the bed behind her.

Law motioned to the chair across from his, waiting until his crewmember had taken a seat to speak. "Nayla-ya has an interest in medicine and as per an agreement I have with her, I'm to arrange a medic to teach her whatever she'd like to know during her stay with us. Starting after our departure from Ashibumi. I'd like you to do it."

Feeling her jaw drop, Nayla stopped pushing the stool back under the bed to look at Kotta as he whipped his head around to her in his own surprise. Law watched their reaction with a raised brow, wondering what the cause of their surprise and now silent, irritable stare off was.

"…That's interesting." Law said quietly, drawing Kotta's attention back to him as he realised he hadn't responded to his captain's request.

"Oh, sorry Captain. I'm flattered you thought of me first but…maybe Dean would be better suited?"

Watching Law's other brow raise at what was, apparently, unusual behaviour for Kotta, Nayla caught Law's gaze as it turned back to her. She could almost hear the cogs in his mind turning as he silently tried to piece together the root of the animosity between them before she realised the name Kotta had suggested as his replacement.

"Wait, isn't Dean a cook?"

"Medic too. However-" Law turned back to the man sat across from him as he leant his arms onto his desk. "-Kotta is my best medic. Considering how well-read you are already, he would be best suited to teach you."

Shooting daggers at the man as he turned to look at her sceptically at his captain's mention of how well-read she was, she crossed her arms and steadily returned Kotta's cold, appraising stare. "I'd rather have Dean."

"We…don't exactly get on, Captain." Kotta stated, breaking their eye contact first to turn back to Law.

"I can see that and I don't particularly care. In fact, I feel more comfortable knowing she'll be in a room with a crewmember that _doesn't_ fawn over her and it'll make for more objective and productive teaching. _You'll_ do as I asked-" Law turned his gaze back to Nayla. "-and _you'll_ appreciate that I'm bothering to uphold my end of the bargain and sending anyone to spend their precious time that could be used elsewhere on my vessel to humour you."

"Aye aye, Captain." Kotta firmly agreed.

"Aye aye, 'Captain.'" Nayla sighed out mockingly, ignoring the glare she received from Kotta, unsure and uncaring if he were angry because he interpreted her response as making fun of him or of his captain.

"Dismissed."

Exchanging perturbed looks with the medic at the instruction as Law picked up her file and set it back down onto the small pile on his desk, Nayla looked back at him. "Which one of us?"

"Both of you. Get out."

Huffing at his rude dismissal, she pushed off of the edge of the bed she'd leant against and walked towards the door, closely followed by Kotta as he made his way out of the room behind her.

Hearing no verbal exchange between the two, then listening to his medic's heavy footsteps as he made his way back down the hallway and to Nayla's light ones as she made her way across it to enter his quarters, Law exhaled the tense breath he'd been holding. Running his hand through his hair a few times as he closed his eyes and forcefully shoved aside the surprising and nearly overwhelming rush of desire he'd felt as well as the lingering feel of Nayla's lips on his own.

He didn't really want to think about or process what had happened. It was just a little lust, nothing more to it and nothing worth mulling over too deeply.

Deciding he didn't particularly want to retire to his quarters for the evening right now and seeking a distraction, Law eyed the closed file to his side before reaching for it and pulling it back over to him.

It wasn't exactly the ideal distraction, considering the subject of the folder's contents was the very same thing he was trying not to spend time thinking about but at least it would be in a different and more productive context. He could go over what he'd seen today and give thought to what he wanted to learn about her ability next time.

Although the shift in his attention away from sexual thoughts about the woman was successful, Law wasn't entirely happy with his new train of thought either.

So far everything he'd looked at and tested only confirmed what he'd already half-heartedly concluded on the beach of the last island when he'd first spoken to her about her ability. Between what he'd seen of her results so far and the shocking outcome of his brief, very brief, time testing Fidelis, Law had no doubt in his mind that there was not a single cell in her body that her ability wasn't affecting negatively. It was almost certainly gradually destroying her with every use.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'The power of fruit compels you' - Reference to the movie 'The Exorcist,' a pretty old movie so if you aren't familiar with it and are curious, you only need to Google: 'The power of Christ compels you' and hit the top video result to get the gist.
> 
> Nayla's ability's appearance - Is actually based on a videogame villain from a vampire game that I just adored when I was growing up, so if I failed to describe it in a way that helped you to envision it or if you are curious, search: 'Ferril' from 'BloodRayne 2.' I loved the way Ferril's lines used to flow continuously over her skin (wow at the 2004 graphics when you watch videos of her, how far videogames have come) and it's how I imagine Nayla's to move when she's initiating or ending her ability but hers remain still during use.
> 
> Lund-Browder chart – Nothing much to say about it other than its basically a blank outline of a human body, front and back view, to help doctors assess what percentage of a patient is burned and to guide treatment. Similar diagrams can be used for other reasons too, like paramedics may have a modified version just to quickly highlight areas of injury in a diagrammatic way for emergency room physicians.


	44. A stormy grey

"Hey, Law."

Surprised to hear her still awake, though obviously tired from the sound of her voice, Law looked over at the sofa Nayla was lying on as he entered his bedroom. It was late now, he'd preoccupied himself well into the night, not only with her medical records but with last minute reviews over what they knew about the island they were due to arrive at tomorrow.

Hearing him stop walking across the carpet of the darkened bedroom but say nothing, Nayla turned over to lie on her other side to face him as she spoke up again. "I spoke to Marty earlier to let him know I'm due to arrive tomorrow. By late morning, right?"

Relieved to hear she was talking about work and not about what had happened between them in the infirmary, he relaxed a little. "Right."

"Thought I should let you know there's a slight change of plans. I'll get more details later but it turns out, we're arriving at a good time. The senator is attending a charity event in Kattou soon and he usually picks up some hungry little socialite skank trying to climb the political power ladder at these things so I can slip into that role instead of a smutty hooker one…Try not to be too disappointed."

Smiling a little at the snort of amusement and small smirk on his face, she sat up slightly. "The Log Pose will reset five days after arriving, the charity event is in four days so I'll go to Kattou for then and be back by the morning of the fifth day. Before we leave the sub tomorrow would be a good time to give me my weapons back." Nayla had decided it would be a good idea to continue to divulge information about her jobs to Law as if she didn't plan on leaving, in case she had no opportunity to and needed to continue travelling with him for longer.

"You don't need them to kill a seventy two year old man."

"Well I'm not gonna throttle him with my bare hands."

"You're not getting them back just yet. I'll give you your daggers back. Those are more than enough for this kind of job." As if concluding their conversation, he walked over to the bed to pick up his nightwear and began making his way towards his En Suite again.

"…Can't I at least have my boots back?" Law paused at the doorway of the bathroom, reaching in to turn on the light as he looked at her, apparently willing to hear out the rest of _this_ request at least. "I usually only wear heeled boots or heels. Been walking around in flats all week and you and your lanky crew are starting to give me a shortness complex…and neck ache." She muttered, fiddling with the edge of her blanket.

"Sure." Nayla lifted her head back up in surprise, not expecting him to agree. No mocking, no teasing and a small, unspoken show of trust that she would do nothing harmful with them.

Law enjoyed and returned the small smile that slowly spread across her lips for a moment before turning away to get ready for bed. "Get some rest, Nayla. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Right." She watched him enter the En Suite and shut the door behind him, plunging the bedroom back into its previous level of darkness as it blocked out the lighting he'd just switched on.

Sighing a little to herself as she heard the water running, she settled back down under the covers, wondering if she'd manage to get any sleep between her rampant thoughts over what had happened - or _nearly_ happened in the infirmary and her possible upcoming escape.

Blinking away the after image of Law's small smile, Nayla closed her eyes, trying to push away the strangely strong sensation of sadness at the realisation that this could be the last night she ever spent aboard the Heart Pirates' sub.

* * *

"Law?"

Humming in acknowledgement, Law listened to the noise of Nayla's rummaging through her suitcase stop.

"I can't find my money."

Well, the morning had been relatively peaceful. Far _too_ peaceful between them, it was about time that changed. Glancing up at her as she appeared in the archway to his bedroom, he inwardly steeled his eardrums for what he was sure was a rapidly incoming, shrill, loud, temperamental response.

"It took you a week to notice it was missing, Nayla-ya?"

"You took my money?!"

It seemed that they'd both had a restless sleep. He knew what had been plaguing his thoughts and could probably guess what had been plaguing hers as she'd tossed and turned on his sofa all night. Either way, they'd both simply been too tired this morning to start trouble with one another. Perhaps that was the only way they'd ever manage to get through a quiet wake up and breakfast together.

"Yes." He answered simply, setting aside the stack of updated bounty posters on his desk, his mind still mostly focused on more important matters as he looked at her.

It still somehow managed to register that she looked good this morning though. Well, she always looked good; he had no issue in admitting that but she had taken the time to do her make up this morning after breakfast before tugging a plain black duffel bag out of her suitcase and beginning to pack.

Law hadn't questioned her change in routine this morning; it was obvious it was due to their impending arrival. The back of his mind recalled something about her 'finding a man at the next island' somewhat bitterly as he looked over her longer, thicker lashes, eye liner and irritable scowl pulling on those lush, red lips.

"Why would you take my money?!"

"Pirate." He drawled lazily, in no mood to engage her as he turned away to look at his pin-board in thought, his mind working on which crews they were most likely to encounter during their stay.

"…Pi-Pirate?! That's all you have to say about it?! Give me back my fucking money!"

"Or?"

Not missing the threatening edge to his gaze as he side-glanced at her over his shoulder, Nayla held her hands out and closed her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath and trying to simmer down. "Why did you take it?"

At least she put more effort into trying to keep her temper under control with him these days. Not that he helped her with that at all, he made no effort _not_ to get under her skin when the opportunity arose…she still got her digs in though.

Law had caught the gist of the lame demon-doctor jokes she'd been cracking in the rec room yesterday with his crew from snippets of their conversations he'd overheard at breakfast. That would probably explain why she'd tried to 'exorcise' him with an apple last night as he'd carried her up the stairs…and why she'd drawn devil horns on either side of his hat, a pentagram on his forehead, given him a pencil thin moustache, a devil tail and pitch-forked the tip of his Nodachi in the newspaper this morning.

"I already gave you the answer."

"BULLSHIT!"

Feeling the corner of his lip tug up a little at how rapidly her attempt to maintain a calmer composure with him crumbled, he rest his cheek to his fist as he visually ran over the contents of his board. "How about, to cover the medical costs of your surgery and this week's worth of tests and examinations?"

"That's still bull – and _you_ insisted on guinea-pigging me!" He heard her march over to the front of his desk but paid her no mind, keeping his gaze ahead and concealing his growing smirk with the hand against his face.

"Then how about to cover the cost of repairs for the cell bars and compartment wall you destroyed?"

"Bu-You took the money when you searched my suitcase! _Before_ I did either of those things!"

Law spared her an amused glance as he heard her hand slam irritably onto the surface of his desk. "Then we're back to because I'm a pirate. If you're done screaming, I'm busy."

Nayla leant over his desk as he began to stand, narrowing her eyes at him. "You fucking liar. I don't know why you took it but it's not because you're a _filthy_ pirate - and you said I'd keep the money Joker paid me, right?! That was money from the last job I did for him, so give it back!"

"It's still yours Nayla-ya, I won't spend it. I'm just keeping it safe for you, seeing as you don't have any expenses at the moment. Free room and board." He gestured around the room with a grin as he used his free hand to pick up the Nodachi he'd propped against the desk.

"No one asked you too! Why would you keep my money?! How am I supposed to shop for anything when we get to Ashi-…" Stopping her tirade short as the realisation hit her, his smirk widened as he walked past her towards the door. "…If you think taking my money will stop me from being able to get on another ship and leave then you're sadly mistaken you conniving little control freak."

"Oh, it won't _stop_ you. I'm sure you'll try resorting to your usual, cheap, sex-appeal to get a free ride with the first sailor you come across…but there's no need to make it _easy_ for you, now, is there?"

Seething at his innuendo and snide little grin, Nayla watched him as he opened the door and left the room.

* * *

'Asshole. Complete. Utter. Fucking. Annoying. _Infuriating_. Asshole. Must have been _insane_ to have lost any sleep over leaving this place. Absolutely out of my fucking mind.'

Berating herself internally and unable to even find a curse word strong enough to describe the stupidity of her behaviour with Law in the infirmary last night, Nayla pressed her ear harder against the cold, thick steel of his safe, trying her hardest to work her way through the combinations.

Every time she thought Law wasn't _too_ bad or wasn't _too_ annoying or that sleeping with him might not be _too_ bad an idea, he almost immediately proved her wrong and made her regret the thought ever crossed her mind to begin with. Apparently she wasn't very good at holding onto the rage she was feeling right now because she seemed to keep forgetting how often she'd come to this conclusion before.

Sighing and sitting back on her haunches for a break, Nayla ran her hand through her hair and tried to settle her irked temper. 'Where's Nami when you need her? That girl would have had this thing open in five seconds flat.'

Law had been gone for some time now, doing god knows what. Captainy…stuff, she figured. Maybe checking on the crew or navigators or something…who cared…she wanted her damn stuff back and she wanted it _now_.

She'd been as discreet as she could have been about it but had spent time systematically checking through all the storage rooms on the sub this week. Most of the time whilst helping other crewmembers - like a handless Jeff, with their duties or sometimes when she was between doing something 'productive' and the next meal - a small snippet of time she could go unaccounted for as she made her way to the messdeck.

She'd had a particularly good opportunity to scour through them all after the attack on the marines and Kessinger pirates and Nayla was now one hundred percent certain that her weapons were not being stored in any of them nor any of the other rooms on the sub.

Unless he'd stashed them into a crewmember's cabin – unlikely, considering he felt they were 'fawning' over her, they were here, most likely with her stolen money, in the safe above Law's bed.

Clenching her jaw as she looked up at the Jolly Roger on the flag covering it, she couldn't help but feel that it was sneering mockingly at her.

Law wasn't stupid. He probably predicted she'd go looking for her things and although he'd not caught her doing it red-handed, he probably knew she'd checked his sub for them already.

'Maybe I should just break a hole in the safe, let the flag cover it and hope he doesn't check it before we leave…' Dismissing the idea as it came up for the hundredth time she shook her head. Like she had already reluctantly acknowledged, Law, unfortunately, wasn't stupid.

The safe was a good one, the metal was extremely thick. It would probably take several hits to break through the door, loud ones that would probably damage the surrounding wall so if the noise didn't alert him then his damaged wall peeking out from around the edges of the flag certainly would.

Plus, if he really wanted to make sure she didn't leave this sub with her money and weapons, he'd probably check to make sure his safe was still intact before they arrived anyway. Opening it discreetly and hiding her reclaimed things back into her suitcase ready for a fast exit, was her only hope here.

Nayla was more convinced each time he refused to return her blades that he was aware there was something important about them. She was beginning to suspect he was holding onto them more because he believed she wouldn't leave without them rather than because he had any genuine concern she'd turn them on him or his crew…After seeing more of her ability yesterday, it made her wonder if he'd already connected the dots on how the two things worked together because he seemed damn certain she'd be going nowhere without retrieving them first.

He was probably right…they really would be an utter pain to replace. It would be difficult to travel back so far to have something compatible with her ability re-crafted…and she _had_ grown so fond of her blades…Nayla really didn't want to leave without them but depending on how things went, maybe she'd have to make that sacrifice to get out of here.

Adamant to not let it come to that, she rolled her aching shoulders and neck with another sigh, knelt forward, lifting the flag away from the wall and over her head, pressed her ear back to the metal and began trying again. Cursing herself for not bothering to take that course on safe-cracking because she'd stupidly and arrogantly thought it would never come in handy if she could simply break through them.

* * *

Law slid the maintenance records folder back onto the shelving in his living quarters. The crew were ready and organised; everyone knew what was needed, what was priority and what their roles were. He'd expected no less.

Apparently Ashibumi had a professional docking and hangar area. The repairs done for the damage caused by the Sea king _and_ by Straw Hat should hold for several months but considering the unpredictability of the Grand Line's waters and lack of information on other surrounding islands and their repair facilities, Connor and the other mechanics felt it would be in their best interest to take advantage of Ashibumi's during their stay.

They would make permanent repairs, replenish their stock of materials for emergency ones…and repaint the unsightly bare, grey metal on the hull and roof. Aside from highlighting recently patched and vulnerable spots of his vessel as targets for attackers, it wasn't aesthetic; he'd feel much happier to know his vessel was back to its spotless, vibrant yellow.

He himself was up to speed on which pirates were lurking in and around this area as of the latest newspaper today; he was hoping to add a few more hearts to his collection during their sta-…

Law paused in mid-step as he walked past the archway on his way to his desk, blinking in disbelief at the sight in his peripheral vision before turning his head to verify it for himself.

There Nayla was, knelt on his bed, legs parted, leaning against his headboard with her head tucked under his flag and her arms reached up, apparently trying to crack his safe…He wasn't too surprised about that overall, it was more the striking view of her bent over like that on his bed that had caught him a little off guard.

Toned, tanned thighs and a plump ass barely contained within bright, red, lacey panties that stood out in stark contrast from underneath her plain, black mini skirt….Why hadn't that woman changed yet? He'd told her it was a winter island as soon as he'd seen her dressed this morning, she'd simply shrugged and said she'd pull on some thick tights, a sweater and coat later.

Spotting said clothing items thrown across the arm of his bedroom sofa, he supposed she'd been too preoccupied trying to break into his safe to have changed yet. Had she been at it this whole time? Law found himself mentally filing away how focused and motivated she could be when working on relieving something that annoyed her, maybe he could find a productive way to abuse that another time.

Sighing as he walked over to and leant against the side of the archway, he glanced at the black duffel bag on the floor. It wasn't too large but it seemed she'd packed a fair amount in there. Hopefully some more weather-appropriate options and all the junk she'd been cluttering up his quarters with.

Slowly but surely more of her things had begun creeping out of her suitcase and drawer. Slowly but surely she'd tired of having to take things out of either to go use them and bring them back to put them away.

Law hadn't said much about it, most of the things that had escaped her designated storage spaces were not unreasonable to leave where she'd left them.

He could understand it was tedious to have to remember to pull out face wash, body wash, shampoo, conditioner and the like every time she went to shower.

He could understand it was impractical to expect her to dry and remove the body puff she washed in the shower with when she had begun leaving it hanging from the taps of his bathtub…as much as the neon pink, fluffy-looking item offended his senses.

He could understand the annoyance and cumbersomeness of having to unwrap the cord, plug in, use, unplug, re-wrap and pack up the hairdryer each time she washed her hair…though _that_ he'd said something about. He wasn't happy about the red item set atop his bureau in front of the mirror but had only gotten some snarky response about how it wouldn't be a bother to him if she had her own cabin to stay in and that perhaps he should have thought about all these little annoyances _before_ forcing her to live in the same quarters. A battle cry he was getting all too familiar with.

Glancing at the bureau as he thought of it, he spotted the item still there. She wasn't taking it with her apparently, probably not a wise move on a winter island. The hairbrush she'd begun leaving there was gone though, his was the only one there. That, had been another grievance. When he'd told her to stop leaving hers out she'd done as he'd asked, too easily frankly and he'd realized a few days in, why that had been when he pulled out one of her long hairs from his own brush. Confronting her on using _his_ things she'd had the nerve to look up at his hair, deadpan at him and say something along the lines of 'well it's not like _you're_ using it.'

Gritting his teeth slightly as he thought of her sheer _nerve_ sometimes, Law looked back over at the source of his irritation as she cursed under her breath, apparently still not making much headway in her attempts to steal back her weapons and money.

He'd already taken the liberty of removing her bladed boots, thigh holster and chest harness from it last night when she'd been busy playing hide-and-seek. Though he hadn't returned them to her yet, they were sat under and in his desk at the moment.

Crossing his arms and legs at the ankle as he leant his back against the wall, Law wondered how long it'd take her to realize he was there, watching her. The crew, i.e.: Bepo, were sick of the amount of submerged travelling they'd had to do yesterday. They were surfaced now; the waters were a bit choppy but nothing unmanageable. They were passing through the turbulent, high winds and rain of a storm front that had just passed over their destination. With the loud, howling winds running past the sub and the constant, successive splashes of large waves hitting the sides of the vessel coupled with her concentration and soft strings of curses, he wasn't surprised she hadn't heard him come back in.

Watching her for a while, Law began to feel more and more irritable as Nayla failed to notice his presence and continued to try to steal from him, right under his nose…though he was a little more irritable at the unfortunately enticing view she was giving him.

Did she really think she could get away with this? Did she really think that in the likely event he walked in and caught her that he'd just let this slide? Did she really think he was _this_ soft to keep allowing her to get away with her ridiculous behaviour?

…

Come to think of it, she underestimated him a lot. She really didn't regard him to be as big of a threat as he was. Strutting around in her inappropriate clothing (for a ship full of men at sea), having to see her underwear everyday in his bathroom.

…

Walking into his quarters and having it smell more like her than of himself and his own belongings was beginning to wear on him as well. Why did women-she, have to smell so damn good?

…

Did she think she could get away with her flirtatious behaviour as it suited her as well? Tease him when she felt like it and shove him away when she wasn't in the mood for it?

...

Did she really think she could walk around his bedroom half naked and that he'd do nothing about it? Why was she so sure he was that docile? That harmless? It was insulting, disrespectful and almost felt like a blow to his pride as a man…in a strange, absolutely irrational and infuriating way.

...

Law was pretty sure it was all in his head.

…

Pretty sure.

...

He was still undetermined on what to make of the other night when she'd practically curled up by his side on the sofa all evening but he'd chalk that up to a mixture of stupidity or bravery and the rum she'd obviously had.

...

She probably wasn't teasing him on purpose.

…

Well she did a few times but he was pretty sure she wasn't teasing him on purpose most of the time which unfortunately made his thoughts that much more annoying because he had no one to blame for them but himself.

…

Maybe she _was_ teasing him on purpose and she was just a good actress that had been laughing at him all week.

…

Knowing she wanted him didn't help. Knowing that she was attracted to him, so easily turned on by him…dreaming of him…It wasn't easy to make this girl blush; she'd sat out in the open flicking through a same gender porn magazine in a hallway full of men without shame. Law could only imagine what she must have been dreaming about to have made her blush so deeply yesterday morning when he'd woken her - though he probably shouldn't. He should definitely _not_ imagine what it had been about. He'd been tempted to ask but it would have just come across as him teasing her and would probably have resulted in her attempting to sit him on his sword as she'd threatened.

…

Tilting his head slightly as she adjusted her stance on his bed with a furious growl, Law wondered how many times he'd been subjected to a view of her in an indecent state. He'd lost count…He'd seen her next to naked so many times that it was frankly becoming unfair of her to expect him to do and say nothing about it.

…

He was only human after all, how much self control was he supposed to have? Everyone had their limits…he _was_ a normal, healthy man with needs too – though he could already hear her voice in his head arguing the 'normal' part.

…

He really did have more important things to think about than this annoying little woman. Law had known her presence on board would be intrusive but hadn't known it would be _this_ intrusive. He'd been pushing all thoughts aside, dismissing them as feelings and desires that were all _way_ over-exaggerated and that would be remedied as soon as they hit land.

…

Deciding Nayla was too dense and consumed in what she was doing to turn around and notice him anytime soon, Law wondered if he should make his presence known…or he could just leave her to it. Leave her here to frustrate herself to the point of head-butting that wall and get on with what he needed to get on with.

She wouldn't be cracking that safe any time soon by the looks of things – and there wouldn't be a deity powerful enough to help her if she _dared_ use her ability to smash through it. He'd seriously show her no mercy if she deliberately destroyed _anything_ on his sub and she probably knew it too or she wouldn't have been trying to open his safe this way.

Tossing the ideas of ignoring or confronting her back and forth in his mind Law glanced back at her as he heard Nayla groan loudly in annoyance. She pulled her head out from under the flag and rest her hands to the top of his headboard, blowing her ruffled her out of her face with an aggravated huff before she rest her forehead down on the edge of it between her hands, sighing loudly in her irritation, unknowingly giving him a more generous view.

Law bit the inside of his cheek, finally deciding on his course of action. This was ridiculous, he was a pirate and pirates took what they wanted.

* * *

Closing her eyes tightly and taking a deep, soothing breath, Nayla tried cooling down. Getting frustrated was getting her nowhere very, very quickly.

Trying to remain calm and half-heartedly wondering if Law's offer for anger management was still open, she tried again to think clearly and remember what little she _did_ pick up about cracking safes.

She'd remembered enough to work out the combination length was six figures, maybe a special date? A birthday or anniversary of something? Maybe she should go take a rifle through the papers in Law's desk, it was possible that he had important dates or even the combination itself written down somewhere discreetly…Nah, the guy's brain was so sharp, no way he'd forget his own combination. It was locked firmly in his head…but then again maybe he wrote it down in case something happened to him and the crew needed access? Now there was one idea…

Furrowing her brows as a particularly large wave crashed loudly against the hull of the ship, she noticed how noisy it had gotten outside. It was making it more and more difficult to hear the clicks of the combination lock…Maybe she should sneak into the infirmary and grab Law's stethoscope to use on the safe's door to hear them better.

Two good and valid ideas she wished she had thought of earlier. Had she not been so enraged by that _fucking bastard_ she might have thought of it sooner...Maybe she really should take Law's help with her temper.

Sighing, opening her eyes and rolling her shoulders as she sat up, she readied herself to give the safe one last try before resorting to snooping around Law's desk in the infirmary for his stethosco-

Biting back a shriek as she felt the bed dip right behind her, Nayla tried to get off of it but was halted from moving to the side by a tattooed hand that clamped down onto the headboard beside her own – suddenly finding herself locked in place between that arm, the hard chest behind her and the headboard as another hand slammed onto it from her other side.

Nayla clasped her chest in a useless attempt to calm her heartbeat at the sudden scare, breathing heavily but then holding her breath entirely as she felt the rumble of a deep, very annoyed-sounding voice through her back and the brush of lips against the piercings of her ear as Law spoke.

"Did you really not learn your lesson the last time you crawled onto my bed uninvited, Nayla?"

Husky, way, way too husky and far too close. Gasping as she felt his teeth graze her upper ear and closing her eyes as she felt his tongue run over the shell of it, she struggled to think of a plausible explanation as she licked her suddenly-dry lips.

"I was just-" Cutting off whatever lie or excuse she was about to utter with a firm bite, Law moved his hands to rest on her bare thighs, dragging them up her skin slowly as he sucked the edge of her ear from his position knelt behind her.

Opening her eyes in alarm, Nayla looked down as she felt his hands riding up and under the hem of her skirt without hesitation, instinctively pulling backwards from them only pressed her harder into Law, a low, audible exhale escaping him at the contact, tickling her skin.

Feeling his hands slide over her panties she quickly wriggled out of his hold but not before feeling the distinct impression of his smirk against her ear as she did so. Quickly moving to the other side of the bed, she sat a safe distance from him, out of his reach and near the edge, breathing heavily as she tried to shake off her shock and find her voice.

Looking over his entirely relaxed demeanour as he turned her way, the lazy, amused, little smirk she'd felt against her ear in place, Nayla found it as she felt her annoyance resurface. "That's not funny! What is the _matter_ with you?! I-…What are you doing?" Her voice came out almost a whisper at the unsettling look in his eyes as he began crawling over to her.

"I've already told you how much of a bad idea it is for a woman to be in a pirate's bedroom, all alone and on his bed. How much worse it is to be a woman in a pirate's bedroom, all alone, on his bed _and_ trying to steal from him."

Feeling a little of her anger return, both at his words and at his obvious enjoyment of her intimidation, Nayla narrowed her eyes at him. "It's not stealing if it's _my_ stuff to begin with! How da-!"

Choking on what felt like the heart that had just risen up into her throat as he suddenly grabbed both of her ankles, she looked back up at him from the tattooed threat across his knuckles, fighting back the urge to swallow nervously at the look on his face before he swiftly and strongly pulled her back towards him over the covers.

As soon as her body met his again he ran his hands up the sides of her legs, now on either side of his knelt ones as he leant over her, grazing his eyes over the exposed panties that her skirt had ridden up and revealed as he'd dragged her.

Feeling a complete loss for words as she watched his hungry gaze rake up her body and over her exposed stomach from where her top had also ridden up in her motion, Nayla felt a paralysing mixture of fear and arousal flooding through her veins…She hadn't even known that was a possible combination up until now.

Held in placed by his lust-filled gaze as his eyes rose to hers, she watched as he brought his face closer, pressed his hands to either side of her body and spoke in a smooth, low whisper, each word soaked in sexual intent. "I'm done playing, Nayla."

Her hesitation, second-guessing, her scrambled, panicked thoughts immediately silenced as soon as his lips touched hers. The only part of her that seemed to be capable of responding was her body and through this long week of torturous exposure to him and illicit encounters, it was craving him in a way and in an intensity that she hadn't experienced before.

Closing her eyes she reached a hand to the back of his head, pulling him down with her as she returned his kiss, earning a hum of approval from him as he followed her down to his mattress. A deep rush of lust coursed through her at the sound, increasing pressure of his lips and at the feel of his body on top of hers on his bed.

She gasped as she felt a hand on her bare waist and his other thread through her hair, immediately feeling him slip his tongue into her mouth as her lips parted. Vaguely hearing the soft, satisfied moan that had left her as she truly tasted him for the first time, she couldn't remember uttering it. He'd heard it too; the sound had provoked him into kissing her with more passion as he delved his tongue deeply into her mouth.

This wasn't a dream, not even in her wildest ones could she feel such an unfairly strong desire at such minor ministrations and unlike how Law had kissed her in her dream, this was entirely different. It wasn't the idealised, romanticised, soft kiss her brain had concocted for her. This was far harder, far rougher; there was more hunger, rawness, aggression and dominance in this one. It was far better.

The tight grip he had on the fistful of hair and the deep, long, strong strokes of his tongue against hers inside her mouth, completely overpowering her without hesitation. There was a burning desire in his kiss and a sense of frustration and anger – at her or himself she wasn't sure. There was no tenderness in it or his touch, just open, intense lust that she was surprised to find herself so readily matching and returning.

Reaching her other hand up to remove and toss his hat onto the floor earned her a deeper, stronger motion to the tongue inside her mouth. Any attempt to push it back, to explore his mouth, he was dominating over, battling any resistance her tongue put up against his own.

Sliding his hand beneath her lower back he pulled her body closer, withdrawing to plant kisses on her lips and jaw as he adjusted himself to lie comfortably between her legs. He ran his tongue over her lips as she parted them to moan at his more intimate contact, coaxing hers out to meet his before pushing it back inside her mouth with it.

It was all so carnal, the hard, heated kiss, the moist smacks of their mouths meeting, the heightening speed, their breathing becoming more laboured and the amazing feel of the coarse hairs of his goatee brushing against her chin with the movements of his – it was perfect, not harsh enough to burn but rough enough to be arousing.

Pulling away from her with heavily lidded eyes that betrayed the intensity of his craving for her, Law kissed her once more before laying his lips to her neck, his rapid breaths dancing across her skin as he pulled her head aside by the fistful of hair he had, enjoying her taste as he ran his tongue over her flesh, hovering over the faded mark he'd left there before, threatening it with his teeth.

Nayla felt the hand on her lower back glide up her spine as she felt a shudder run in the opposite direction at his touch, moaning as he bit her neck gently and moaning louder as he bit down harder whilst pressing one of his thighs between her legs firmly. She was starting to believe the feel of rough, bare denim on her inner thighs and against her panties was just about the most arousing sensation she'd experienced.

Humming appreciatively against her neck at the sound that elicited, he kissed her flesh from collarbone to below her ear, nipping and tugging her earlobe before retracing his steps back down the side of her neck, stopping midway and opening his mouth against her skin to swirl his tongue over it before sucking firmly.

Releasing her hair as she tilted her head back further at the sensation, Law used that hand to run over her shoulder, pushing the strap of her top down her arm.

Pressing her lips together, Nayla tried to smother the moans that wanted to leave her as she felt him grind his thigh harder against her, his mouth on her skin and his hands beginning to undress her.

She reached down as close to the hem of his hoodie as she could. Taken by the indescribably strong urge to feel his flesh on hers, those perfect abs, that bronze skin, those beautiful tribal lines, the contours of his hard muscles, she wanted to feel his bare body heat on her.

Grabbing fistfuls of the fabric she began tugging it up his body, sighing in satisfaction as she felt his skin touch her exposed stomach and as he lapped over her collarbone, his warm breath tickling the moist skin he left behind as he alternated between light and heavy kisses, gentle and harsh bites. Mixing the pleasurable sensations of the warmth and moisture of his lips and tongue with the mildly painful sensations of his teeth and the gentle graze of his facial hair.

Pulling his top up to his arms, Law reluctantly lifted his face away from her neck, enough to allow her to tug the fabric up over his head and toss it over the edge of the bed behind her carelessly to join his discarded hat.

Nayla gazed at his bare chest, taking in the sight eagerly. It wasn't her first time seeing it but it was her first time being able to be this close to it, to openly admire it, to touch it.

Sucking on her lower lip, she reached her hands up and placed them over his pecs, trailing her fingers down slowly over the solid, warm muscles, watching them closely as they moved with his rapid breathing. The muscled outline of his shoulders, arms and sides highlighted beautifully by the pale blue-grey glow that streamed into the room from the porthole behind him from the stormy, overcast sky outside.

Nayla had never liked the dreary, cloudy colour of the sky during rain but somehow, she felt she'd probably developed a new appreciation for it. Smiling a little and glancing back up at his eyes at the thought, she admired the gorgeous, rare colour of them. A perfect match to the view through the thick glass of the wall behind him, the backdrop a perfect accompaniment to their turbulent and unpredictable relationship as it finally reached its wild, stormy peak.

Feeling his muscles tense in reflex beneath her fingertips as she gently raked her nails over his perfectly chiselled body, she glanced back down at his abs. Tracing her hands over the 'V' of his lower abdominal muscles, over the fabric of the black boxers that peered over the waistband of his jeans and slid them further down over his crotch. Using both hands to gently rub over his erection, drawing a deep groan when she groped him firmly through his jeans and looked back up at him.

The sound of his arousal at her touch was an incredible turn on, she couldn't wait to hear him moan again, pant in her ear as he thrust deep inside of her, hear him when he came for her.

Licking her lips at the thought, she trailed a single, teasing finger back up the seam of his fly to its button, undoing it as she rubbed against him gently with her other hand. No sooner after the button popped open, Law gripped her wrists, pinning them on either side of her as he pushed her flat to the bed and kissed her deeply. Pulling a loud moan from her as he pressed the hardness of his crotch between her legs and an even louder one that broke their kiss as he thrust it against her.

Immediately moving his lips back to her neck with a groan as he felt her legs wrap around his waist and her attempt to free her hands, he held them in place strongly, pulling the other strap of her top down her upper arm with his teeth before using them to tug the fabric on her chest down to reveal her bra, immediately running his tongue over her cleavage and making her gasp.

Releasing her hands in favour of placing his own on her chest, Nayla wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she felt his tongue delve deeply between her breasts and his hands knead them firmly.

Closing her eyes and tilting her head back as he thrust himself against her again and groped her breasts, she panted heavily, threading her fingers through his hair and gripping a handful tightly.

Trailing his hot tongue across her skin, Law kissed and sucked the top of her cleavage as he rubbed and squeezed her breasts, burying his lips between them as he peeled the lacey fabric of one of her bra cups from her skin between finger and thumb, pulling the material taught as he thrust into her hard. The motion of her nipple against the tight, rough graze of the lace causing an involuntary arch of her back and moan – and another, far louder one followed as he ground his hips harshly into her again.

He released the thin material, opting to suck her flesh though it instead. Biting her lips together, Nayla tried halting any further loud moans that wanted to leave her as she felt the heat and moisture of his mouth through the gaps in the lace over her nipple, soaking through the fabric. The sensation of her flesh in his mouth and the wet, coarse, patterned lace he was forcing her nipple against with his strong sucks was incredible.

Releasing his hold on her breasts with both his mouth and his hands, Law moved them to settle on her hips, pulling her further down the bed, pressing himself hard against her with another thrust and devouring the cry that ripped from her lips hungrily, kissing her with fevered passion as she ground herself against his throbbing erection eagerly.

Obliging her growing need for the friction, he gripped her hips harder, thrusting into her again and again, earning moan after moan, pushing into her with enough force to slide her back up and down against the mattress below. Nayla gripped the bed covers with a hand, trying to steady herself in more ways than one, if things went on like this he could easily make her cum before he'd even touched her below the waist or taken her panties off.

Feeling his mouth on her neck, she opened her eyes, eagerly kissing his in return, running her tongue over his skin and sucking on his ear lobe until he trailed down her neck too far her to reach it any longer.

Panting as she watched him rapidly trail kisses down the centre of her chest, he gazed up, the look in his eyes as he ground himself deeply into her promising a raw, rough, lust-fuelled, satisfying fuck. Exactly what she had been so sorely craving from him.

She couldn't wait any longer. Trying to slip her hand down between them to finish what she'd started and unzip his fly, Law gripped her hand and pressed it to the bed beneath his own, smirking as she whined in frustration and threw her head back in annoyance at his clear indication that _he_ was in control here.

Law lavished her breasts once more, licking the soft flesh as he reached his free hand beneath her, trailing it up her arched back toward the clasp of her bra, eager to get a full mouthful of her bare chest.

Both stilled as they heard the loud knock on the door to his quarters. "Captain, just letting you know we're about ten minutes off the next island and that Jean Bart said they _won't_ have any problems approaching in this weather, so no need for you to pop by the cockpit again."

Propping himself up slightly on his elbows, Law responded levelly. "…Alright."

Unable to hear the man shuffling away from the door, Nayla was inwardly relieved that the rough weather outside had not only concealed the sound of the crewmember's approach but had probably made it so he'd been unable to hear her moans either.

Turning his attention away from the direction of his door back to the woman beneath him, they exchanged silent eye contact as they both tried to settle their breathing.

On cue, the announcement of them being ten minutes away from arrival and the prompt for the crew to begin landing preparations and assembling on the main deck sounded out over the sub's intercom system.

Feeling their fevered lust waiver and break as they listened to the announcement repeat, Law lowered his head back down with a loud, frustrated sigh, the noise smothered between her breasts. Cursing himself for being unable to keep it together for just a little while longer, he started to wonder what on Earth had come over him and what the backlash of this would be.

Just as his mind was beginning to run wild with possibilities of how Nayla would take all of this and how things would be between them now he heard and felt her giggling quietly as she reached up and cradled his head to her chest. Almost in a consoling cuddle as she ran her fingers through his hair soothingly.

"...You have a sick sense of humour." That only seemed to make her laugh harder, though he inwardly found relief in the sound and enjoyed the pleasant way it made the soft flesh of her breasts move against his face as he sighed again.

Despite his grumpy, frustrated words, Nayla could feel Law start to smile as her giggling settled, his face still nuzzled against her skin.


	45. Tall, dark and grumpy

"Jean Bart in a G-string bikini."

Law froze in his stoop down to the floor, wondering if he'd heard correctly as he looked over at Nayla in carefully guarded confusion.

"A neon green, PVC one."

Yes, apparently he had. Deciding it was best to ignore that, he picked his hoodie up from the floor as he stood upright, absolutely refusing to allow that mental image to develop.

"Bepo shaving his legs in your bathtub."

Casting her an unimpressed look, he guessed what she was trying to do by the mischievous look on her face as she lay on his bed.

"Penguin and Shachi making out."

"Nayla…" He sighed, watching her roll onto her stomach to stop looking at him upside down as he pulled his top back on over his head.

"What? Did that make it worse?" She immediately teased, glancing at his crotch purposely before smiling up at him as he put his arms back through his sleeves and gave her an exasperated glance.

"I don't need your 'help.'"

"Nude…aside from their hats of course. They'd probably keep those on." Noticing the corner of his mouth betray him a little at that, she giggled quietly to herself and propped her cheek onto her hand as he rest his own beside her on the edge of the bed, leaning back down and scooping his hat off of the floor.

"Bread." Turning slowly in his knelt position and looking at her incredulously only made her grin more widely.

"Bread…isn't a turn on or a turn off Nayla, it's just a food preference."

"A _really_ weird one and here I thought maybe you had a legitimate reason not to eat it, like coeliac disease or something."

"Who told you about that anyway?" He muttered, placing his hat back onto his head and leaning his folded arms onto the edge of the bed in front of hers.

"Jake did."

"…Of course he did." He rolled his eyes as he thought of the chef's zealous reaction when finding out his dislike for it and subsequent attempts to change his mind. "And for the record Nayla, offering 'help' whilst lying on my bed like _that-_ " He glanced down at her exposed bra pointedly. "-is counterproductive."

Looking down at her chest in mild surprise, she tugged her top back up as he smirked and stood. "Get dressed, we're nearly there."

"Aye aye 'Captain.'"

Ignoring the tantalising sound of his title rolling off her tongue – and the mocking salute, as she sat up on his bed, Law walked back through to his living quarters towards his coat rack. She seemed fine…maybe things wouldn't be nearly as awkward as he'd thought they would be between them.

Grimacing a little at the slight additional pressure as he re-buttoned his fly, he secretly and reluctantly took her suggestion and tried picturing Bepo with bare legs and a bathtub full of white fur…The other two images she'd conjured up in his head were far too disturbing to focus on...The cold air outside would help.

Reaching up for his long coat, Law listened to the rustling of clothing coming from the bedroom as Nayla wrapped up properly as well. Slipping it on and zipping it up, he walked over to his desk, looking through the archway at the sound of wood sliding against wood, wondering if she'd forgotten something from her drawer… _the_ drawer he allowed her to keep things in but found her instead plucking a tissue out of his own bedside cabinet's one.

"Your boots are here, Nayla-ya." He called through, deciding to pay no attention to her annoying familiarity with his bedroom and her helping herself to its contents as he picked up her confiscated, bladed footwear from under his desk.

"Hmm, back to 'Nayla-ya' already, are we?" She sang through, appearing at the archway with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

Smiling a little to himself, Law held them out for her. "Did you expect me to start calling you by a doting pet name?"

"Not at all." She laughed, walking towards him and setting her bag down onto the floor as she took them. "Finally." Sighing in relief, she bent down to pull them on over her thick, black tights. "Think I'll be warm enough like this?"

Law looked her over, watching her fiddle with the amount of buckles on her knee-highs as he opened his desk drawer. She'd pulled on a thick red sweater and a long, black jacket as well. "No, what you're wearing is plenty. It's a winter island but it's going through its warmer season. The temperatures we can expect there at this time of year should be hovering around freezing but not dipping far below it."

"Ah ok, great." She took the thigh holster and chest harness he handed to her from his desk, already feeling more comfortable to be at least partially equipped. Hesitating as she began sliding the two small daggers into her slightly unzipped bag, she glanced back up at him. "Do I need to arm myself before we leave the sub or will you and the boys be helping the damsel in distress if I run into any trouble?"

Smiling a little at the unlikely title and at the memory of her playing 'damsel in distress' back on the archipelago, Law began making his way over to the door. "You won't be out of my sight long enough to get into trouble."

"Hmm, I dunno. I'm pretty good at attracting it, apparently." She returned his sly expression as he glanced at her over his shoulder, finished zipping her bag closed and stood.

"More like _causing_ it, Nayla-ya." He laid a hand to the door as she trot to catch up to him.

"Wait a sec." Holding onto his arm to stop him from opening it, she pulled the tissue she'd taken from his bedroom out of her coat pocket.

His brows rose in surprise as she rest a hand to his jaw and turned him to face her more fully. "…What are you doing?"

"Making you look more presentable for your men. Red isn't your colour." She mused, wiping the faint, pinkish smudges from his neck.

Law sighed, relaxing at her touch as he reached for the Nodachi he'd leant against the wall beside the door on his way in to his shelves.

Feeling her hand rise up to grip and wipe his ear lobe he looked back down at her, wondering if her touch was as affectionate as it seemed or if it was just his misinterpretation. The fact she had such a warm smile on her face and obvious laughter in her eyes was starting to worry him too. Maybe she'd misunderstood something, maybe she was more naïve than he'd given her credit for, maybe she was reading too much into this.

"It didn't mean anything."

Nayla paused for a moment, slightly taken aback by his bluntness before she shook her head and smiled again, gently wiping the piercing she'd managed to get lipstick on. "I know it didn't. I didn't say it did."

"…You seem overly happy."

Blinking in surprise before laughing, she reached her free hand back up to the side of his jaw before wiping across his lips with the tissue. "I just drove a man who's usually very calm and collected _wild_ with desire-"

"Don't over sell it." He interrupted, his mutter partially smothered by the tissue over his mouth.

"-without even trying. It's very flattering, why wouldn't I be happy about it?"

"Because we didn't actually…"

Nayla found herself trying not to laugh at the uncharacteristic and oddly cute expression on his face as he looked away – obviously feeling mildly awkward, as he skirted around outright wording it. Gripping his chin gently made his eyes return to hers as she pressed the tissue to his lips to wipe the last of the slightly pinker than usual hue from them.

"Oh, well that doesn't bother _me_ too much." She smiled up at him deviously as she removed her hands. "I'll survive, it's not like _I'm_ going to be the one walking around with blue balls all day-ow! Law!"

Rubbing her forehead where he'd palmed it to 'gently' push her back and out of the way of the door, Nayla watched him as he sighed loudly and walked out of his quarters…feeling her frown slowly pull up into a grin between pursed lips as she tried not to laugh aloud at his frustration with her.

Scrunching the tissue into her coat pocket, she followed after him, closing the door behind her and already looking forward to the rest of what was shaping up to be an interesting day.

* * *

Feeling the slight chill coming in from what must be the open main deck entrance upstairs, Nayla made her way to the staircase, seeing that Law was already halfway up them with his long strides. The other crewmembers were making their way up too, a scattering of white boiler suits emerging from the floor below and alongside their captain as they continued their way up to the deck.

"Nayla-chan." Shachi greeted, waving her over as he and Penguin reached the first floor landing.

"Need a hand with…" Penguin rethought his offer and withdrew his hand suspiciously as he eyed the bag on her shoulder, recalling his many encounters with her over-packed suitcase.

Laughing a little at his reluctance, Nayla readjusted the strap over her shoulder as she followed Shachi's polite prompt for her to walk ahead of them up the next flight of stairs. "No thank you, it's ok and for the record, this one is light."

" _Finally_ we've hit land!" Jeff greeted happily from behind, slinging an arm over each of his crewmates' shoulders with a big grin.

"OI!"

"Get off you big lummox!"

"No kidding. Land ho!" An equally excited crewmember on the staircase behind him exclaimed over Penguin and Shachi's grumbling.

"Talking about the island or the women?" The one beside him snickered.

"Land ho for the land hos." Another spoke up further down, causing the men to laugh and Nayla to turn around with an arched brow to see who was talking.

"Idiots!" Shachi hissed, paling a little at her expression as he shook off Jeff's arm and whirred around to glare (as best as one can with sunglasses on) at the crewmembers below who were obviously unaware she was up ahead and able to hear them.

"D-Don't mind them, Nayla-chan, they-" Penguin began, holding his hands up to placate her as Jeff released him and thumped the man behind him on the staircase over the head harshly.

"Forgive 'em, they don't really mean anything by it." Jeff offered, ignoring the man's cry of pain as he rubbed his head through his cap. "…Apologise to the lady you idiot!"

"Nah, don't worry. I'm not gonna take offence on behalf of all woman-kind or anything. Thought it was pretty funny actually." She smiled, turning around as she reached the top of the staircase ahead of them. "Hey, speaking of hos, what do pirates and pimps have in common?"

Exchanging confused looks amongst themselves as they reached the landing, Jeff cautiously took the bait. "Dunno, what do they have in common?"

"Both greet women with 'Yo ho!' and walk with a limp."

"…Pfft."

"Boooo."

"That sucked _and_ I'm offended! 'Yo ho's and pegged-legged pirates are part of a negative stereotype that we, as a proud people, are trying to move on from." Jeff replied in a mockingly snooty voice, holding a hand to his chest in fake hurt as they made their way down the hall.

"Yup, that was totally racist, Nayla-chan." The guy behind him agreed.

"Pirates aren't a _race_ , you dolt." The other beside him nudged with a sigh making the others snicker.

Laughing as they broke out into a childish bicker, Nayla allowed Jeff to pull the bag off her shoulder and sling it onto his own as they walked through the open doorway to the main deck, the cold, late morning wind greeting them as they made their way outside.

"Anyhoo, sorry about the…Well, ya know, in general." Jeff apologised, gesturing at the raucous behind them. "It's easy to keep forgetting we have a lady on board."

"Really its fine, go ahead and do what you guys do…Besides, it's kinda in the pirate job description."

"What is? Being a vulgar pig?" Shachi asked, turning to look at Jeff and earning a sour look from the man in response.

"No, travelling from land to land in pursuit of booty."

"...How many more lame pirate jokes you got, Nayla-chan?" Penguin chuckled as Shachi sighed at her.

"Heard quite a few during my short time on the Grand Line actually, all in due time." She promised, taking a look around the deck.

They had made it through the last dregs of the storm; it was no longer raining but there was still a damp, refreshingly cool breeze. A look up at the sky and Nayla could see that the ship had crawled out from under the last of the thicker rainclouds, still heavily sprinkling their contents across the stretch of sea behind them that they had just passed through.

The waves were sloshing loudly against the hull with the occasional splash high enough to wet the edges of the deck but they were overall calmer than they had been when they'd been travelling through the rain.

Most of the crew were already on deck, talking avidly amongst themselves about the island they were rapidly approaching as they looked on at it from the railing. Following Penguin, Shachi and Jeff, Nayla made her way over to it as well to check out their destination.

Although it wasn't actively raining over the island, the skies above it were still mostly overcast with few rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds as they gently moved, illuminating the industrious-looking portside town below.

They were close enough now to begin seeing the details of the piers and the people on them as they approached. The relatively short buildings lining the street running parallel to the harbour had obviously been built to cater to visitors and tourists. A littering of inns, hotels, bars and eateries could be seen easily from here. Professional-looking docking services, shipyards and repair bays were rapidly coming into view as well.

Nayla was a little surprised to see how brazenly and openly the pirates were approaching the island, making no effort to conceal their identity or the Jolly Roger proudly borne on their hoisted sail and vessel.

"I can understand uninhabited islands and Sabaody because it was rife with criminals already but shouldn't you guys be making…I dunno, more effort to conceal you're pirates than this?" Nayla asked, breaking their quiet examination of Ashibumi.

"Well, there are _so_ many pirates sailing the Grand Line-" Penguin began.

"Especially these days." Shachi quipped in, raising an index finger from his folded arms resting on the railing.

"-Yeah, I mean pirates probably make up a huge portion of the people visiting islands like this one on the Grand Line. People are usually happy to do business with us, so long as we don't cause them any trouble."

"Can vouch for that." Jake called over from a little way down the railing to their right, leaning back to poke his head around Ichirou. "Back when I was running my restaurant, me and the other business owners in the area, basically didn't care so long as the pirates didn't cost us more than they spent with us. Money is money, plus they don't want any trouble."

"Yeah, most of the time people think we're more likely to leave 'em alone if they're nice to us. Some even do a lil ass-kissing - especially when they see whose crew we're on." Jeff grinned deviously, thumbing in the direction of his captain further along the railing to their left, talking quietly with a crewmember as they observed the island coming into view as well.

"People don't call the marines on you?" Nayla asked, turning away from Law, standing out amongst his men in his long, dark attire and his rather appealing windswept visage as he stood on his deck, eyes taking in everything about the harbour they were rapidly approaching.

"Nah, not really. If we're behaving and paying for our goods, why would they want to throw away their income?" Shachi reasoned.

"Mix of 'em being scared we'll find out they called them and hurting 'em before the marines can arrive too." Jake chipped in.

"Plus, these days. Marine presence in Paradise is at an all time low. They're still tied up trying to get Whitebeard's old territories under control in the New World." Penguin added, earning agreements from the other two men as they drew closer to marina.

Nayla hummed noncommittally at that, all mild hopes of running into a particularly strong bunch of marines on the island to give her a hand in her escape flying out the window. Not that she expected to have enough luck to run into a marine strong enough to be a match for Law but maybe enough to keep him busy whilst she made a run for it in the chaos. Was that too much to ask?

Watching the sub manoeuvred elegantly into an empty bay as some of the crewmembers began to ready ropes and the gangplank, Nayla took the time to look at the rough layout of the island, mind working on recording her observations for later use and her other possible options.

Beyond the initial line of establishments to the right, the buildings seemed to rapidly become taller and larger, sporting attractions for visitors such as casinos and venues for live shows - if the currently unilluminated neon signs of the numerous buildings on this side of the island were any indication. Though despite them, this was oddly not a tacky looking district; the buildings were of good architecture and structure. The streets leading off to the left seemed to run into a large trading district, many people strolling through them holding assorted shopping bags. Ashibumi seemed to be a relatively wealthy and well-kept island that offered a lot of potential to its visitors, at first glance anyway.

It looked quite scenic too, once you got past the facilities brought up front for their patrons' benefit. She'd noticed during their approach that far beyond the coastline, as the island rose higher past its sea-level edges, beautiful residential areas could be seen and even further beyond that, Ashibumi's skyline held a single, snow-tipped mountain. Visible above the tops of the buildings as a picturesque backdrop to this winter island. Nayla could guess it was probably a popular tourist attraction or perhaps the natives used it as a getaway or for winter sports too.

Attention drawn back from admiring the scenery, she looked down as she heard the heavy splash of the sub's anchor dropping followed closely by the loud thud of the gangplank contacting the wooden planks of the pier. A few crewmembers hurried down it to began their procedures to securely tether the ship.

Wondering where the dockhands that should have been guiding their approach and collecting their fees were and then noticing the pier seemed to be void of people altogether suddenly, Nayla scanned the harbour for them, spotting them much further away, apparently keeping their distance from the pirates.

There was a small gathering of dockworkers watching their arrival, talking behind hands to each other as they observed the Heart Pirates' vessel and proudly boasted Jolly Roger…The majority of nervous eyes were focused on the man further along the railing beside her though. Nayla could already tell they were exchanging hushed whispers of Law's infamy, his bold acts at the war not long ago, his recent attack on the local marines off their coast and most likely, rumours of his cruel and sadistic deeds - if the pallid faces of the gossiping longshoremen were anything to go by.

Glancing at the man in question, Law seemed to either not notice their attention on him or more likely, not care. The other crewmembers didn't seem fazed by it either. Reasoning that this reaction to their arrival must happen every place they visit and that they were all used to it by now, Nayla returned her attention to the island.

Even with the snowy mountain in the far background and even though this was a winter island, Law had been right; the weather wasn't unbearably cold to any extent. There was no snow on the ground but there was a delicate sprinkling of fragile frost over some of the other ships docked nearby and the short stretch of sand below the pier. It was cold but not uncomfortable.

"Anything breakable in this?"

Turning to Jeff who was holding up her bag in indication, she shook her head. "No, how com-?"

"Connor! Heads up!"

Looking up in the direction of his friend's voice as he emerged from the doorway onto the deck, Connor furrowed his brows. "What fo-Oi!"

Chuckling as his friend quickly raised his hands to catch the duffel bag before it collided with his face; he pushed off from the railing. "Be a gent and hold onto that for our lil lady wouldya? Need to go speak to Cap about something important."

"Dumbass." Connor muttered, glaring at Jeff's bright grin as he made his way over to their captain.

Nayla glanced over at Law, still talking to the crewmember she recognised as being the one holding the ship's schematic on the last island they'd been on. Koush, she'd learnt his name was during this week. Following his outstretched index finger, she spotted what seemed to be a large hangar at one of the bigger shipyards that he was pointing out to his captain.

"Yo, how's the island look?" Connor asked as he approached, leaning onto the railing between her and Penguin.

"Alright I guess, lil more upscale than we thought though. Captain's having us take a lil look around before we goof off. You guys gonna finalise repairs today?" Penguin asked, crossing his arms as he turned to look at him.

"Yeah, we'll get it done and outta the way today. Gonna hoist her up properly and we'll give her a good sealing so you guys'll need to scout us out some good spots to hit tonight after we're done."

"She gonna tie you up long?" Shachi glanced at the hangar his captain and Koush were discussing.

"Nah, we'll have her back in the water by tonight but me and the boys'll spend all day touching her up." Nayla snickered a little at the way that sounded, making the three of them look at her in mild surprise.

"Geez, thought Jeff was outta earshot, gotta worry about this little pervert too." Connor sighed, planting a hand to her head and ruffling her hair.

"You guys have rubbed off on me, everything sounds dirty now. You've ruined my innocent mind and tainted my pure ears." She muttered, trying to swat Connor's hand away.

"Innocent and pure? A likely story." Penguin scoffed. "Starting to think Jeff was right, you _are_ his soul mate." He mocked, watching as she finally managed to get out of arm's reach of Connor's attack on her head.

"Tragic…I wonder how Captain'll take the news." Connor looked away in fake-wonder before looking back at her with a devious grin as she processed what he'd said and lowered the hands she was using to smooth out her hair back down to her sides with a deadpan.

"Lil heartbreaker, I hope Captain can cope." Shachi sighed dramatically with a shrug.

"Wait, you're on the 'it was Captain' band-wagon now too?" Penguin asked with a raised brow, making Nayla narrow her eyes at him as he brought up the topic of who had been the culprit of her hickey. She'd hoped they'd forgotten or decided to move on from that by now.

It had faded to nearly nothing over the week, that cream had been really helpful…though she hadn't appreciated the smug smirks on Law's face out of the corner of her eye when she'd been applying it as his mirror.

"Yup." Connor answered proudly. "He even changed his bet to-oomph!" He doubled over to hold the stomach Shachi had just roughly elbowed, the strap of her bag sliding down his arm he slumped.

"…You guys are betting?" Nayla asked quietly, lifting her eyes from the groaning man to eye Shachi.

He nervously cleared his throat as Penguin looked away entirely. "J-Just a lil harmless fun, Nayla-chan, really."

"…Geez, you guys get bored too easily. You have bets running on _everything_." She groaned. It was true too, during her week spent with them she'd heard of betting pools running on just about everything she could think of. From who would get the most or least lays at the next island to who would be the next prank victim to who would pass out drunk first the next time they went to a bar to how many times they'd depress Bepo that day to who would be next person to piss off their captain enough to end up with a punishment.

Looking over at Law at the thought, she was surprised to find he was looking right at her, making her wonder if he'd overheard their conversation as he turned his gaze back to Jeff, still beside him and seemingly whining about something.

"They've been looking over here a lot." Penguin said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

A small amount of anxiety ran through her as Nayla questioned, irrationally, if Law might have said something about their…'morning' for them to be looking over in her direction so much but quickly dismissed the thought. Law hadn't made any implications that he'd say anything about their…whatever it was, to the crew and if he ever _were_ gonna 'kiss and tell,' then Jeff would probably not be at the top of his list of people to tell about it.

"It's Jeff, can't be talking about anything important." Connor dismissed with a scoff as they watched the two walk towards them.

Feeling the crew on deck hush, Nayla turned to find them all gathering around expectantly, the ones on the pier trotting back up the gangplank too, apparently awaiting their Captain's order to formally disembark. There was nothing but wide, toothy smiles and high energy amongst them, they were practically bouncing on the balls of their feet with their eagerness to hit the island.

"You guys always this excited?" Nayla asked in amusement as Jeff squeezed in between her and Connor, grinning at the man's exasperation with him.

"Nah but three weeks kinda takes its toll on the guys if they don't get lai-" Penguin and Shachi whipped their heads around to him, looking at him as if he were stupid as he shut his mouth abruptly.

"Three? But we've only been at sea for one wee…Oooh." She nodded in understanding, belatedly remembering their conversation about female company as they'd come up the stairs and realising it had been three weeks since the crew's last day in Sabaody. "Well, guess I can't blame 'em."

Truth be told, she was more than looking forward to a little 'company' herself - especially after her steamy morning. 'Finally, men without complicated strings attached,' she nearly sighed aloud in relief at the thought.

The crew had been half-jokingly calling her presence plus Law's 'don't touch' rule a terrible tease but as far as she was concerned, it was the reverse. Forced on board a ship full of men in her age range in peak physical condition who she'd watched work, train and sweat topless that she was forbidden from having her wicked way with _as well_ as being forced to room with a man of Law's calibre? Who was really being teased here?

Shifting her attention to the man in question as he waited patiently for the rest of the crew to assemble before speaking, Nayla tucked her hands into her pockets to warm them a little, inadvertently touching the tissue she'd already forgotten about which brought her gaze down to his lips hesitantly as her brain wandered slightly.

Honestly, she was relieved. Somehow it felt like a lot of the pressure of the building sexual tension between them had been released and she felt a lot lighter for it, it was a long time coming. Oddly, she felt a little closer to him now too and not necessarily because of their physical exchange but in knowing that he _was_ human, fallible, capable of failing to resist temptation and of feeling a little awkward. She smiled to herself as she recalled the expression he'd had on his face earlier.

It was a little strange that he'd felt the need to state it had meant nothing though, she'd already known that. It was _obviously_ just physical…maybe he'd thought he'd better clarify it for the sake of their future work-relationship she guessed. In his mind, she'd be around for a lot longer than she intended to be around for…She wondered if she'd get another, uninterrupted 'opportunity' with him before she left…Maybe she'd initiate it if she were feeling brave enough later…

"This is a docile island with no marine presence-" Snapping out of her reverie with a shocked series of blinks as Law began talking, Nayla demanded her brain to firmly disregard that last train of thought as she forced it to pay attention to his words. "-so there's no need to go about your business in large groups but stay alert and don't cause any unnecessary trouble with the locals. You know what you need to do. Get your duties done first, see to your own lunches,-" Law looked over at Penguin and Shachi "-let me know as soon as you find a suitable inn and then you can all enjoy your leisure time as you wish."

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Nayla laughed quietly to herself as the crew sounded off in unison and began making their way down the gangplank, finding their big grins and boyish horseplay endearing as she watched them.

"Where ya gonna be, sweetie? Want me to ask 'em to dump your bag off at the inn when they find one?" Connor asked, gesturing his thumb over at Penguin and Shachi as they began making their way off the ship.

Eyeing Shachi with a deliberately raised brow before looking back at him and holding her hand out to take her bag, Connor 'Ah'd in belated realisation as he passed it to her - easily imagining the two of them with goofy blushy faces giving in to the temptation of peeking through her belongings.

"I think I'll pass on handing over my personal items to Mr. Panty Pirate over there for now, thanks and I'm not sure where I'm gonna be exactly."

"With me, Nayla-ya."

Looking at Law as he approached, she slung the strap of her bag back onto her shoulder. "And what are we gonna go get up to?" 'Do not answer that question brain. I'm warning you. Do not. I wasn't asking you. Shut up. Let _him_ answer it. SHHHHH.'

"I'd like to take a look around the area, browse for information sources and pick up a few things…and I take it we need to look into your trip." He said the latter a little more lowly, exchanging eye contact with Connor that she was sure was being instinctively received as; 'do not ask.'

"Ah, right yeah. Would be wise."

Nayla looked up as Koush approached and tapped a hand to Connor's shoulder on his way past. "Let's go ask those dockworkers about the hangar."

"Right. See ya later, sweetie." He half-waved as he turned to follow his crewmate.

"Later Connor, don't work too hard, have fun."

"Thanks, you too…" He doubled back to lean in to her ear and speak privately. "I'm sure you'll have _plenty_ of it, with Captain, _all_ day."

"Oh, give it a rest you gossipy bastard, get outta here!"

Rolling his eyes as Nayla took a play-swing at Connor, Law rest his arms on the railing, watching the rest of his men disembark and the other people on the harbour closely as they did.

Once satisfied Connor had retreated far enough away from her to not be worth going after to kick his teeth shut over the tongue he'd stuck out, Nayla turned her attention back to Law. Readjusting her strap, she walked over to the railing next to him with a huff, following his line of sight to Penguin and Shachi a short distance away down the wooden pier who were talking animatedly with one another, seemingly having a mild disagreement about something.

Feeling eager to get off the sub herself, Nayla looked around at the dwindling numbers on deck. "What are we waiting for?"

"For the others to join us." Law responded neutrally.

A little thankful she wouldn't be entirely alone with Law all day, Nayla settled onto the railing beside him, watching as some of the crew began taking different routes down the street adjacent to the harbour. "Is it ok for them to walk around in just twos?"

"Worried?"

Seeing his slight smile in her periphery she side-glanced at him briefly, catching his amused gaze. "No." Oddly enough, a little. Even though she'd seen them in action, had been training with them and knew they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. "Just…considering how you seem to prefer to walk around in an intimidating little entourage like a gangster, I was wondering why such small groups now."

Realising she was referring to the larger group of crewmembers he'd been with when they'd first seen each other, he recalled that moment, wondering how his first impression of her had been that she was a relatively timid woman from her reaction to him back then. Chuckling at the memory, he adjusted his weapon between himself and the railing idly. "As I said, this island is docile. Sabaody is different. Strong pirate crews all gather there to cross to the New World and there are a lot of marines forces nearby. Ashibumi isn't as big of a threat, they'll be fine."

Unable to describe the pleasant sensation he got from her apparent concern for his crew or her evident reassurance at his words, Law refocused on the men below, tutting as he saw Penguin and Shachi's bickering had escalated into a childish play-fight.

Giggling at the sight, she rest her chin to her hand as she leant over the railing and watched them wrestle. "Just out of curiosity, if they _were_ …ya know. Who'd ya think would be on top?"

"Nayla-ya…" Law grimaced, closing his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying not to picture it.

"…I bet it'd be Penguin, dunno why…Guy just seems...maybe he's just a tiny bit bigger than Shachi?" He turned to stare at her, making her burst into laughter at the crinkle of disgust on his face.

"I'm honestly beginning to think all the stupid things that come out of your mouth are the result of a sophisticated form of Tourette's syndrome."

Rolling his eyes as that only made her laugh louder; he turned to look down at Koush and Connor as they approached the vessel again, Jeff in tow, apparently nagging Connor about something.

"Captain, just spoke to one of the dockhands about the hangar up there."

"And what did they say?" Thankful for the change of topic as Koush yelled up to him on the deck.

"Said all we gotta do is go fill in a few forms, pay a coupla fees and they'll let us know where to pull her in. Me and Connor'll go do that now then come back to move her when we're done. Ok with you, Captain?"

"Alright."

"Come onnn! Just for a lil while!" Jeff yelled, drawing their attention. "Koush's got this, right? You won't be able to do any work until the sub is moved to the hangar anyway so why not?"

"Because I'm not as irresponsible as you, poon hound. Go on ahead of me, I'm on-duty geez." Connor groaned, turning to follow Koush who said nothing, seemingly unsurprised by the conversation in the slightest.

"Ugh but it makes me look like such a creep if I go around picking up chicks alone." Jeff sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"You look like a creep regardless." Connor immediately shot back as they began walking towards the street.

"FINE. Be that way." He grouched, shoving past his friend roughly before halting in his footsteps as he spotted two young, blonde women some way down the harbour-side street. "Finally!-"

"Oi!"

"-women I _can_ touch!" Jeff sprinted down the rest of the wooden pier, slipping out of his friend's attempt to grab him by the shoulder as he hurried to catch up with them.

"OI! Behave yourself! You can't just go around touching-!…Fuck sake." He sighed with a face palm as he gave up yelling after him and set an apologetic hand to Koush's back before racing after Jeff. "You heard what Captain said! Don't cause any unnecessary trouble you hornball!"

…

Koush exchanged an unimpressed deadpan with his captain up on deck before shaking his head and continuing his own pace towards the street to go about his business.

"…Ya know, Jake thinks you should neuter him." Nayla mused, watching as Jeff sped after the two pretty-looking young women, Connor in hot pursuit.

"Does he now." Law muttered dryly.

"Ready when you are, Captain."

Turning around at the familiar voice, Nayla beamed. "Bepo! You're coming with us?" She asked excitedly as he ambled over to them from the main entrance.

"Just for a little while whilst we check out the area. Then I need to go look for some new maps and info about our route and next island for Captain."

"Hmm, such a diligent navigator. Want me to keep a look out for something for you whilst we're shopping then? Is there something else you want or need?"

Holding a paw up to his chin and furrowing his furry face, he hummed in thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so…Ah, here let me take that for you."

"Oh, why thank you for _offering_ , this _crew_ sure is full of _gentlemen_." She matched Law's small smirk as she looked at him, placing the strap of her bag into Bepo's outstretched paw. "…Or is it, gentlebear in your case?" She asked, turning back to him with a good-natured smile.

"No problem…" He responded distractedly, causing her to follow his gaze, seeing that he was watching Jeff kissing the hand of one of the women in greeting with his hat held to his chest, the woman giggling behind her free one and Connor looking significantly less impressed with the display, arms crossed as he stood behind him.

"Alright, well, who else are we waiting for?" Nayla asked, watching as the other woman approached Connor with an extended hand and a flirtatious smile, instantly softening up his annoyed demeanour.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain. Was just double-checking the list and infirmary inventory one last time."

Shifting her gaze slowly from watching Jeff and Connor as they walked alongside the women continuing their way down the street to Law as she heard the familiar and unwelcome voice, she was met with a widening smirk at her obvious disapproval.

"It's alright." He stood upright, setting his Nodachi to his shoulder as Kotta came to a stop beside them. The look on her face as he approached reading; 'ass-kisser' and the look on his face reading; 'what is _she_ doing here?'

Chuckling at their silent exchange of contempt for one another, Law started making his way to the gangplank, indicating it was time for their own departure.

Deciding to ignore the man's presence, Nayla caught up to him. "By the way Law, if we're going to be doing some shopping whilst we're walking around, can I have some of _my_ money in case I see something I want?"

"Point it out and I'll buy it." He replied simply as they began making their way down the wooden ramp.

"No. It's bad enough I have to ask you for my own money as it is. I won't be treated like a child anymore than I already am. Give me actual cash." She walked at a faster pace as they reached the pier to stand in front of him, blocking his path as she held out a demanding hand, her other on her hip.

"Please." Kotta added as he came to a stop beside his captain, arms folded and a disapproving look on his face.

"Please bite me. No one _fucking_ asked you." His brows rose into his cap, surprised at her suddenly-vicious tone as she'd addressed him. Kotta looked at his captain as if to ask Law if he were going to allow her to get away with speaking like that to him.

Chuckling at his shocked expression, Law wondered just what it was that had gone on between the two of them to have warranted such a short fuse from her. Short even for _her_ temperament. He'd love to be a fly on the wall for their upcoming lessons; those would be a show and a half.

To her surprise he handed his Nodachi to Bepo's free hand, unzipped his coat halfway, reached in and pulled a wallet from his jeans pocket.

She took the thick wad of bills he withdrew from it and placed into her hand with raised brows of her own, watching as he replaced his wallet and zipped his coat back up.

"Well…that wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it'd be...Thank you for the allowance, mom. Promise to spend it wisely." Nayla smiled, folding the notes.

"Don't call me that." He reprimanded, taking back his weapon from his first-mate as it was held out for him.

"Hmm, would you prefer it if I called you daddy instead?" She teased lowly, pulling the neck of her sweater forward, noticing the brief flicker of his eyes down her top as she did.

"I'd prefer it if we get going." He said levelly, moving to begin walking past her.

"Sure." Laughing a little and deciding not to be too ungrateful a tease, she securely tucked the wad of money into her cleavage as she fell into step beside him, letting go of her top and readjusting it slightly.

"Haven't you ever heard of pockets?" Kotta scoffed quietly in disgust from her other side as they made their way down the pier towards the street.

"Haven't you ever heard of pickpockets?" She offered calmly with a pleasant smile as she turned to face him.

"Haven't you ever heard of not being stupid enough to _be_ pickpocketed?"

"Haven't you ever heard of shut the fuck up you fuckimphh maphherd?"

She looked up at Law's unimpressed face behind her as she felt his hand over her mouth. "Don't treat my crew with disrespect, Nayla-ya." He warned quietly.

He watched her cross her arms and narrow her eyes at him, listening to her muffled response from beneath his fingers that distinctly sounded like; 'He started it' but responded with a look that distinctly said; 'I don't care.'

Kotta watched their non-verbal exchange with interest before his captain raised his eyes back up to him. "Go and get the medical supplies."

"Aye aye, Captain." He shot her one last dirty, scathing look as he began turning away only to stutter in his movement as she raised a middle finger at him in response.

He turned back, taking a threatening step towards her as he lost his temper. "OI! You-!"

"Go." Law ordered, giving Kotta a stern look as he used his free hand to grasp hers, pressing her finger flat and pushing her arm back down to rest by her side gently.

Hesitantly doing as he was told, the medic hesitantly turned and began making his way down the street, with a loud, irritated tut.

Watching him as he walked and waiting until he was out of ear shot, Law turned his gaze back down to the woman he seemed to be physically accosting, earning more than a few curious looks their way from passersby on both the pier and the street ahead.

"What did I _just_ say, Nayla-ya? I won't tole-"

"HEY!"

"OI! IT WASN'T ME!"

Whipping their heads up in the direction of the shrill scream and harsh-sounding slap, they spotted Connor rubbing his cheek as the two women rounded on him angrily, one holding her ass protectively and her friend using her handbag to hit him over the head.

Nayla spotted Jeff a few feet behind the two angry women, strolling down the street nonchalantly, hands clasped behind his back as he made a quiet exit and left his friend to take the beating for, what she knew was undoubtedly, _his_ actions.

Though he stopped and did a double take of a pretty young woman watching the commotion in shock from in front of a fresh fish stall, slinging an arm around her shoulders gently with a huge grin and what was, apparently, a very charming introduction and or pickup line by the blush, giggle and smile he got in response.

"Not so fast you BASTARD!" Connor yelled, spotting him beginning to guide his new lady friend away and dodging the two furious ones he'd left him with to chase after him.

Seeing his rightfully pissed off friend hurtling towards him, Jeff apologetically bid the new woman goodbye before sprinting around the corner, Connor close on his heels and half the street stopped in their tracks to watch the ridiculous scene play out…before the offended and annoyed citizens turned their gazes to the other Heart Pirates nearby. Guilty by association from their distinct boiler suits.

Some pulled their caps down a little further, some rubbed the back of their necks awkwardly and the majority held their hands up in surrender so as not to provoke any unwarranted wrath as they chose to walk the opposite direction down the street to the one Jeff had gone in.

Law sighed heavily, his chest meeting Nayla's back as she realised she was still in his hold and looked back up at him. Seeming to just realise it too, he released her hand and removed the one over her mouth.

Choosing to ignore their antics, ignore hers and get on with his day, he motioned for Bepo to walk with him as he began making his way down the street. Notably, also in the opposite direction to the one Jeff had gone in.

* * *

Beyond the stalls and shops on the road running parallel to the harbour that sold seafood and sailing wares were bustling high streets, traditionally paved with grey cobblestone though boasting modern and scenic buildings. The result of a well planned and executed renovation to the area that upheld its historic aesthetics.

Though Nayla did question the planted trees at intervals along either side of the road they were strolling down. Glancing up from the frost-coated, black, metal gating around the upcoming tree's trunk to its ice-dusted, bare branches above, she wondered if they ever had leaves to boast on a winter island. Their foliage was obviously supposed to be adding to the scenic area of this portside city that she'd come to learn was simply called 'Shibumi,' after the island. Though admittedly, the glistening ice of the bare branches in the mild sunlight held its own winter charm too.

Looking down the street as she heard a quiet gasp, Nayla saw a few middle-aged women move aside on the sidewalk for them, their eyes on the man beside her, wide with apprehension though he'd done nothing to provoke their fear other than simply being who he was.

She'd have offered a small, reassuring smile but Nayla had already learnt that they wouldn't look her way long enough to see it, their eyes glued to the pirate captain as he strode past. Not that she could blame them, he had an air about him that exuded the message that he was a serious potential threat without intentionally trying to be intimidating. His infamy, tattoos, piercings and massive sword didn't help. She hadn't reacted all that differently to his presence the first time she'd seen him walk past either and she hadn't even been aware of the details of his, less than admirable, reputation. These women seemed to be.

Walking around in the open by Trafalgar Law's side was certainly an experience. As someone who'd gone to fair lengths to keep her identity and occupation low-key, it was unusual to walk down the street and be on the receiving end of this much attention. This many curious looks, worried glances and downright obvious gawks.

Nayla usually got her fair share of sly looks, suggestive winks and head turns as a young woman walking around alone would but this was incomparable and virtually none of the people that had looked their way so far had spared her a glance, save a few who had probably tried to determine her connection to the pirate she was trailing alongside…Probably assuming she was just some shady associate or worse; some woman he'd recently picked up who was just tagging along for the ride.

Not everyone was looking at the man with curiosity or fear though. Some of the older, gruffer men in the area eyed him openly with disdain though wisely said nothing. Some of the younger women, mouths shielded behind hands were looking at him in a completely different way. Their wide smiles, quiet giggles and playful shoves as they watched him pass by gave away the nature of their conversations without needing to hear a word of it.

Law was largely ignoring the civilians around them, apart from generally observing their reaction to him and staring down a couple of authority figures they'd seen earlier. They couldn't have been anything higher than a few basic patrolmen from the local policing body of the island doing their rounds through the high streets. Nayla was pretty sure they'd come about as close to pooping their pants without actually doing it as was humanly possible at the sight of Law as he'd walked past, staring them down with a challenging smirk…That wasn't funny, that was just a cruel and unnecessary ego stroke…It hadn't been funny at all, not even when that one cop had dropped his drink in his fumbling. Law was just exercising his sick sense of humour at their expense and it was just…alright, ok. So she'd laughed a little. Against her will. She was a much nicer person than that. Normally. Really she was.

They hadn't ventured into any shops yet, though a few souvenirs, crafts and trinkets had caught her eye on some of the stalls nearer to the harbour. There were some tempting looking clothing shops around with some fluffy, warm, cute-looking items…but she already had plenty of similar things and her suitcase was already dying a slow and merciless death as it was. She should probably consider going through it sometime soon and relieving some of its contents to the nearest charity shop.

Bepo had parted ways with them not long ago, having spotted a cartography supply shop and deciding to see to his own duties after their initial scout around the area. This was the first time she'd really been alone with Law since they'd left his quarters earlier and he'd been silent, more focused on their surroundings than on her. It wasn't an awkward silence and she was still feeling much better overall for this morning, even if it hadn't gone all the way. Perhaps he was feeling the same.

Side-glancing at him, Nayla watched the fog of his breath drift away softly on the winter breeze before focusing on his lips…It had been nice to finally taste him properly. Nice to feel his bare body on hers too…and feel it in general really. At the thought, she let her gaze slide down, his long coat and slender figure belying his underlying muscle…How good those warm, naked muscles had felt pressed against her. The image of him topless, standing beside his bed, collecting his strewn clothing, hair more ruffled than usual and her lipstick on his skin was one she wouldn't be able to get out of her mind for a whi-

"Stay here." Shooting her gaze back up to his face, she found him looking at her with a slightly reproaching look, as if aware of where her thoughts had been.

"Uh, sure. Where are you going?" She asked, watching as he crossed the street away from her.

"I'd rather you not be with me for this conversation." Sensing her offence and imminent, loud questioning of his behaviour as he looked at her over his shoulder, he decided to cut her off before she started. "Because it's safer for you to not know the nature of it _and_ because you'll only serve as a distraction to the people I need to speak with."

Furrowing her brows at that, she watched Law turn around and finish crossing the street, walking dead ahead into a small alley between two large pubs towards, what seemed to be, some rough-looking men lingering at the service entrances between the two buildings to smoke.

The area they were in was actually of reasonable class and although she was across the road she could tell by their size and posturing that these men stood out a mile amidst the average citizen walking past, going about their retail needs. Although they seemed to be workers outside on their smoke breaks, on second glance they looked to be more than that.

Nayla wondered how he'd spotted them; perhaps he'd been looking for them or even knew in advance that they'd be there. Maybe he'd arranged to meet someone here all along? He'd not gone into any shops so far after all; he'd been scanning the streets and reading the signs over each establishment carefully.

Humming in thought as she watched Law stride up to them confidently and begin to converse with them she soon lost interest as he blocked her view with his back. Perhaps he was just fishing for shady information that any pirate captain may want about this and the next island…or maybe it had something to do with his goal…

Pursing her lips and reaching into her pocket for her gloves as she decided it was too chilly to be without them for any longer, she decided she didn't care. Whoever it was he was talking to and whatever it was he was talking about, goal involved or not, it wouldn't be her concern for much longer.

Pulling on the black leather and wishing she'd opted for that nice pair with the thicker, warmer lining, she turned away, looking at the street up ahead instead for something of more interest to occupy her attention.

She had no worries about Law's safety; even if those small-time thugs were stupid enough to try jumping him all at once he'd have them merged into an unholy fusion of assorted body parts within seconds.

Shops were fewer up this way she observed, there were less clothing and equipment shops and gradually more cafes, a couple of restaurants and a few inns up ahead. Coming to think of it, she realised it must be nearing lunchtime by now. The scent of hot, freshly cooked food wafting over from the gradually filling businesses was beginning to smell appealing. Contemplating grabbing a bite, she hoped their food was nearly as good as Jake's; it sure was going to be tough to leave that behind…

Sighing as she stuffed her hands back into her pockets, she absentmindedly watched a couple of men as they helped each other unloaded heavy-looking boxes from a cart to the pavement outside one of the restaurants up ahead.

The man facing her direction fumbled his side of one of the boxes as he did a double take of her. Only just realising she'd been idly staring at him and probably gave him the wrong impression of her interest she smiled apologetically as his partner yelled at him for nearly dropping the cargo.

Ignoring his partner's irritated rant he grinned back, causing the man yelling at him to turn to look over his shoulder at her in curiosity. Raising his brows as she smiled meekly at him, he tipped his hat with a big grin of his own as they resumed working, apparently his partner's distraction now forgotten or forgiven.

He wasn't bad looking actually - the guy who'd initially spotted her or that she'd been accidentally staring at. Dusty blonde, longish hair, too far to tell but he seemed to have brown eyes and _definitely_ a cheeky grin that reminded her whole-heartedly of Jeff's. The thought made her laugh a little to herself as he resumed working and moved to pick up another box from the cart with his colleague. The last one, seemed they'd been working a while.

Despite the cold, he'd obviously felt too hot in his exertion and had removed his jacket, it lay slung over the side of the cart. He was lifting with just a white, short-sleeved shirt and gloves on top. 'Very well built,' she mentally commented, watching the thick muscles of his upper arms at work.

Wiping his forehead with the back of his wrist he glanced over at her, almost surprised to find her still observing him and flashing her another bright smile, making her laugh a little before raising her hand to give him a small wave.

He raised his own to return the gesture but suddenly froze, lowering it back down abruptly and busied himself with his work as he visibly paled a few shades.

…

'Oh…right,' rolling her eyes, she turned around to find Law back on her side of the street silently staring the man down. Glancing back at Nayla, he silently motioned for her to follow him back the way they'd come.

"Really, Law?" She sighed out, trotting to catch up to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said levelly, or tried to, the amusement in his voice was subtle but it was there.

Scowling at him mildly as he took the next right, she followed. "That smirk on your face says you do..."

Not receiving an answer she bit her lips together in muted laughter as she thought of what _would_ provoke one. "Who knew you had such an adorable jealous side to you and here I thought it 'didn't mean anything.' Were you saying that out loud to convince me or yourself, I wonder?" She teased, earning a small chuckle from him.

"No one's jealous, Nayla-ya. Keep those ridiculous fantasies of yours to yourself."

Laughing a little, she buried her hands back into her pockets, wondering how he could tolerate the cold on the exposed hand he was gripping his weapon to his shoulder with. "Did you have a nice chat? Get what you need?"

"No, but it's a start." Law offered vaguely, reading the signs of the businesses up ahead.

"I'm starting to get hungry, think we can grab something to eat in a bit?"

"Yeah, the crew are likely to be doing the same soon too. I'd like to visit a shop that's supposed to be up here first before we do."

"You didn't go ask the shadiest people you could find just for directions did you?" She poked, hoping for a small spill of any information about his secret conversation to sate her curiosity though he didn't give her any, choosing only to smirk a little wider in response as he spotted the name of the establishment he was after.

"In here."

"Kensingtion's Book shop, you're _bound_ to find more?" She read the sign aloud, observing the traditional, seemingly family-owned bookshop as Law opened the door, the charming tinkle of an old-fashioned bell signalling their arrival to the proprietor. "Don't you have enough books on board? Half the sub's weight has to be books…You must be the most literate pirate out there."

Law held the door open as she walked in after him and wiped her boots onto the welcome mat. "I'm buying the latest publications of medical journals to keep current with the newest treatment guidelines, not necessarily books. I don't have any old enough to be worth replacing…though I do have a few that I could use a more up-to-date version of." He mumbled more to himself, releasing the door as he scanned the categorising signs above the rows and rows of dark, wooden shelving within the surprisingly large shop.

"Welc-…" The stutter of china on china brought their attention to the man that had emerged from the back room behind the grand, oak counter to greet them as he struggled to rebalance his teacup to his saucer in his surprise. "…Oh, d-do excuse my rudeness."

Setting his shaky tea down to the counter and adjusting his spectacles nervously, the elderly man cleared his throat and clasped his hands together, doing his best to steel himself enough to offer a polite and welcoming smile to the sinister man beside her who he'd apparently recognised.

"Mr. Trafalgar, good day to you, sir. How may I be of assistance? Books of the medical persuasion I presume?"

Nayla immediately found the elderly man endearing, the very definition of a well-refined, well-read, upper class gentleman set within the walls of a traditional bookshop of fine woods, leathers and upholstery. Obviously unnerved but bravely doing his best to maintain his composure.

"Yes and I hear you carry the latest medical journal publications."

"Of course I'll fetch those for you right away. In the meantime, do allow me to show you to our medical texts. Right this way, sir." Lifting the counter top, the old man - assumingly the owner, made his way out, gingerly shuffling at what Nayla could guess was probably a faster pace than what he was used to in his haste to please the intimidating pirate in his store.

"There's no need to rush, take your time, Mr Kensington, is it?" Looking up at her through his thick spectacles beneath his white, bushy brows Nayla offered him a reassuring smile. His eyes flit to Law's neutral face unsurely before back to her, his snowy moustache pulling up into a small smile of his own as he seemed to relax a little.

"Yes, that would be me. Right, well. I shall be with you in a jiffy too young lady, sit tight." He offered, walking at a more comfortable and unhurried pace to suit his aging joints.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not looking for anything in particular. Just browsing, so be sure to get back to your tea before it gets cold. Once you're done with tall, dark and grumpy over here, of course."

Law shot her an apathetic look as she nudged him, sighing as he moved to follow the chuckling, elderly owner into one of the aisles. "Right you are then miss, don't be afraid to give me a prod if you need any assistance then."

"Sure." Laughing quietly to herself at the look on Law's face as he strode away, Nayla walked down the wide, central aisle of the store towards the counter, glancing at the rows of tall shelving on either side of her for something of interest to browse through until he was done.

The right seemed to house all the non-fiction texts, Law and the owner had ducked into one of the far aisles on this side. All the fiction texts seemed to be held on the left side of the store; she wondered if it'd be worth investing in an entertaining story to help her pass the time during her travels. Either with or without the Heart Pirates.

There weren't many fiction books on the sub; Law had very few in the bottom space of his nearer bedside cabinet. All mystery novels - which she figured suited him. Though he was probably smart enough to figure out who the killer was within the first sentence of chapter one, she rolled her eyes at the thought, running her hand over the smooth, shiny wood of the shelving of the fiction aisle she'd idly wandered into.

Mentally working away on a mystery novel wasn't as appealing to her as allowing her mind to fully rest and engage passively into a well-crafted story. In that respect they weren't alike at all. Where he was undoubtedly far more intelligent and ordered in his thoughts, she did her best to avoid over-thinking, finding it to be an exhausting and usually fruitless endeavour. Especially when an embarrassingly large portion of her brain seemed to only have one thing on its mind…

Glancing at the passing titles at eye level half-heartedly, she smiled as she found interest in a few of them. These books might be interesting; they would be the perfect, fictional, mocking accompaniment to her life right now.

* * *

Satisfied with his selection, Law walked out from between the aisles he'd ventured into holding two thick texts, looking up from them to glance around the store for the troublesome little woman he'd brought with him.

He spotted her as she emerged from between high shelves, purse-lipped and seemingly unable to decide between the books in each of her hands as she glanced between the summaries on their back covers. Looking up out of curiosity at the hanging wooden plaque above the row she was leaving declared it to be the aisle containing 'Romance' novels.

Raising a brow at his expression as she saw him, Nayla followed his gaze up to the sign above her before looking back at his deadpan. "Don't judge me."

"I didn't take you to be the 'romance' type." He said, mildly attempting to keep the mockery out of his voice as she walked over to him.

"Oh I'm not. I hate romance books, movies, songs, the like. Find that romantic junk in general to be incredibly cheesy and unrealistic." He eyed the books in her hands pointedly, glancing back up at her with a silently raised brow to prompt her explanation. "…Sometimes 'romance' is just a nice way of saying 'smut.'"

"Figures." He muttered as they began walking up to the counter where the elderly Mr. Kensington had been patiently waiting for them with a smile.

"Besides, _look_ at these. I couldn't resist the temptation." She grinned, holding up the books to allow him to see their front covers and titles.

Stunned for a moment, he began chuckling at the artistic, romanticised renditions of pirates and her bright smile. "Really, Nayla-ya?"

"Absolutely. Did you know that being stolen away by a handsome pirate is a common fantasy amongst women and a _very_ popular plot for cheesy romance novels? Never read one before though…" She trailed off as he set his books down onto the counter and she looked over own again.

"Hmm and why are you starting now?" A small, humoured smirk in place.

"I'd like to see how far off the mark you are." She offered bluntly, returning his sly smile as the bookshop owner began ringing his books up.

Her eyes widened in alarm as she read their titles. "'Women's health; a guide to gynaecology and obstetrics'…and 'Gynaecological surgery?'...Why would you need those?" She asked nervously, unsure of what he had in mind, remembering how brief Fidelis' time on board had been and how he'd taught himself surgery.

Letting the sinister thought of him operating or 'experimenting' on her linger with a darkly amused expression, Law waited until she tore her eyes off his books and back up to his before answering. "I don't intend to operate on you again anytime soon Nayla-ya but should I need to, I'd like to have more up-to-date references on board. I've obviously not had the need to medically treat a woman for female-specific diseases in a while."

Blinking at the books as their initially disturbing titles disappeared into a brown paper bag, alongside the slimmer, loudly-dated medical journals that he'd retrieved earlier, Nayla was unsure of what to say. It was unexpectedly diligent of him, he was taking his role as her doctor for the foreseeable future seriously…despite his behaviour during examinations. It was surprisingly thoughtful and, dare she allow herself to admit; considerate?

"…Makes sense, I guess." She responded quietly, still mulling it over.

"Both books, miss?"

Looking up at the patiently waiting shop owner as he snapped her from her thoughts, Nayla cleared her throat. "Um no, I was actually going to ask which one you'd recommend."

Taking the books she held out over the counter for him in each hand, he hummed, turning them over to glance at their summaries. "Well, let's see now."

Waiting quietly as he perused the printed covers, his face lit up as he seemed to recall some details about the book he was examining. "Ah yes, 'Thief of Hearts' is rather interesting." Catching the barely audible snort of amusement as the owner read the title aloud, Nayla turned to Law, pressing her lips together in her own enjoyment at the uncanny name. "The story of a pirate jailed, freed and in pursuit of revenge against the man responsible for his imprisonment only to fall in love with his daughter. A tale of vengeance versus love, quite the popular seller amongst our younger female customers."

Humming in thought to herself, she watched him set the book down and focus on the other, adjusting his spectacles with his free hand. "'The Pirate Lord,' is quite different. It's the story of a pirate crew that has tired of life at sea and after rescuing and commandeering a shipload of women they decide to bring them to an uninhabited island as their wives to live out the rest of their days."

"Wives?" Nayla challenged with a sceptical smile.

"…I suppose it's the nice way to put it." He blushed a little as he held a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "It's considerably more...bawdy than the other and tends to be more popular with our mature and married female customers, ironically."

Tilting her head in thought as she crossed her arms and glanced between the two, Law sighed impatiently. "We both know you'll get the dirtier one Nayla-ya, just get it so we can move on."

"Well…" She went to reach for the book still in the owner's hand but was intercepted by Law. Leaning his side against the counter he flipped it over dubiously, his eyes scanning through the summary rapidly.

His brows rose to the brim of his hat as he reached the bottom, reading the last couple of sentences aloud in disbelief. "…Sara insists the men vacate their huts for the women – Gideon demands her kisses in return. As the demands heat up, so do their passions – and soon Sara can't remember just why she's fighting the devilishly seductive captain so hard."

"…I'll take this one." Nayla smiled brightly, yanking it back from Law's slacked hand and handing it back to the owner.

Recovering from his slight surprise as the elderly man pulled out a new paper bag and began ringing the book up, Law placed his empty hand to the counter, leaning in more closely. "Why, because it's more relatable?" Law purred quietly into her ear.

Laughing at his devious smile and the obvious mirth in his steel eyes, she pushed his chest back a bit gently as he encroached on her personal space. "No. _You_ didn't 'vacate your hut' for me, I'm still sleeping on your sofa."

Chuckling as she took the bag the seller held out to her, he handed over the money for both of their purchases before she was able to reach for her own.

"And just for the record, you aren't _nearly_ as 'devilishly seductive' as you'd like to think you are." Smiling at his amused smirk as he watched her head towards the door, Nayla shoved the fleeting desire she'd felt to take his lips at that proximity aside. 'You're a lot worse.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tourette's syndrome - can cause people to say things involuntarily – often completely inappropriate/rude/obscene words and phrases.
> 
> Gynaecology – medicine and surgery related to female reproductive tract. Obstetrics – medicine and surgery related to childbirth.
> 
> The pirate-themed romance novels mentioned are actually real - 'Thief of Hearts' by Teresa Medeiros and 'The Pirate Lord' by Sabrinna Jeffries with their real summaries (though the commentary on them by the bookstore owner is fictional and I've not read either book). They were just two pirate romance novel titles that stood out to me when I looked for some.' Pirate lord' made me think of 'King of the pirates' and the final line of its summary about the 'devilishly seductive pirate captain' just cracked me up with how perfectly it fit. And a book about a pirate called 'Thief of Hearts?' Had to use that too, could not have ironically suited Law more.


	46. Are you coming inside?

The night was crisp and clear though it was much colder than it had been during the day. A lot of the crew had taken to adding scarves and gloves to their usual hats and quite a few had chosen to pull on thick jackets over their boilersuits too.

The streets were well lit and despite the relatively late hour, many people were still bustling along the busy sidewalks. If anything, it was a little busier than it had been during the day, though the people outside were significantly different. Sailors, dockworkers, other locals that seemed to work at or around the harbour, more of the shadier type Nayla had seen Law speaking to earlier and the occasional, small scatters of pirates.

Not long after leaving the bookshop that afternoon, they had run into Jake and a few other crewmembers who'd let them know Penguin and Shachi had already come across a suitable inn to stay in with enough rooms for them all still available. It wasn't as close to the harbour as they would have liked but it was within easy walking distance.

Half-expecting to still be sharing a living space with Law - a now much smaller and more awkward one, Nayla had been pleasantly surprised and relieved when Penguin had handed her her own bedroom key…though her room was still directly next to his captain's. As per his orders, apparently. She could live with that, not that his sofa was uncomfortable or anything but she was definitely looking forward to having the extra space of double bed.

Law and herself had taken a small detour back to the harbour before settling down at the inn for lunch. It hadn't taken long to find a few commercial ships that offered travel to Kattou and back. It seemed the islands took advantage of being one of the very few pairs close enough to one another on the Grand Line to assure relatively safe travel between them and heavily promoted each other's tourism and trade.

Nayla would have no trouble finding a ship to take her to her job when the time came and had given Marty a call to let him know just that when she'd checked into her room after lunch. All she needed to do now was give him a call in the morning to work out the final kinks, go to Kattou to do her job when she needed to…and then decide whether to come back to Ashibumi and Law after she was done.

It would really be unfortunate to have to leave her belongings behind, especially her main weapons, but if she saw an opportunity to escape her current predicament on Kattou she'd probably be wise to take it and not look back. The small window of opportunity of being apart from Law to go work would probably be her best and only chance to make a run for it.

Although he hadn't remained entirely glued to her side today, he'd not let her far out of his sight. They'd spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening within the inn, remaining in one place so that crewmembers could report back to him with the results of their respective jobs, tasks, duties information retrieval and the like. She'd lounged around on the tavern's comfortable seating, idly chatting with the crew as they returned for dinner and enjoyed the start of her book when things had quietened, much to the amusement of the men as they read the title and glanced the cheesy cover art.

Law hadn't made it openly obvious but he'd kept an eye on her, she could feel the occasional graze of his grey gaze on her from across the room the entire day.

Feeling a similar though much more unpleasant and unsettling sensation of scrutinising eyes on her, Nayla's thoughts were interrupted as she spotted some more pirates up ahead. A few menacing-looking thugs subtly tucked out of plain view in the alley between two buildings, wearing heavy winter clothing that boasted a Jolly Roger that she didn't recognise.

Shuffling a little closer to Ichirou's side subconsciously as they began walking past, she kept her eyes off of them, not wanting to encourage any coarse comments or invite an unnecessary confrontation with the men that were eyeing her with obvious ill intent.

Raising a brow at her unusual closeness, the chef turned his head, spotting the few members of the rival crew and their unsavoury expressions. Huffing, he gently tugged the sleeve of her coat, pulling her to walk on his other side next to Jake. "Stay in between us."

"Hmm?" Jake questioned as he felt her bump into his side gently, following the man's gaze and piecing together what the problem was.

Nayla blinked up in surprise at Ichirou, watching him glare at the other pirates as they passed, non-verbally daring them to do or say anything but when they didn't he returned his gaze to the front, tutting in annoyance and tucking his hands into his own coat pockets.

"…Awww, Ichi." Grinning at his visible flinch, she looped her arm through his and curled up to his side. "I didn't know you cared."

"I don't, you're still a prisoner 'til Captain says otherwise…G-Get off, dammit." He pulled the hand of the arm she was on from his pocket, trying to shake her off.

"Too cute, you're blushing aren't ya?" She cooed teasingly, holding onto him more tightly and peering up at the parts of his cheeks visible over the top of his highly wrapped scarf to confirm her suspicions.

"Oh, he definitely is." Jake agreed.

"Stay out of it! Take this would ya?" Ichirou grumpily snapped, holding his arm out towards him, Nayla still attached.

Chuckling, Jake held out his own for her in invitation to give his embarrassed crewmate a break. "He's so adorable." Nayla commented, laughing as she left the poor uncomfortable man alone in favour of walking arm in arm with him.

"Sure is." Jake smiled at his friend cheerfully, putting his hand back into his pocket as she curled up comfortably by his side instead.

"Cram it you two comedians. Yo, Captain did you-?"

Eyeing his crewmember's thumb gesture over his shoulder, Law nodded. "I saw them."

Nayla caught his eye before he turned his gaze forward again as they walked down the busy street. She could tell he was probably inwardly working on recalling what information he knew about the crew the pirates had belonged to. She'd had plenty of time to glance at the board he kept information on in his quarters and had seen him rifling through the newspapers and posters on his desk many times over the week.

Truth be told, she couldn't understand what the links were between a lot of the things he kept on that board. An array of seemingly unrelated photos, articles, posters - things about the Warlords and a few of his own notes had made it up on there as well. Though he'd written things down in a way that she was sure only made sense to him, abbreviations and even single letters representing things. Much the same way he'd suggested she keep notes about any information she brought back on jobs from Joker.

Initially she'd written it all off as the rambling mental spill of an excessively cautious and neurotic captain taking the safety of his crew overly seriously by ensuring he was constantly surrounded by information about current events and potential enemies. Then she'd realised it was much more likely something to do with planning out his steps towards his goal…Then she'd decided it was none of her concern….Then she'd found herself wondering again about his intervention with the Kessinger pirates and the heart he had taken. It was no random act; he could have killed any and all of those men if he'd chosen to. Why take his heart? He didn't make any demands for its return, didn't ask the man to fall into servitude if he wanted to survive…nothing.

Glancing back at Law, he still appeared to be thinking to himself. Nayla had also learnt over the week that even when he appeared to have a neutral expression or even seemed to be relaxing, his mind rarely stopped working. The few times she'd woken briefly during the night, she'd noticed how he still wasn't in bed yet or if he were, that he still wasn't asleep yet. Just as she was shaking her head free of the thought, someone else who was more appropriately placed to express their concern, did.

"Come on, Captain. You work too hard, relax for once, would ya?" Jeff nudged from his other side with a big grin before turning around to face the group of Heart Pirates out on the town. "We're gonna enjoy ourselves tonight, right boys?"

A chorus of agreements and fists to the air boisterous enough to draw attention from the other people on the street rang out. Stirred from his thoughts, Law rolled his eyes at the loud display outwardly but Nayla could see the small upturn of the corner of his mouth. Smiling a little more now too she took in the flashy neon signs on the large buildings either side of them as they strolled down the centre of the road seeking the location of their entertainment for the evening.

The crew had decided to celebrate their first night on land _with_ available women by having an evening of indulgent debauchery. Apparently they had been hungering for it since they'd left what Jeff had lovingly dubbed; 'Cocktease Isle,' otherwise known as Amazon Lily. Between him and Marty, she was slowly growing a list of vulgar alternative names for the island.

The matter of tonight's outing had been what Jeff was discussing with Law on deck earlier, apparently insisting that his captain 'take a load off' and come along, hence their glances over at her as the subject of her reaction to the idea came up when Law had stated she'd need to come with them if he joined them.

So, here she was, eyeing the series of flamingo pink, illuminated, neon lights as they illustrated the brief story of a woman in motion on a pole on the building to the right. Reading the sign below it that glowed the establishment's name of; "Bush Fire," Nayla could safely assume they'd begun entering the red-light district of Shibumi.

Honestly, she wasn't bothered in the slightest about their choice of 'entertainment.' It wasn't exactly the most unexpected behaviour for young, single men – even less unexpected of seafaring pirates. The only request she'd made was that they picked a relatively classy place with good-looking security.

Being a woman in a strip club often attracted unwanted attention from the drunken male customers who seemed to get it into their heads that if the women on stage were strictly 'no touch' then that rule didn't apply to the ones not on it. She'd rather have a hassle-free and enjoyable night, if possible. Jeff had spent a great deal of his afternoon exploring this part of town and apparently knew 'just the place' to meet her one demand.

"Here we are, somethin' for the fellas…and the ladies." Jeff announced, winking in her direction as he pointed to the large building up ahead on the left.

"…Chix & Dix?" Nayla read aloud sceptically, trying not to laugh as she questioned the 'classiness' of the chosen location by its name.

"Yup, trust me on this. I've asked around." He grinned proudly.

"I'm sure you have, all the free time in the world and _this_ was how you spent it." Connor sighed from behind him.

"Still mad?" Getting no response, Jeff turned to look over his shoulder at his friend's silence as he crossed his arms and glared at him. "Aww come on, don't be cranky 'cause you've been working all day. Coupla lady-friends on your arm and we'll be turning dis fwon upside down." He baby talked, pinching his friend's face up into a false smile.

"…Fuck you." He flatly rebutted from between distorted cheeks.

"Alright well, how about all your drinks are on me tonight too?"

"Hardly a generous offer when you scammed a bunch of cash off of me on that fucking nipple ring bet, you jackass!" He yelled angrily, slapping Jeff's hands off his face.

"Don't be like that, some drinks in ya _and_ a few lap dances and you'll be much more forgiving. My treat, I insist!"

"…Fine. It's a start." He grumbled, re-crossing his arms as Jeff grinned and looped an arm around his shoulders dragging him along at his pace as they approached the club ahead.

Laughing a little at them, Nayla quietly examined their destination as they began walking up its short driveway. Despite the somewhat tacky and crude name, it seemed to have been a very large townhouse back in the day. A three floor, grey, brick house that matched the aesthetics of the cobblestone roads of this area, though it had been renovated and kept well over the years.

As they drew closer, the loud music coming from within became more distinct over the aggregated garble of different tunes and assorted sounds coming from the other businesses offering their services along this street. Although the collective name of the establishment was illuminated proudly over its doorway, it became apparent on closer inspection that there were in fact two entrances.

The left door, beneath the 'Chix' seemed to be the more popular entrance, for the male customers anyway. The right door, beneath the 'Dix' apparently led to a separate, though obviously associated, club. Most likely housing male strippers if the gaggle of giddy, giggly young women approaching this one was any indication.

'Ooo so _this_ is what Jeff meant,' a little perked up at the prospect of this being a far more entertaining night than she'd anticipated, she eagerly peered inside the 'Dix' door as the bouncer opened it for the ladies, greeting them politely with a smile as they thanked him and entered excitedly.

Appreciating the clever marketing of dividing the large building to offer a club for both genders and all sexualities to enjoy, Nayla glanced up at the second floor after the door swung shut and obscured her brief, teasing view inside. It held windows that offered tantalising silhouettes of women dancing on the left and men dancing on the right to lure in its customers, the third floor's windows appeared to be well concealed by comparison – most likely the floor for 'private' entertainment she reasoned.

Making their way up the few wooden steps onto the long porch of the building, Nayla looked over at the bouncers guarding the door on the left as one spoke up loudly, eyeing Law's sword unhappily. "Hey, no weapons in the clu-"

Interrupted and silenced by his colleague's hand on his arm, he leant closer as the man began to speak in a hurried, hushed whisper to him, cupping a hand to his ear. By the widened eyes and softening of his irritated facial expression, Nayla assumed the other bouncer had informed him of who Law was and what he'd just recently done to a marine _battleship_ off their coast.

The man looked back at them unsurely, unhappy about letting them in but obviously not up to the task of stopping them by force.

"Don't you worry about it big guy, we're just here to have fun." One of the crew reassured as they walked up to the door.

"Yeah, we don't have any intention of starting trouble." Penguin added, smiling and holding his hands up passively.

The bouncer glanced between them and back to Law for reassurance, though he made no offer of it, maintaining a neutral and somewhat bored expression as the bouncer looked back at his colleague before reluctantly standing aside. "Alright, but you know the drill. Respect the ladies, keep your hands to yourselves." He grumpily warned, obviously not pleased by their presence as they filed in.

"Gotcha." Jeff grinned at him, making his way inside.

"Where do you think you're going, Nayla-ya?" Law asked, ignoring the bouncers entirely as the crew entered the club ahead of him, halting her in her steps as she moved towards the other door.

"…To the part with male dancers?" She asked in confusion.

"No, you aren't. You stay where I see you."

"Wha-that's not fair! One of the reasons Jeff brought us _here_ was so I could enjoy myself too! If you're so stuck on keeping me where you can see me then why don't _you_ come to _this_ side of the club instead?"

"That's not happening." He bluntly refused, smirking a little as she placed an annoyed hand to her hip. Stepping over to her across the porch, he slung an arm around her shoulders and manoeuvered her back to the door his crew were entering.

"Well this side of the club isn't for the likes of you anyway. You'd be better off on the male dancers' side."

"How many times are you going to imply I'm not straight before it gets old, Nayla-ya?" He sighed, adjusting his sword against his shoulder openly as he walked past the silently watching bouncers.

"I'm not taking a shot at your _questionable_ sexual orientation." Lifting a hand she tapped a red nail to the sign beside the doorway as they passed it, Law lifted his eyes to it, reading 'Gentleman's Club,' her nail hovering over the first word.

Chuckling he waited until the last crewmember ahead of them crossed the threshold before guiding her inside, holding onto her tightly and leaning in to speak quietly into her ear as they entered the club. The darkness of which, she was thankful for as she felt her face warm a little at the reminder when she heard him ask: "How _questionable_ was it this morning?"

* * *

"So, the jerk _pretends_ he has a bet on me leaving this stupid thing in-" Connor gestured to his left pec somewhat sloppily. "-for a month, suckers me into thinking I'll get twenty percent of his winnings if I play along but the bastard's _real_ bet was that he could trick me into leaving the fucking thing in there for that long! You believe that shit?!"

"Aww, I hear you honey." Nayla pat his knee in half-hearted sympathy at his drunken rant.

"Do ya?" He narrowed his sceptical, amber eyes at her, making her laugh.

"You kinda deserved it, you thought you were scamming money off of the whole crew." Removing her hand she lifted a prodding finger to his chest instead. "So this thing is still here?"

"That's beside the point!" He swat her hand away from poking his piercing, yelling indignantly over the music. "That bastard's supposed to be _my_ friend!"

"They're _all_ your friends, it wasn't nice of you to try gouging them like that." She reminded, picking up her glass and leaning back into the soft, crushed velvet of the booth's seating.

"Pfft, still the last time I trust that ass. Causes me nothing but trouble – I mean you saw what he did today."

Struggling to keep her drink in her mouth at the reminder of a strong pirate like Connor getting beaten over the head with a handbag for being an apparent ass-grabber this morning, Nayla lowered it from her lips. "Sure did but I take it this isn't the first and won't be the last time he pulls something like that."

"It damn well is, I'm done." He declared firmly, slamming his near-empty bottle back down to the table, she'd lost count of how many he'd had and was almost sure he was over-doing it out of spite now that it was Jeff paying for them.

"Hmm and I'll bet this isn't the first and won't be the last time _you_ say something like that." She grinned, raising her index finger at him from around her glass before raising it back to her lips, trying to remember what number drink _she_ was on now that she thought of it.

Laughing a little at his pouty silence, Nayla took to watching the stage ahead again as she sipped her cocktail. It was almost theatrical in nature, a large, raised, wooden flooring along the back wall that had catwalks extending out into the room that ended in circular platforms, poles along and at the end of each one. Seats lined them all though not many people chose to sit, choosing instead to stand, root and tip - a mass of cheering, grinning white boiler suits currently doing just that around the end of the central catwalk.

The wall furthest from the stage, common with the entrances, housed a bar in the middle and held booths with tables and seating - filled with customers who were content to watch from afar, receive lap dances and those that were simply sharing drinks and conversation in the atmosphere as she and Connor were currently doing.

Apparently he wasn't that big a fan of strip clubs, adopting a similar attitude to them as his captain in that he saw them to be a waste of money. Though he'd put it a little blunter than Law had expressed it, something along the lines of: 'Why would I deliberately pay hot women to tease me if I'm not allowed to do anything about it? It makes no fucking sense.'

It was obvious the club had once been one large open area before they'd decided to offer both types of dancers. There was only one bar that served both sides and as such, there was no fully partitioning wall between them. There was a sizable opening in the thick, dividing wall that incorporated the centrally placed bar which spanned across both halves, allowing them to serve the two sets of customers.

The makeshift archway was guarded by a couple of bouncers but apparently they allowed patrons to enjoy both clubs for a small additional entry fee to be able to walk freely between the two.

Nayla quickly pulled her nearly-empty drink from her mouth to raise it up as she saw a (very scantily clad) waitress beginning to walk past, silently requesting a new one and lowering it again as she received an affirmative smile and wink from the lady as she made her way back to the bar with a full tray of empty glasses and bottles.

"So…you and the Captain are doing it, huh?" She spluttered a little of her cocktail back into the glass she'd began to down the last of it from, whipping her head back around to narrow her eyes at Connor's devious grin.

"Geez, has anyone ever told you how fucking blunt you are?" Nayla scowled, finishing the last mouthful of her cocktail before slamming its empty container onto the table more harshly than she'd intended to.

"Mighta been mentioned…You're kinda blunt too ya know." He slung an arm over the back of the booth with a satisfied smile.

"Yeah but there's a difference between being direct about saying something and just accidentally blurting things out without thinking."

"I'm doing the first."

"For a change." She huffed in amusement, leaning back again.

"For a change." He conceded, adjusting his arm a little more comfortably beneath her head. "So what _is_ going on between you two exactly?"

Inclined to go with her usual response of: 'it's none of your business,' she saw him glance over at the man in question making his way back from the bathroom but apparently needing to politely decline yet another offer of a personal dance from a very attractive young stripper.

Not that Nayla blamed her or any of the other dancers that had approached him; she'd overheard a lot of them asking if he'd like some private entertainment from them over the course of the night. If you had to give someone a lap dance, you'd definitely rather be occupied giving one to the gorgeous young guy in the club rather than wait for one of the sweaty, chubby, middle-aged businessmen to call you over.

"Well…it's not really that big a deal honestly. He was just messing around, I teased him back when I got tired of it and…well you know your captain. Doesn't like losing, can't back down, stubborn as a mule." She listed off on her fingers with an eye roll as she pulled her gaze away from Law's smirking face, the stripper stroking the underside of his jaw delicately with her fingertips as she sauntered away with a suggestive smile over her shoulder at him.

"That's it? What about that?" Connor used the hand on the top of the seat behind her to push some of her hair back over her neck causing her to move her head away and right her hair immediately out of reflex.

"Vengeance for teasing, he was just trying to cause me some embarrassment. Sorry but there's nothing serious going on, your captain is just playing." Nayla smiled at his disappointed huff. It had been pretty much true, that _was_ how she saw things, a little bit of playfulness gone too far…if she chose not to address the intense sexual attraction factor.

"So it _was_ him, good news for my wallet but damn, boring." He sighed, choosing to watch the new girl on stage as she began her set, the change of music catching his attention.

Laughing at his disheartened pout, Nayla peered through the archway, just about able to see the ends of a few stage platforms but not much else. She'd expected the music from both sides of the club would conflict with each other through the open partition but there was honestly nothing louder coming from that side than the shrill, excited squeals of the women enjoying the show. It was sorely tempting to see exactly what was going on in there every time they erupted into screams…

Craning her head back a little more she caught a glimpse of bare, oiled muscle at the side of the archway, a half-naked male stripper about to walk past it she realised with some excitement – until her view was abruptly blocked by a certain pirate captain as he made his way back over to the booths.

Raising a brow at her frown, Law looked behind him but turned back to her with an unsympathetic smirk as he realised he'd spoiled her opportunity for a rare, fleeting view.

"And how are you two doing over here? Connor still sulkin'?" Jake asked, drawing her eyes off of Law as he leant his side against the edge of the booth, Dean in tow.

"Yup." Nayla responded, pinching the man in question's cheek.

"I'm not. You know I'm not really into these places, Jake." He mumbled, ignoring her tug on his face.

"Yeah, I hear ya. Fun the first five minutes, alright for a show but after that, well..." The chef shrugged, sliding into the booth.

"You two are crazy." Dean shook his head, taking a seat beside Jake as he moved further along to sit beside Connor.

"Oh, are you a big fan of the 'exotic' arts, Dean?" Nayla smiled, watching him stiffen slightly as he took his seat as if just remembering she were there.

"W-Well…" He cleared his throat a little awkwardly, his eyes darting up to his captain as Law reached them, visibly relieved for the distraction. "Hey, Captain."

"Don't mind me, feel free to continue your conversation." A small, knowing grin on his face at the man's discomfort as he came into earshot of their discussion and to a stop beside them.

"I have no idea why you guys are so awkward about this stuff around me, it's not like yo-" Nayla's words faltered slightly as Law began sliding in next to her, wondering why he hadn't chosen to sit in his own booth next to this one. There had been enough crewmembers out tonight to fill three and she'd taken the opportunity to keep a slightly safer distance from the man for the rest of the evening.

"…It's not like yo-" Stopping for a second time, she eyed Law as his thigh came into firm contact with hers as he took his seat. Answering his enquiringly raised brow by pointedly looking at the large amount of space in the booth he'd passed to sit as closely to her as he had done.

Sighing as he simply smirked in response to her silent questioning of his invasion of her personal space, Nayla shuffled a little towards Connor to put a bit of breathing room between them.

"Oh? I'm going to start taking personal offence. What are you doing, Nayla-ya?" Law asked with an entertained smile as she moved away from him.

"Making space for your ego." She shot back bluntly.

Chuckling he looped his arm around her waist, smoothly sliding her back across the seat to his side and tightening his hold on her hip when she immediately tried to squirm away.

"…You really are a piece of work." She muttered lowly for him to hear, only earning a wider grin as he enjoyed her half-annoyed half-amused expression as she looked up at him. He always did look deliciously devilish when he had that shine of mischief in his eyes…

"Knew it. Told ya." Nayla turned a glare on Connor as he grinned triumphantly at the stunned men in the booth then at her as he took another swig of his beer.

"I just _told_ you! He's jus-!"

"Your drink." The waitress politely announced, setting it down onto the table, earning a sigh, grateful smile and thanks from Nayla for her well-timed delivery.

Watching her walk away before lifting her cocktail, she realised the other three men were still staring at her and their captain. "Don't you have anything more interesting to watch?" She gestured to the stripper currently twirling upside down on her pole by her stilettos on the stage before gesturing back up at Law. " _This_ sideshow isn't free, so unless you're gonna start stuffing bills into _my_ panties or help pry your captain's gropey little paws off of me turn around and mind your own damn business."

Hearing a low whistle they looked at Jeff as he made his way over with Penguin and Shachi. "Well, no one's gonna help ya with that one but I can think of a fair few of us that wouldn't mind that first option-" Clearing his throat and pulling the bill of his cap back down as Law turned his gaze to him in warning, Jeff promptly shut up.

It had taken a fair few doses of 'liquid courage' for Penguin and Shachi to ease into the club's atmosphere. Nayla hadn't been surprised by their profuse blushing or the nearly literal puddles of drool they'd left on the edges of the stages they'd rest their elbows on, chins to their hands as they gazed up dreamily at the women who had playfully teased and danced for them. She was honestly surprised Shachi's nostrils hadn't erupted into a bloody volcano when one of the dancers had reached down and stroked his cheek affectionately, a little liquor went a long way apparently.

"Hmm, doesn't this sight seem familiar?" Penguin asked, scratching his chin in fake thought as he turned to Shachi.

His crewmate peered over the top of his sunglasses as he lifted a finger to pull them down the bridge of his nose a little, inspecting the unimpressed look on her face before pushing them back up."That or are we just suffering a serious case of Déjà vu, Nayla-chan?" All thoughts of how adorably bashful the pair were for a couple of perverts went out the window as she heard their taunts.

'You'll be suffering a serious case of something.' "Oh, you know. Your Captain and his need for cuddles." She forced a smile, deciding that the more irritable she got – aka; the more entertained Law was by her reaction, the less likely he'd be to release her without a struggle…Not that she entirely hated the excuse for his closeness or contact. Unfortunately the feel of his arm wrapped around her lower back and the warm, secure hold he had on her hip wasn't unpleasant at all.

"Sure." Shachi chuckled, sliding into the free seat beside his captain, shooting him a dirty grin that may as well have been an open high five. The impulse she'd fought down to reach over and attempt to break his nose for it had been a strong one.

Jeff clapped his hands together loudly, drawing everyone's attention as he grinned at Connor across the table. "Yo, lap dance time buddy. Pick a lady."

"Eh, I dunno…" He sighed unenthusiastically.

"Aww come on, it's on me anyway. Whaddya have to lose?"

Glaring a little at the reminder of what he considered _his_ money now burning a hole in Jeff's pocket, Connor scowled at him, motioning for him to move aside so that he could see the women on and around the stage behind him.

"I dunno, whoever. It's all the same." He grumbled disinterestedly, glancing between them.

"Pick that one, that one _or_ that lady over there when she's off her break." Nayla pointed out the woman at the bar sipping a glass of water for him, earning raised brows as he turned to look at her again.

"…Why?"

"Well, they're really talented. If you'd been paying attention to the effort they'd put into their sets, you'd have noticed that."

Jeff leant his elbow to the top of the booth above Dean's head. "Thought they were pretty good myself. How'd _you_ figure, lil lady? Paying close attention?" He taunted mildly.

"Well, just my opinion-" She held her hands up in disclaimer before continuing. "-but I think strippers fall into two main types. The type that just lazily take their clothes off – doing what any woman can just get up on stage and do themselves, then there's the type that are actually nothing short of choreographed dancers and god damn acrobats. You can tell that they're performers first, strippers second."

Turning to Connor, she pointed out one of the girls she'd recommended on stage again. "You pick one of those types for a lap dance and believe me, you'll get your money's worth."

"…What about her? She was pretty good up there earlier too and more my type." Connor pointed out a beautiful blonde as she strut past in a frilly garter belt and matching set of black underwear.

"Yeah she was but...well, I think she's kinda one of those girls that are here because of poor circumstances. A little dead-eyed, like she's just going through the motions…A lap dance with one of the women that actually seem to have fun here will be way more enjoyable for the both of you but pick whoever you want, it's your treat after all."

Pulling her eyes off the woman as she walked away and ignoring the tug of sympathy she felt, Nayla turned back to the table as she realised she was on the receiving end of raised brows and silent stares. Clearing her throat and taking a sip of her drink, she sat back, avoiding their eye contact and Law's analytical gaze from beside her as it practically bored a hole into her temple.

"Wow…you _are_ a pervert. Exactly how much time have you _spent_ in strip clubs?" Dean broke the silence as he chuckled at her.

"Far too much." She admitted with a guilty laugh.

"Alright, well. I'll take sweetie's...apparently _expert_ advice-" Connor shot her an amused look as he set his finished drink down to the table and stood. "-and go for the nice-lookin' blonde when she's off stage."

"Attaboy! Get the deluxe!" Jeff grinned, stepping aside as the mechanic squeezed out of the booth past Jake and Dean.

"Yeah with _my_ money. Asshole." He scoffed, snatching the thick wad of cash Jeff handed to him as he made his way past.

"Aww come on, you'd have never bought one for yourself. Think of it as good fortune that I got it and forced you to spend it wisely." Laughing good-naturedly at the middle finger he got in response, Jeff looked back at the table. "Shove over."

Sighing as they moved further into the booth to make space for him, Jake took up Connor's vacant space and Dean shuffled up to allow Jeff to take a seat as Penguin took one beside Shachi.

Tuning out their conversation a bit as Jeff began asking if they were enjoying the place and as Jake immediately expressed how much he wasn't looking forward to nursing an apparently very drunk Ichirou tonight, Nayla glimpsed over the back of the booth again as she heard another shrill cheer erupt from the women in the other room, trying in vain to see the cause of it.

Feeling a slight squeeze from the hand she'd forgotten had rest so comfortably onto her hip, she looked back at Law, a fine brow raised as he glanced back at her from the source of her distraction before leaning in closely to her ear.

"Are you really _that_ interested in what's going on over there?" He pulled back slightly to allow her to lean to his own ear to respond quietly.

"I was under the impression that 'no one' was jealous.'"

Chuckling a little at the sly smile she wore as he moved back to her ear to reply, he rest his sword fully against the seat between himself and Shachi, freeing his other arm. "I'm not. I'm only asking because I was under the impression you went both ways yet you haven't taken that much interest in the dancers on this side." He challenged.

"Just because I go both ways doesn't mean I don't have a preference." She scoffed, tilting her head away from the tickle of his breath against her ear as she began reaching for her drink and stopped as she felt his free hand grip her chin gently to hold her in place as he leaned in again.

"So you _do_ prefer men."

She was pretty sure he'd purposely purred his words and brushed his lips against her ear that time just to feel her tense, making her thankful for a second time that the inside of the club was dark as she fought down the sudden flush of heat. Partly caused by the slight arousal from his contact, partly caused by the annoyance at herself for so easily throwing away one of her few earlier lies to him and partly caused by the slight embarrassment of the reminder of _when_ she'd said that. 'You were on his bed. – Yes, thank you. – On _him_ in fact. – Kay, thanks. – ...Straddling him. – Alright! Thank you!'

"Not that it matters to _you_. All those books you've read and you've never once learnt about the concept of appropriate personal space?" Chuckling as she frowned, laid a hand to his cheek and gently pushed him away their attention was brought back to the table as she was addressed.

"You do realise that most male strippers are gay, don't you?" Dean asked from across the table, lowering his eyes from the archway of the wall behind them to her, unsure of what their quiet conversation was about but piecing together it had something to do with her peeking through it.

"How would _you_ know?" Penguin asked, looking at him in surprise as he lowered his bottle from his lips.

"I-It's just common knowledge is all!" Irritated by Penguin's silence and slowly growing grin as he exchanged looks with Shachi, Dean reached over and slapped the bill of his hat down over his eyes. "It is! It's just one of those things ya hear around!"

"Sure it is." Shachi teased, laughing as Penguin righted his hat.

* * *

As the night wore on, the loud music, atmosphere, flashing lights and increasingly strained, polite refusals of attention from the dancers was beginning to take its toll on what was left of Law's energy and patience…but his crew were having a good time, one that they deserved and that was what mattered.

Aside from Bepo of course, he'd chosen to leave early after the women had taken to fawning over his 'cute' appearance and soft fur. It was unfortunate that he never was able to thoroughly enjoy joining them in their indulgences like these but like himself, Bepo was also content to sit back and allow them to have their fun. Well, after driving them crazy as per his usual, hopeful enquiries about the possibility of female bears being present anyway…Annoying that his brain immediately filed away the thought of stripper polar bears into the same category of things Nayla had suggested to him that morning.

Sinking further into the now-empty booth, he rest his head to the back of the seat, allowing his hat to tip forward a little to shield his eyes from the brightly coloured lasers of the current stripper's set. This one was loosely themed as a Siren; a glistening of shiny blue and green body paint on her skin that shone beautifully as she undulated her lithe body in rhythm to the music, the lighting alternating between various shades of aqua.

It appeared the club took advantage of its seaside location and marketed to the fantasies of their likely clients. Amidst the usual typical themes of schoolgirl, cheerleader, cowgirl and the like, there had been a few 'naughty marines' – the highly tailored, scanty uniforms had elicited a particularly loud round of cheers and laughs from his own men. Mermaids – where did one buy starfish nipple pasties anyway? And a female Neptune – or was it Poseidon? _That_ one had done lewd and provocative things with her trident prop.

Nodding at the waves the small group of crewmembers sent him as they made their way to the exit, Law surveyed the club for the rest. Most of the crew that had gone ahead and left for the inn to rest were those that had been working on finishing the sub's repairs and maintenance today but the majority were still spending their hard-earned cash - shares of the crew's steals, on the attractive women performing on and around the stage.

A glance over to the seats by the right of it confirmed Connor, Jeff, Dean and a few others had taken to further spoiling themselves with the company of the beautiful, scandalously dressed (or undressed, depending on your point of view) women in their laps.

'Speaking of beautiful, scandalous, inappropriately dressed women…' Law eyed the vacant seat beside him, inwardly missing the company of his own…well not 'his' in that way but he wasn't opposed to her presence, warmth, fragrance and the feel of her body under his hands. That he'd come to terms with abruptly this morning.

The fresh memories of the taste of her, the feel of her hands on him, the sweet symphony of moans and gasps he'd drawn from those lips - the image of her laid on his bed, looking up at him with that level of lust in her eyes…just that image alone, brought to the forefront of his mind for a split second, did more for him than all the near-naked women that been putting on erotic and enticing displays all night. There was too much satisfaction to be had in finally reducing _that_ woman, all that bark and attitude, to a moaning, naked, sweaty mess beneath him…the excitement of finally taking her…

Groaning quietly to himself at the invasive thoughts he forced himself to focus on the woman on stage. More than a few strippers had come his way this evening courting his attention – and more importantly, his money. A string of sly invitations of stripteases, lap dances and other 'private services.' All offering generous extras and discounts for such a 'handsome, cute and whatever-else-they-flattered-him-with' customer. As frustrated as he was feeling after this morning and as tempting as some of these women had been, he had wiser judgement than that. Some of these women were no better, no less harmless and no less manipulative than the Siren the one on stage was ironically currently masquerading as.

Sighing at that and promising that tomorrow evening he'd make finding himself a more suitable partner to sate his needs a much, _much_ needed priority, Law visually searched the room for Nayla. She'd gotten up to get her own drink from the bar some time ago but hadn't returned, he'd figured she'd probably gone to the bathroom on her way and hadn't thought much of it but nearly rolled his eyes when he spotted her on a bar stool, talking animatedly with one of the dancers who was apparently on her break.

She was cheerfully chatting away with a woman who was wearing nothing but six inch heels and underwear that could rival her own - and there was something to be said about a woman who's underwear couldn't be differentiated from that of a stripper's… nothing good…admittedly a little enticing but nothing good.

This woman was one of the few dancers she'd pointed out to Connor as one that she considered to have talent, though admittedly he had to agree, she'd been impressive enough to have caught his attention as well when she'd been on stage earlier. She'd performed as a police officer if he remembered correctly, she'd made creative use of her baton – not in that way, gripping it on either side from behind her pole to make a more dramatic and exciting show of her acrobatic skills up and down it.

About to turn away and leave Nayla to her devices, content to do so as long as she behaved herself, Law stilled as the stripper beside her called over to someone through the archway, urging them over eagerly with her hand.

An overly muscley - 'probably on steroids,' Law mentally added - male stripper peered through before walking over to them by the bar.

Taking a good guess at where this was going and rolling his eyes, Law grabbed his weapon and stood, deciding that now would be as good a time as any to go get his own refill from the bar.

Making his way over to them, Law watched as Nayla eagerly stood from her stool and extended her hand to the man who shook it in greeting, exchanged a few words with the female stripper then began leading her away by it, wearing nothing but black PVC briefs, as if it were the most normal thing to do.

"What are you doing?"

Whipping her head around in surprise as she heard Law sigh out his question from behind her, Nayla released the stripper's hand, using it instead to gesture to the female stripper on her other side."Uh…getting a lap dance?"

Law looked at the pretty brunette in slight confusion, prompting her to fill him in. "Well, she's paying me for it but not actually letting me do one for her. She's just buying my time to treat me to a break and a drink." She raised her glass in illustration with a smile.

"Your girlfriend sure is a little sweetheart, isn't she?" Mused the female bartender as she popped the cap on another bottle of the pre-mixed rum drink Law had been enjoying this evening and slid it across the wood to him, anticipating his order.

Realising the staff, well everyone in the club, probably had the wrong impression of their relationship due to the way she'd allowed him to sling an arm around her for the better part of the night, Nayla decided to quickly correct the misconception as soon as she saw Law's bored expression melt beneath a slowly spreading smirk of amusement as he looked at her.

"We're not-"

"She sure is." Law cut off immediately, his smirk growing at her sigh. Picking up his drink, he looked pointedly at the male stripper as he spoke again. "And where were you going, 'sweetheart?'"

"Oh, she just wanted to have a little sneak preview next door." The man answered cheerfully, either not reading or ignoring the mild level of threat as Law lowered the drink he'd been raising to his lips, sending him a look as if to ask 'who was talking to you?'

Nayla cleared her throat to regain Law's attention from the innocent, maybe slightly oblivious, stripper. "What 'sweetheart' said." She smiled.

"No."

"Why _not_?! _"_

Law's brows rose momentarily at the rapid deterioration of her calm demeanour into her now childish, whiney tone. He nearly laughed aloud at how she wasn't far off of stamping her foot and throwing a tantrum at his persistent refusal. It honestly would have been cute had it not been regarding her constant attempts to watch virtually nude men thrust their genitals at obscene proximity to her.

"Because I think you'll leave the club the second I can no longer see you past this wall." It was the truth; he wasn't _entirely_ comfortable with letting her out of his and his crew's sight just yet, at least not without good reason.

"Ok, that's fine. If you need to keep an eye on me so badly then come _babysit_ me in there for a bit. It's not like you're paying much attention to the show in here anyway. I'll even pay for your admission!"

"No."

"Aww, she was open-minded enough to come _here_ with you, you should let her have some fun next door too." The woman at the bar cooed sympathetically, leaning over it and folding her arms with a soft pout on her behalf.

"…No."

"Not very secure about his sexuality?" The female stripper asked, turning to Nayla.

"Actually he is, or well…I _thought_ he was." She sent him a challenging stare, resting her hands to her hips.

"It has nothing to do with that." Law sighed aloud, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand as he felt his headache beginning to worsen at the strange and annoying level of support the staff were giving her.

"Then why not? I-"

"Hey darlin,' wondered where you went." They collectively turned their attention to the new male dancer as he appeared, crossed the threshold to their side of the club and trotted over to his colleague. "You're up soon so-oh! My my my, who is _this_ delicious-looking slice of dark meat? You 'coming inside,' honey?" The man suggestively purred, openly checking Law out from tip to toe.

Nayla could feel tears building up at the corner of her eyes as she bit her lip hard at Law's horrified and incredibly uncomfortable expression at the man's double entendre…and possibly 'subtle' enquiry of whether he was a top or a bottom.

Shooting her a glare as he heard a snort of laughter escape her, despite her best efforts, he re-schooled his face somewhat before ignoring the man. "Answer your question?" He asked her dryly.

"He uh, doesn't swing that way, Jeremy. This is his girlfriend." The female stripper awkwardly introduced, her and the bartender smothering their own laughter behind their hands.

"Oh…OH! Oh, I'm sooo sorry sweetie, what _must_ you think of me!" Jeremy (apparently) exclaimed, holding his hands up in a placating fashion as he apologised profusely to Nayla for any offence he may have caused her.

"No please don't be, that was so priceless." She laughed loudly, unable to hold it in any longer at the thought of Law being pounced on ten times harder by the male strippers on the other side than he had been by the female ones on this one tonight. She found herself having to hold her sides as she imagined his expression if any of them tried gyrating in his face or grinding on his lap whilst whispering sweet offers of private 'dances' to him.

"Yo, Captain! Lil lady, Sandra." Jeff nodded his greetings at each, winking at the stripper as he named her before turning to the bartender. "Another beer please, sweetheart."

"Coming right up." She giggled, turning to get his order out of the small refrigerator under the counter of the back wall behind the bar.

"What you guys up to?" He asked, eyeing the two male strippers curiously, playfully leaning his folded arms on top of Nayla's head as if she were something to rest on.

"I was just gonna go get a little female-friendly entertainment for a bit next door." She managed out between dying giggles, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes carefully so as not to smudge her eye makeup.

"No, you weren't." Law snapped irritably.

"Come on, Captain. The lil lady deserves to have her fun too, she's been on this side with us all night."

"You feel that way then _you_ go keep an eye on her."

Snapping his mouth shut at the challenge, Jeff looked down at Nayla as she glanced up at him hopefully "...Geez, those cute puppy dog eyes…Well, I do owe ya short stuff. For being so forgiving and nice to me when I lost my hands…So alright, I'll take this bullet for ya."

"You will?"

Laughing at her huge smile and ignoring the confused glances the staff were sharing at the 'lost my hands' part, Jeff beamed back at her. "Sure, anything for my lil lady. I can take it, bring it on!" He fiercely declared, removing his arms from atop her head to nudge her forward towards the archway in encouragement.

"She doesn't leave your sight." Law called after him, levelling a stern, warning look at her as she glanced back at him. "And if she tries to leave, you come get me immediately."

"Aye aye, Captain!" He grinned, grabbing the beer the bartender held out for him over the counter as he walked past. "Pull my tab over to the other side, would ya darlin'?"

"Sure thing." She smiled after him as he and Nayla followed the two male strippers through the archway.

"Have fun you two!" Sandra yelled after them, waving them off with a smile.

* * *

Law got up from his seat as Jake began leaving the booth, shouldering the weight of a very jolly Ichirou - who he was _not_ going to be sympathetically tending to tomorrow when he was suffering the hangover he'd just caused himself.

The number of crewmembers still here had now dwindled down to a handful, some had turned in for the night and some had found themselves female company. Venturing upstairs or seeking it elsewhere at nearby bars and the like.

It had gotten very late and Law was content to call it a night himself and if he left, it meant it was time for his little prisoner to as well. Admittedly, this place had definitely been one of the more decent clubs he'd ventured too and some of the shows had been entertaining to watch, he'd actually had a fairly enjoyable night though perhaps in a slightly different way to the rest of his men. It had kept his mind off of things for the most part; Doflamingo and Nayla included.

Thoughts turning back to her, he strode over to the archway, deciding it was about time to pick up the annoyance and relieve Jeff of his unpleasantly located guard duty task.

Watching the bouncers guarding the gap in the partitioning wall as they glanced at each other in silent question of what action to take at his approach, Law spoke up firmly. "I'm not paying to enter and I'm not here to stay. I'm here to pick up a nuisance and leave."

Without another word or waiting for their response, he walked past them, braving the threshold with a slightly held breath as his ears adjusted to the change in tempo of the music as he crossed into the other side of the club.

Apparently this half made more use of the smoke machine as part of their dancers' routines, visibility was a lot poorer around some of the stages. Squinting a little in the darkness and haze, he scanned the seats and crowds for a familiar boilersuit or woman. Law walked in slowly, ignoring the obscenely bare dancers on stage, packs of wild, shrieking women pawing at them and pointedly avoiding all eye contact with any other man on this side.

Finally spotting the distinct mass of white he was looking for sitting slumped at a table, Law stalked over to Jeff, increasing his pace with a mild sense of apprehension as he registered the man was alone and looking terribly sick, erratic and extreme thoughts along the lines of him being drugged and left there by Nayla as she made her escape firing off in his mind.

"Jeff, where is Nayla-ya?"

"Oh, she's with Captain." He muttered around the fist he was resting his cheek to, arms folded over the small rounded table's surface and eyes closed tiredly.

Tensing and placing a hand to his crewmate's shoulder as he pushed the man back far enough to see his face more clearly; Law wondered who he thought he was speaking to. "…No, she isn't…Are you ok?"

"Oh! Not you, Captain." Hearing the concern in his voice, Jeff perked up a bit in his seat. "I'm fine, just…just a little nauseated. I meant 'Captain Ben Dover.'" Following his gesture as he raised his free hand to point towards one of the central platforms, Law released his shoulder and stood upright, feeling a slight crinkle of disgust lift his nose and fighting back the urge to gag at the stupid stage name.

Making his way over, he looked through the horde of squealing female customers who were obviously excited to see this…'Ben Dover' in action but was still unable to see Nayla in the crowd _or_ the 'Captain' as he approached.

Slowly able to see the dancer on his hands and knees past the tops of the women's heads, Law gathered the gist of the man's themed performance in a regrettable glance. The stripper was wearing a naval uniform, or what was left of it, judging by the mass of discarded white clothing further up the stage behind him. He was left wearing boots, white spandex briefs and a naval captain's hat, the black, polished bill of it catching the flashy lighting coming from above as he crawled on all fours down the platform. The hungry women running their hands over his glistening muscles from the edges as he passed by them slowly.

This was one of the big difference between the genders of strippers; male ones being touched by women didn't warrant much worry but you couldn't so much as brush past a female one without their explicit invitation. It usually warranted a slap to the face and being roughly thrown out, depending on the standard of the club….Not that he knew any of that from personal experience, he'd simply seen it happen to Jeff more times than he'd cared to.

Law found himself inwardly relieved the stripper wasn't taking the role of a _pirate_ captain. The theme had been advertised on a few of the promotional posters dotted around on the walls inside the club, featuring both male and female dancers in their shamelessly revealing, stereotypical pirate costumes.

Nayla was already messing with him enough with her book selection earlier today, he wasn't sure how he'd have felt about seeing her being ground against by a half naked pirate captain…Though a naval captain, a natural enemy of pirates, didn't hit his humour the right way either but he was sure _she_ was getting a kick out of it.

Reaching the back of the crowd, Law peered over their heads, scanning for a recognisable, short brunette and when he finally sighted her, he wondered why he hadn't simply guessed Nayla would be front and centre of this fiasco. As usual.

She was leaning against the front of the platform, elbows on the stage, keenly watching the man crawling closer, focused on her as she dangled a generous tip for him as a lure.

Though Law was fairly convinced, assuming the heterosexuality of _this_ stripper, that she probably didn't need the bait. An alluring look from her would be enough…When had he gone from 'she's beautiful but nothing special' to giving her this much credit he wondered, pushing through the rows of tightly crammed women towards her, catching a glimpse of the devious smile on her lips as the other 'Captain' got to her first.

She pulled the tip out of his range when he reached a hand up for it, sticking the corner of the large bill between her lips as the stripper lowered his hand back down to the stage, earning an entertained grin from him and loud catcalls of encouragement from the other women enjoying the show.

Rolling his eyes at the scene, Law yelled over the noise to get her attention as he manoeuvred through the women. "Nayla-ya, we're leaving."

Unable to open her mouth to talk and not breaking eye contact with the man on stage she held an index finger up in Law's direction in gesture of 'one minute' as she leant her head back, taunting the stripper playfully by moving the bill out of his reach again as he tried to take it from her with his teeth.

Laughing, the 'naval Captain' reached a hand to the back of her head to stop her from pulling away again and leant in suggestively to pluck the money from her mouth with his own, placing his lips far closer to hers on the bill than necessary to pull it from her and earning screams of delight from the crowd as he did so, making a show of tucking the bill into his underwear though his eyes never left hers.

Experiencing an unpleasantly threatening pressure on his ear drums at the girly shrieks, irked at being openly ignored and feeling more than a little irrational annoyance at the look the man was giving her as he leaned in to plant a kiss on her lips, Law abruptly yanked the back of her sweater by the scruff of the neck as he finally pushed through the crowd and reached her. Earning a disappointed groan from them as he dragged her out of it, hauling her off the floor and over his shoulder when he felt her begin to dig her heels into the carpeting in protest.

"Law!"

"Time to go." He calmly spoke over the noise, ignoring her thrashing and walking out of the crowd towards the table Jeff was sitting at.

"What? Right now?! Do you _KNOW_ how many horny women you have to headbutt out of the way just to _get_ that close to the stage?! You're-!"

"Doing you a favour." He cut off, gesturing for a laughing Jeff to stand up and follow them as he began making his way past the tables. "Do you have any idea how dirty a stripper's mouth is?"

"Do _you_? Personal experience, Law? Can't be any dirtier than yours-Ow!" Leaning herself up on his back she did her best to shoot him a glare at the harsh slap to her ass he'd silenced her with as he side-glanced at her over his shoulder in warning.

"Also, considering you've spent the evening – and by the sounds of it, _many_ evenings, watching these sweaty, oiled up dancers stuff their tips into their underwear, I'm surprised you would so readily stick a note into your mouth."

"Just the tip of the corner." She grumbled, crossing her arms in a huff and slumping over his shoulder again as her lower back became uncomfortable at the propped up and twisted position she'd been in.

Catching up, Jeff fell into step beside Law. "Captain, lil lady-" He mockingly greeted by peering around Law's side to look at her slung over his back with a lift of his hat. "-I take it we're going?"

"Yeah, it's late and…" Feeling him tense a little under her, Nayla swivelled around to follow his gaze, watching a couple of the male strippers by the bar as they raised their glasses and winked at him, one going so far as to lick his lips.

Not bothering to be kind enough to smother her laughter this time, she felt Law's grip across the back of her thighs tighten threateningly before he turned back to Jeff and resumed his stride to the door at a more rapid pace. "We're leaving." He ground out.

"Aye aye, Captain." Jeff chuckled, falling into step behind him this time and sharing an amused grin with Nayla at his expense behind his back.

"So, I know _you_ guys are sick of this place but why can't _I_ stay? You guys got waaay longer with the female dancers."

"Don't you remember you have an important call to make in the morning or have you already forgotten? How much have you had to drink?"

"What? Don't change the subject. This is definitely just your weird jealous streak coming through." Jeff reached a hand up and ducked her head slightly as they passed through the doorway of the exit, stopping her from bumping it against the doorframe when she'd lifted it to turn and argue with his captain.

"No. I'm tired, Jeff's tired, you have things to do tomorrow and I can't leave you here alone."

"Nooo, don't mind us guys. Just a helpless woman being carried out of _your_ establishment by a bunch of pirates. Nothing to see here. Awesome security. You guys wear those sunglasses at night just to look cool or because you're legally fucking blind?" She scathed at the bewildered bouncers as Law walked past them casually with her on his shoulder before addressing him again. "Look, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself, even if I _am_ a little tipsy." She felt a little shudder as the cold night air washed over them as he carried her outside.

"Drunk." He bluntly corrected. "And it's not about your safety, Nayla-ya. You know that."

Smiling gratefully at Jeff as he pulled the coat he'd been carrying off his arm and draped it over her and his captain's shoulder, she wondered at what point of the night had he ventured back to the other side of the club to go fetch the jacket she'd left slung over the back of the booth for her.

"I'm staying, put me down. I know where the inn is and I'll be there when I'm done." She said firmly.

"No." He sighed, calmly tightening his grip on her at her renewed squirming to get out of his hold.

"Stop manhandling me and put me down! Try using words to get what you want you fucking barbarian!" She yelled, finally losing her temper and causing the few people still left out on the streets at this time of night to turn and look at them…more than they had been doing anyway.

"With certain people, words are a waste of time and energy. You're one of those people, Nayla-ya. Can you recall how many times I've said 'no' to you tonight?"

Growling in frustration she pushed herself somewhat upright, turning her head to lean closely to the back of his. "You really _are_ just jealous aren't you?"

"If you'd like to think so." She couldn't see it but she could hear that damn smirk.

Following her double-take, Jeff turned around to look behind him, spotting the crewmembers that had apparently also just left the club too, trailing a little way back.

"Well, I'm definitely putting that timing of yours down to jealousy." She stated flatly, waving with a weak smile at the amused crewmembers watching their captain dragging her back to the inn by force as Jeff trotted over to greet them

"Put it down to me not wanting to have to treat any disgusting mouth infections you pick up."

"…Or catch them from me?" She teased quietly, earning a little chuckle.

...

"Ya know, if you ever _did_ consider a career change? You'd make an awesome stripper, Law. You could call yourself 'Captain Codpiece' or something. Your title would hold more weight too considering you _really_ are a captain…You could be a pirate-themed stripper…though you could go the sexy doctor route too…" Grinning widely to herself at his silence, she could only imagine the look on his face right now though decided to throw in some flattery with her mockery so that he wouldn't get _too_ upset with her.

"We could buy you a bright yellow G-string to dance in, could even get your Jolly Roger custom printed on the front too – I know you'd like that…I bet you'd earn more money stuffed into it by the end of one night then you would from pillaging an entire _fleet_ of marine ships…Oh, and for the record, Law-" She leant her lips to the back of his neck, the action curtained from his crewmates by her long hair and she found herself revelling in the stiffening of his posture as she contacted his skin. "-I'd tip you ten times what I tipped that guy."

"Nayla…" Her name spoken in a mixture of warning and exasperation.

"In fact, I'd pay you that much right now to put me down _or_ give me a proper princess carry."

"…Be quiet." He sighed out softly, pinching the back of her thigh lightly.

Laughing quietly to herself, she decided to leave her teasing at that, curling the loose edges of her coat around her more securely as she folded her arms against his upper back. Enjoying the feel of his muscles in motion beneath her and able to feel the pull of his widening smirk on the cheek against her side as he carried her under the clear night sky.


	47. Bestiality and bar fights

"Nayla-ya."

'Ugh.'

"Nayla-ya."

'…No.'

Ignoring the frustrated growl and louder knock at her door, she groaned and rolled over. Crushing her eyes shut more tightly as the daylight blinded her through her eyelids when she faced the window of the room, realising she'd forgotten to draw the curtains last night before sleeping.

"Nayla-ya!"

She'd have yelled at him, if she'd had the energy too. Whatever time it was, it was far too early for this right now. Pulling the covers up over her head and curling up into a tighter ball she waited patiently for him to just yell what he wanted from her through the door or to, hopefully, just give up and come back later when she was awake.

Holding her breath, she listened intently to the other side of the bedroom door for more knocking, yelling or the sound of him sighing and walking away. Unable to hear anything for a few moments, she decided that he must have left more quietly than she'd been able to hear.

Exhaling with a tired sigh, she relaxed and sank more comfortably into her mattress as she tried to settle back into her restful sleep.

"Nayla-ya." Screaming as she heard Law's voice right above her ear through the blanket, she jumped from her bed – or tried to, but felt a firm hand push her back down to her mattress by her shoulder. "Why do you always make me call you several times before you answer?"

"What the FUCK is the matter with you?! How did you even get _in_ here?!" She screamed angrily at him, yanking the blanket off her head and turning to face him, her heart racing uncomfortably from the scare he'd given her.

"Room." He offered passively.

"Wha-? Oh…fucking get off of me." Shrugging his hand off of her shoulder roughly, she closed her eyes and rest her head back to the pillow, facing away from him again.

"I don't appreciate being ignored, Nayla-ya...or having to repeat the fact." His tone was mostly neutral, though there was a distinct undertone of annoyance laced through it – less than when he'd been yelling through the door though. Seemed he'd gotten some satisfaction in spooking her as punishment for her behaviour.

"Well _I_ don't appreciate being woken up so fucking early, Law."

"Do you even know what time it is?" He challenged, glancing around her room in mild interest, spotting her discarded clothing from last night draped across the armchair in the corner.

"It doesn't matter. If I'm _asleep_ it's too. Fucking. Early."

Raising a brow at her fourth swear since he'd entered the room, he looked back at her, a small grin tugging at his lips as his own irritation further ebbed away at the sight of hers. "You don't usually have such potty mouth first thing in the morning. Is something bothering you?...A terrible hangover perhaps?" He teased close to her ear again as he leant over her, grinning a little more widely as he watched her tense a little at his proximity, eyes still closed.

"I don't get hangovers and even if I did, I wasn't drunk last night. _You_ are the only thing bothering me and I don't usually swear this much because I'm not usually woken by _teleporting pirates_...Stupidest-sounding two words strung together that have ever left my mouth."

"Debatable." He scoffed with a disbelieving eye roll before his small, lopsided smile returned. "…Hmm, you _weren't_ drunk? So you can't even blame your ridiculous behaviour last night on your drinking."

Feeling her brow twitch a little at the condescension in his voice, she grit her teeth, discomforted by his closeness and tempted to rectify the problem by shoving his face away forcefully with an open palm. "I don't _regret_ anything I did last night. What do you want?" She hissed impatiently.

"You don't regret anything?" He asked lowly, ignoring her question and watching her face carefully.

"No. What do you wan-?"

"Not even openly admitting you find me ten times more attractive than the stripper you were practically drooling a puddle for?" Smirking as she tensed, he brushed her hair aside gently, leaning in closely over the back of her neck, making the hair there stand on end as she felt his breath dance across it. "…Or that affectionate little kiss you gave me?"

Snapping her eyes open at his purred words and the feel of his lips on her skin as he mimicked it, she shot up in bed, clutching her covers to her chest as she turned and narrowed her eyes in warning at him.

Finding it hard to take her death glare seriously with such severe bed head and the childishly fluffy hoodie she was apparently wearing, he chuckled at the sight of her as he stood upright.

"I'd hardly call it _affectionate_. More like the teasing one you just gave me – which is _not_ ok by the way!" She rubbed the back of her neck in annoyance, flustered by his forwardness and annoyed by the lazy grin on his face. "Breaking into a woman's bedroom when she's half-asleep and kissing her like a fucking creep - what the HELL do you want already?!"

"I want you to do the job I'm putting up with you for. Call that delightful agent of yours."

"…Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Why couldn't you have just waited until I woke up?" She seethed, shuffling in her bed to lie down again.

"I've been waiting long enough. Besides, you'll miss breakfast hours downstairs if you sleep any longer."

"I don't care about breakfast hours, I can buy food whenever I want now that we're off the sub. Leave me alone to sleep in when we're on lan-hey!"

Moving over to the other side of her mattress before he could squash her, Law helped himself to a seat on it, resting his Nodachi to floor and leaning it against the bedside cabinet.

Reaching his free hand to it, he plucked her small Den Den Mushi from its surface and held it out to her. "Make your call."

"Get-" She stopped to catch the small snail as he promptly dropped it over her hand when she didn't move to take it from him; clenching her jaw as she watched him make himself comfortable. Adjusting her pillow, lying back against it, swinging his long legs up onto the bed and crossing them at the ankles as he folded his hands over his stomach.

Feeling a slight twitch under her eye at his completely calm demeanour as he looked at her with a small smile, she set the snail onto her lap gently so as not to accidentally crush it in her tightening hold with her rising temper.

"Get off my bed." She growled out quietly.

"That's not very hospitable of you Nayla-ya, considering I've offered you mine plenty of times…Would you _really_ throw me out of your bed?" He mocked, an air of challenge and insinuation to his low tone that he knew she wouldn't appreciate in the slightest.

Locking gazes with him, she leant in, speaking quietly and firmly. "In a heartbeat."

…

"You never were a very good liar, Nayla."

Scoffing at his cocky grin, she sat upright again. "Must be if I managed to convince you I prefer women."

"I was _never_ convinced of that. Make your call." He chuckled, placing his hands behind his head, the action moving his hat up a little over his brow.

Smiling a little as she huffed in amusement, he watched her turn her attention back to the sleepy snail on her covers before dialling the number she had memorised, noticeably turning the keypad away from his view before doing so. Holding the receiver up as the snail rang; she waited patiently for it to be answered.

"…"

"Me, Marty."

"Oh and here I thought I'd have a good morning." The mollusc grouched back at her.

"Don't give me that like you weren't expecting to hear from me. You _told_ me to call you in the morning." She yawned, covering her mouth slightly.

"Long night princess?" Feeling a small tug on her top, Nayla looked over her shoulder to find Law idly inspecting the animal ears on its hood between his fingers with a raised brow.

"Mmm, could say that. So, I'm guessing you have a creepy dude on standby for me to meet today?" She snatched the fabric out of his fingers in annoyance before adjusting the pillow behind her and resting back on it.

"Yeah, do _you_ have a 'creepy dude' on standby for me too?"

Nayla let her eyes drift to the man lying on the bed beside her as he slid his hand back under his head. "…Yeah, he's here."

The snail tutted in disdain and rolled its eyes. "Fine, but you make sure he isn't anywhere near you when you have your meeting. I'm not gonna explain to the guy that he should be expecting two people to show up today, especially not some unknown 'business partner' of yours or some shit. It hurts my credibility."

"I got it I got it, just tell me when and where already." She sighed out tiredly, closing her eyes.

"…Alright. One of the commercial companies you spoke to yesterday about a ship to Kattou, 'Shibumi Speedline,' he'll be 'working' there today. Be there at one in the afternoon and book your trip to Kattou for the day after tomorrow. When he hands you your receipt and brochure pack, you'll find what you need slipped inside. Got it?"

"Got it, anything else I need to know?"

"That's it. Give me a call when your job is done, I'll start lining up some others for you."

"Alright, thank you." She yawned out again.

"No problem, work hard…party less." The Den Den sighed, unimpressed with her tiredness.

"God dammit, bye _mom_!" Slamming the receiver down grumpily she scowled at the snail as it went back to sleep before handing it back to Law without looking at him. Not wanting to see his amused expression right now if he were wearing one.

Chuckling he took it from her without saying a word and set it back onto the bedside cabinet beside him at her prompt.

"Happy now? Made my call, that took a _whole_ two minutes, that I _could_ have just done when I'd woken up. You heard him, one pm and stay out of my way." She grumbled, shuffling under the covers, turning away from him and closing her eyes.

Waiting a few moments and groaning out loud when he said nothing and made no move to leave, she looked back at him over her shoulder. "What _now_?"

"We're going out this morning. You need to get dressed."

"No, _you_ are going out this morning. I need to sleep." Stubbornly, she turned back over, pulling her covers up to her chin.

"You need sleep so badly and you wanted to stay at that club longer?"

Eyes flying open as she felt the bed behind her dip as he leant closer, she stiffened. "I didn't think me sleeping in would be an issue for you. Do we need to have the 'personal space' talk again, Law?"

"Do we need to have the 'I'm not letting you out of my sight' talk again, Nayla." She turned to look at him slowly, narrowing her eyes at his daring to openly mock her usual retorts to _him_. "If I'm going out, so are you."

"Can't we go out later? I need to go out for my job in the afternoon anyway."

"Its been raining all morning and only just stopped. It's likely to begin snowing this afternoon as it gets colder and I want to get things done before it does. I don't have to explain myself to you and you should know by now how I'm going to handle you when I think words are becoming a waste of my time. I'm not going to say it again. Get dressed."

Fighting back the overwhelming urge to attempt to punch him in the face, again, she bit her lip sourly, willing the insults on the tip of her tongue back down her throat as she tossed her covers aside viciously to get out of bed.

Law watched her stand stiffly, taking deep breaths and trying to reign in her anger with him. Catching her attention when he began chuckling, he earned a questioning look as to what was so funny.

"It seems I _am_ helping you learn control over that temper of yours after all-" Catching the pillow she'd slammed to his face before it could contact, he smirked at the glare she gave him as she made her way to the bathroom, certain that he'd heard at least another three 'F' words muttered under her breath as she walked away.

* * *

Emerging from behind the abandoned buildings, Law strode back through the cramped alley towards the main street; carefully avoiding scuffing the arms of his coat against the rough, mouldy brickwork of what had once been two buildings belonging to a factory that had produced steel plating for vessels such as his own.

Grimacing, he picked up his pace, avoiding stepping into the off-colour puddles that he would have attributed the unpleasant smell to if there hadn't been such an abundance of abandoned waste scattered on the ground as well. An array of rotted garbage that even the rats and seagulls had turned their nose up at.

Thankfully reaching the street, he stopped holding his breath, letting it out in a puff of white vapour in the cold air as he glanced around for and finally spotted Bepo at the window of a shop a little way down the road. It was far more difficult to find him when he wore his dark coat over his brightly coloured boilersuit. His size and…the white, fluffy thing sitting on his shoulders had been what had caught his attention.

Sighing a little at that and purposely striding through a few of the shallower puddles in the hopes of washing off anything unsavoury he might have picked up on his boots during his venture, he made his way over to them.

"Bepo."

"Oh, Captain. Did you finish what you needed to do?" He asked cheerfully, turning to face him from examining the items for sale through the glass. A shop that sold hardware and tools, well-situated to their current location in the more industrial part of the town.

"Yeah…" He glanced up at Nayla, her cheek pressed to the top of the bear's head, arms wrapped loosely under his chin as she slumped forward from her seat atop his shoulders, hood up and snoring gently in her makeshift position.

"…S-Sorry, she said she was too tired to walk anymore." His navigator offered as he watched his captain's gaze drop to the secure hold he had on either of her legs as he carried her.

Sighing again at the sight and at how she hadn't stirred despite his return or the sound of their conversation, Law began making his way back down the street. "It's fine..."

Ignoring Bepo's second apology as they walked, Law decided to let it go for now, seeing as she was obviously exhausted. It was better off if she remained asleep anyway, less lip and less trouble.

Having been unimpressed to find him still on her bed and in her bedroom in general when she'd left her bathroom this morning, Nayla had grumpily thrown on a pair of jeans, her boots, a thick scarf and some gloves but hadn't bothered to change the top half of what she'd worn to bed last night.

He'd admit he raised a brow at the short hem of a silken nightdress that had peered out from the bottom of her hoodie when she'd gotten up. She'd obviously been keen to forsake _his_ clothing and use her usual nightwear to bed but had apparently found it too cold at some point in the night and had retrieved the warm-looking top she was currently wearing over it. She'd lazily tucked the bottom of her nightdress into her jeans before turning to him with a lacklustre demand that he lead the way so that they could 'get this over with.'

With the thick white fluff of it and the bear ears on top, it honestly looked as though Bepo were carrying a cub of his on his shoulders.

Side-glancing at her and finding her still entirely dead to the world despite them entering a busier street, he couldn't help but think that between her attire, falsely-innocent sleeping expression and her lack of makeup that she looked adora-'Like a child,' he firmly, inwardly corrected. If Law hadn't seen physical proof of her age for himself already, he'd have questioned it.

Nayla had expressed (amongst other, considerably more grumpy, things) that she hoped to be done with this morning outing and back in bed for a nap before needing to go out for her job in the afternoon but his errand had taken much longer than he'd thought it would. It was already past midday, they'd need to make their way straight to the harbour if they were to make it on time to pick up what she needed to do her job in a couple of days.

As for his own end of things, there hadn't been a great deal of new information to be found on Ashibumi, not that Law had expected to find anything substantial. He was certain that the more useful knowledge about Doflamingo and his dealings as an underworld broker would be found in the New World but it didn't hurt to pick up what _could_ be found out before they travelled there themselves.

It was relatively easy too. Doflamingo was one of the world's most prominent brokers if not _the_ most prominent one and there was virtually no shady business type that he _didn't_ have a talon firmly curled into.

There was nothing unusual about a pirate looking to buy illegal services and products and when you knew that the majority of underhanded deals across the Grand Line were, in one way or another, influenced, controlled or connected to Joker, then enquiring about virtually anything nearly always led to inadvertent information about him and how he functioned…But he'd scraped all the basic information up already, long ago in fact. Law already knew the fundamentals of how the man worked. It was time to start digging deeper.

It helped that a network as large as Doflamingo's inevitably produced disgruntled grunts at the bottom reaches of it. The lowlife, small-time thugs that would never amount to anything within his chain of command. The forgotten, overlooked, unappreciated and outright screwed over who were more than willing to give a little extra information - low key, for the right price.

Law was looking forward to seeing how this partnership with Nayla would play out, keen to see how she worked and eager to see what she'd bring back for him in a couple of days. Again, he wouldn't expect there to be much to be found on Kattou, after all, it was only her second job for Joker. All Law was hoping for was for things to go smoothly and to look promising.

Trying to reserve judgement on her worth until he'd seen her complete this job, Law pushed aside thoughts of whether Nayla would purposely do it badly so that he'd release her or thoughts of her purposely withholding information that she found out from him and the persistent worry that she would turn on him and his crew for what he'd done to her…That last one especially, he'd had to dismiss more times than he'd like to count, but he didn't doubt his instincts nor his ability to judge the character of another person. To him, she didn't seem to be the kind of person that would do such a thing. Besides, it was obvious that she adored his crew; he couldn't imagine her jeopardising them to spite him.

Glancing up as he heard a soft yawn, he watched as Nayla sat up a little, propping one hand to Bepo's head and rubbing her eye with the other as she looked around at her moving surroundings, quickly focusing on him. "Oh, hey Law, you all done?"

"Yeah."

"We heading back to the inn now?" She stretched a little before settling her folded arms across Bepo's scalp, leaning on them comfortably.

"It's nearly one. We're going to the harbour to pick up what you need."

Blinking in confusion as she added that up, she groaned a little as she realised they'd taken up the entire morning on his mystery mission but said nothing, choosing instead to watch the few people out on the street going about their business but sparing gawks their way as they spotted Bepo. For once, Law not the focus of attention as they walked around outside.

"Pfft, you'd think they'd never seen a bear before. Must be annoying, huh Beppy?"

"…A little." He admitted quietly, glancing up at her as she overhung his forehead to look at him.

"…Beppy?" Law crinkled his nose in mild disgust as the dainty-sounding pet name rolled off his tongue with difficulty.

"Yes, Beppy. Like Pengy, Shachikins, Jeffles, Con-"

"Enough, don't call my crew by any cutesy names." He interrupted; scowling at her as she lowered the hand she'd been counting them off on back to his navigator's head.

"But they don't mind."

"Well I do."

Blinking at him blankly she turned her gaze back to Bepo. "…He just hates that _he_ doesn't have one, doesn't he?"

Taking a deep breath and beginning to wish she'd remained asleep, Law refused to dignify yet another insinuation of his 'jealousy' with an answer. "If you're awake, get down from there and walk. You look ridiculous."

"…The hoodie or the whole riding a polar-bear-pirate thing?" She found herself smiling a little at his slight petulance.

"Both, but mostly that ridiculous thing you're wearing." He eyed the ears atop her head pointedly.

"You didn't seem to have much to say about it when you _broke into my bedroom_ , _crawled into my bed_ _and fondled the ears_ on it like a pervert." She said, stressing her points for Bepo's benefit before leaning forward and looking down at his face again. "By the way, I'd be worried about _your_ ears, Bepo."

Law sighed as his first-mate looked at him questioningly. "Nayla-ya."

"If he ever touches yours like he touched mine this morning then you should probably yell 'Stranger Danger!' and go find the nearest adult to help you. He's a real creeper." She narrowed her eyes at him in mock-scorn.

"Nayla-ya…"

Taking a moment to assess the seriousness of his warning tone and the stern glare he was giving her, she looked back at the navigator. "…I think he might be into bears."

"…" He stared at her silently for a moment before she decided she could probably push his buttons just a tiny bit more.

"…Maybe animals in general. You should watch your bac-"

"Get down from there." He cut off bluntly.

"No."

"Put her down." Law demanded, looking at his crewmember.

Before the bear could reply, Nayla spoke up again, not quite willing to give up her comfortable seat or cushy ride just yet. "But Bepo said he didn't mind carrying me!"

"Do _not_ cause conflict between myself and my crew and their orders." He said firmly before coming to a stop, lowering his gaze to Bepo and indicating to the ground with a tattooed index finger. "Put. Her. Down."

"Aye aye, Captain." Lifting his paws up to either side of her waist, he gently lifted her from his shoulders, placing her softly on the ground between him and his captain, with an apologetic look.

Law smiled in satisfaction as she grumpily frowned up at him in defeat and crossed her arms…Though her defiant gaze soon fell from his, drifting to a spot on the ground behind him.

Raising a brow and turning to look at what she seemed to be contemplating so intently, he spotted the particularly large puddle by his feet, feeling his smile widen as he guessed the current question on her mind.

"No Nayla-ya, it's not deep enough. Had you bothered to read the introductory chapter on Devil Fruits in that book, you'd _know_ how deep water would need to be to affect a user." He chuckled, striding past her.

"Didn't realise there _was_ that kind of useful info in the introductory chapter or I'd have read it. Guess I'll have to borrow it again." She muttered, trailing behind him with Bepo as they began to make their way down the street in silence.

…

"…So, how deep _does_ it need to be?"

Finding himself chuckling again at the obviously fake-innocently-curious tone of her voice he side-glanced at her as she caught up to walk by his side. "At least knee deep."

"Pfft, knee deep on someone as tall as you?" She sulked, looking into a shop window they passed as a particularly nice evening dress on a mannequin caught her eye. "Guess that rules out killing you in a bubble bath too…No wait, if you're lying flat in water, does that count as knee deep? It's gotta, doesn't it?"

"I don't know Nayla-ya, does it? Perhaps you should find out for yourself some day and try attacking me when I'm having one." He challenged, reaching a hand over to lay it gently on her head and push back the hood over her hair.

"Hey!" Glad the invasive contact stopped her brain from processing his open invitation to walk in on him naked sometime, she lifted her hands to swat his away and tug her hood back up firmly.

"Why does a woman like _you_ even own clothing like this?" He asked, watching her pull forward and smooth out her hair on either side.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she willed herself not to take the bait and demand to know what he was implying by the 'like you' part when she already knew she wouldn't like the answer. "I like it, its cosy…and for the record? Bepo likes it too, he thinks it's cute." She chirped snootily, nose in the air.

"S-Sorry." The bear apologised as Law gave him a questioning glance on his other side.

Nayla stifled back a yawn as she glanced up at the heavy clouds hanging overhead. It wasn't particularly cold yet but it soon would be if they were in for snow as Law said. She'd heard a few of the locals adding on that it wouldn't be heavy but that it was due to fall all night, then debating between themselves about how many inches they were expecting to have to shovel in the morning.

The stray, tired thoughts in the back of her mind about what kind of information Law had been seeking out today disintegrated before fully formed as she smelt the aroma of freshly baked goods drifting towards them from the open door of a bakery up ahead.

Skipping breakfast in favour of getting this chore over and done with as soon as possible was beginning to come back to bite her in the ass, her stomach was beginning to protest the decision quite loudly now that it knew they wouldn't be stopping by the inn before the harbour.

"Hey, Law?" She glanced up at him, taking his hum as her cue to continue. "Think I could grab something to eat on our way?"

"Something fast or we'll be late." He eyed the small bakery up ahead as he saw her refocus on it.

"Yeah, sure. Looks like that place sells toasted sandwiches, can I have some money?"

He furrowed his brows as he looked back at her, narrowing his eyes at her upturned palm. "I just gave you money yesterday."

"Yeah but you saw me, I just pulled on jeans this morning." Prompted to bluntly summarise her point when he continued to look at her silently, she added: "I don't keep money in my pockets. No bra, no cleavage, no cash."

It took a little effort to stop the reflexive flit of his gaze down to her chest at its mention when she pointed out the fact. He'd known it, obviously, he just hadn't…registered, that she was walking around without one on. Not that it mattered.

Rolling his eyes but saying nothing, he came to a stop, handed his Nodachi to Bepo, unzipped his coat and slid a hand in for his wallet, stilling his movements at her next words.

"Besides, I spent a huge chunk of what you gave me yesterday at the strip club so I needed more from you anyway." She added with a devious smile.

"…Then perhaps you should spend 'your' money more wisely." He muttered, pulling the leather out and opening it.

"It _is_ my money and I'll spend it as I please." She smiled as he set some into her open hand, though noticed with some mirth that it was less than what he'd given her yesterday. "Besides…considering I get paid in cash, how heavy that is and how little space I have to store stacks of it in my suitcase – I make a point to spend as much of it as I can before my next payment. I don't have anywhere that I go back to regularly to store it at." She defended, folding the notes up and choosing to hold onto them as she slid her hands into her hoodie's pocket.

Watching her face carefully as she avoided his eye contact abruptly and looked back at the bakery ahead, Law replaced his wallet, noticing the mention of her lack of home brought a slightly brittle, fragile edge to her small smile.

It was true, he supposed, she certainly had no place to keep her earnings and no one in her line of work could be paid in a way that left a paper trail. It probably _was_ sensible of her to spend what cash she could before being loaded with more…Though her choice of purchases seemed 'questionable.'

"So, your solution to lightening your travel load is to blow all your hard-earned, blood-money on oily, naked, homosexual men." He stated blandly as they resumed walking.

"For the record, Captain Ben Dover is _not_ gay." Smirking as she glanced at him, Law inwardly felt a little better at the humoured and more genuine quality her smile took at that. "And no, I usually stay in very expensive hotels, not inns and I can't cook so I usually eat all my meals in the priciest local restaurant I can find. Other than that, I just spend it on whatever junk I like the look of. It's probably part of the reason why my wardrobe is a little-"

"Excessive." He supplemented.

"-big." She corrected. "But when all else fails, I just give away chunks of it to someone who's been good to me during my stay or a local charity or…I dunno, whoever seems to need it before I leave the town. Do something nice, ya know? Helps me feel like my karma is a little more balanced in the right direction before I go back to work and ruin it again…I am gonna need a looot of good karma after this one." She sighed the latter quietly, more to herself than to him.

Catching a questioning look from Bepo, Law chose not to address it or what she'd said as they reached and made their way inside the small establishment for a makeshift breakfast for her. Though he could feel the nagging gnaw of a small amount of guilt tugging at his gut as his mind, against his will, mulled over her words.

* * *

It was strangely irritating. It shouldn't be, her reaction was exactly the response he'd been hoping for - the ideal in fact. Law couldn't have asked for a better one to what had nearly happened.

It had been forgotten, forgiven, not brought up, not thrown in his face, she obviously wasn't disturbed by it, had certainly not built any emotional hopes on it, hadn't shown expectations of anything like that happening again and she'd not so much as hesitated to move on and seek sexual gratification elsewhere as he'd decided to…So why did it piss him off so much? In fact, why did it piss him off at all?

Watching as yet another young sailor tried his luck with Nayla from the barstool beside her as she leant against the counter, waiting to order; Law lifted his drink to his lips, observing the interaction unfold from beneath the brim of his hat subtly. Not that he'd needed to shield his interest; the men at his table were either preoccupied with their own conversations or also watching.

Again tonight, she'd made the effort to keep her distance from him, choosing to sit at another table and responding to his teasing questioning of her avoidance with a remark of how he 'cramped her style.' Probably in reference to how he tended to spook off men that set their eyes on her, whether he meant to or not.

After they'd returned and she'd napped, she'd had her shower and come downstairs for dinner, tantalisingly short skirt back in place and her usual make up on, sticking around afterwards for an evening of drinks and conversation with his crew. Though the skirt and make up obviously wasn't for _their_ benefit. Not that he could blame her, she was a grown woman after all. It had been a while for him too but three months was…It wasn't unexpected or surprising he supposed.

It was too far from his table to the bar to hear their conversation but whatever cheesy pick up line that had failed to impress her initially was recovered from as whatever the sailor said to her next made her laugh. Grinning in triumph, he held a hand out in greeting and properly introduced himself, earning a smile and return from her as well.

Law didn't like him. The guy reeked of slimeball. From the slicked back hair to the 'rugged' stubble adorning his jaw to the sleazy grin he wore to the annoyingly pushed up sleeves that were _clearly_ intended to show off his muscles - considering he'd rolled them up right before approaching her (yes, Law had noticed) to the dirty leers at her chest when he thought she wasn't looking. Did Nayla really not notice how much of a scumbag the guy was? Or was this guy her type? Maybe she was desperate enough to settle?

It wasn't jealousy. It was unfortunately something much more childish that aggravated him about the whole thing. Jealousy was unfounded, Nayla wasn't his so there was no rational reason to feel that way – and he was going to deny the possibility of simply feeling irrationally-jealous. He was a rational person.

Maybe what was annoying him was that although Law hadn't wanted and had even worried about a stronger response to yesterday morning…he'd expected one? Not exactly for her to fawn over him, clamber for his affection and fall at his feet in her unleashed desire for him or anything but…well… _something_.

Nayla was behaving entirely normally with him (as 'normal' as she got anyway) as if nothing had even happened…This was odd and new territory for him that he _should_ be thankful for but instead couldn't help but question, especially considering the level of sexual attraction between them.

Was she really just as content to seek the company of a stranger tonight? Was he really that easily forgotten and overlooked? Was he just as good – or worse, in the same category to her as any of the other men here tonight?…It was a weirdly insecure feeling and a blow to his ego that he hadn't expected. He hadn't imagined for a second that _he'd_ be the one giving this much thought to yesterday or the one so easily discarded. Nayla didn't seem to have given it a second thought.

"I'm tellin' ya, it's a damn wasted opportunity!" Jeff exclaimed.

Law wasn't even sure why he bothered pondering it, he didn't care. Just curious he supposed.

"I keep telling you it's a stupid line!" Shachi shot back.

In the end it really didn't matter; it was for the best anyway.

"It's your _name_! How could you NOT use it?!"

Raising a brow at Nayla's abrupt withdrawal of her hand from the counter as the man placed his own over it, Law watched as she politely excused herself and turned away from the bar, heading back towards her table – the one next to his.

"Would you guys shut up? Could hear you loud bastards from across the tavern, the hell you even arguing about anyway?" Penguin interjected between them, reclaiming his seat beside Connor as he rejoined the table with his fresh drink.

"Idiot wants me to try that stupid pickup line again." Shachi explained tiredly, exhausted with this reoccurring argument.

"What's the line?"

"Lil lady, good timing!" Jeff grinned up at her as she walked over curiously, having retrieved her nearly-empty glass from her seat and hearing the animated commotion.

Tilting her head back and taking in the last mouthful of her drink – mostly molten ice and diluted traces of the juice that had comprised her cocktail, she watched as Jeff nudged Shachi beside him in encouragement.

"Go on, give it a try!"

Frowning at him, Shachi turned to her with a sigh, taking in her inviting smile as she set her empty glass down to the table and waited patiently.

"…Are you a whale?" He asked blandly, sulkily crossing his arms.

Raising her brows in surprise, she looked back at Jeff, wondering why on Earth a professional womaniser would think a line that could be taken as an insult to a woman's weight would work as a successful pick up line.

"…'Cause we can humpback at my place."

It took a second but she burst into laughter as she got it. "God, that is _awful_. Doesn't your name mean _k_ _iller_ whale, not humpback whale?"

Shachi looked knowingly at Jeff, as if she'd just proven his long-argued point. "See? Isn't that _exactly_ what I told you?"

"Details details, your name's close enough! The woman probably won't even notice and won't even be thinking of it after you introduce yourself. The point of _this_ line is to make her laugh, right, lil lady?"

"Well it _is_ a nice icebreaker." She conceded.

"…And if she doesn't laugh?" Shachi deadpanned, unconvinced.

"Well use your judgement of course dummy. Don't use it on a serious, snooty-looking woman. Lady like Nayla though, she looks like she's up for a giggle." He offered with a cheeky wink and grin.

"Sure, I like guys that can make me laugh." She agreed with a smile, picking up her empty glass. "I'd _definitely_ have given you a chance if you tried that on me." She purred teasingly, pinching Shachi's cheek affectionately before walking away.

Law watched the man blush, stunned for a moment before rubbing his cheek slowly as he watched Nayla make her way back to the bar, the other men at the table wolf-whistling and nudging him in jest.

She was a flirt. A terrible flirt. Law wondered if she even realised how often she did it, she never did seem to have that off. Overly affectionate too. Far too much physical contact. He was still unsure if it was intentional manipulation to make his men putty or if Nayla were just a naturally touchy-feely person. He found her constantly contacting his men in one way or another, pinching cheeks, holding hands, looping arms, hugging, kissing, leaning on – even sleeping on them …Having thought of it now, it was easier to disregard the evening she'd curled up next to him to read and the small kiss she'd given him last night. Scoffing, he inwardly scolded himself for having felt even remotely flattered by it now, considering how often she gave plutonic physical contact to his crew.

As soon as Nayla reached the bar, the man that had been hitting on her ordered her a drink – not allowing her the chance to refuse as he spoke to the tender directly. It seemed her attempt to politely dodge his offer of one by feigning some reason to come back over to the tables hadn't worked.

Taking a sip of his own bottle, Law turned his attention to the doorway as a trio of heavily drunken, middle-aged men noisily entered the tavern, laughing loudly and greeting other locals that they apparently knew as they stumbled their way over to the bar, arms slung over one another.

Watching Nayla warily eye their approach but turn back to the man who was avidly attempting to court her as he spoke again, Law decided that he really spent too much of his valuable thinking time on her. Far too much. Something that he should begin correcting immediately he decided, beginning to pull his gaze from her.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind did he stop turning away as he saw one of the drunken men squint at her back drunkenly, wobbly pulling back his hand before slapping her ass in approval, making her whirr around to face him, absolute fury written all over her face.

'Now _this_ should be interesting,' Law felt a small smirk tug at the corner of his mouth as he watched her glare at the man in offence, eyes absolutely ablaze with rage as she took in the sleazy, lazy smile on the middle-aged man's face as he leered at her.

"Oi, you sit, I got this." Penguin said darkly, resting a hand to Connor's arm, stopping the man from rising to his feet.

"Stay where you are." Law kept his gaze firmly glued on the scene unfolding, not wanting to miss a second of what he was sure was about to become an entertaining spectacle, but could see the two exchange confused looks at his order in his peripheral vision.

"But Captain, he-!"

"I saw. Leave her be, she's a big girl." Cruelly quoting her own words from last night, he lifted his drink to his lips, smiling around the rim as he watched the drunken man laugh out a few words at whatever it was she'd said dangerously calmly to him.

Law was eagerly awaiting her inevitable, temperamental explosion, it would be nice to see it from an outsider's point of view instead of the receiver's one - for a change.

The sailor that had bought her a drink, currently forgotten on the counter where the bartender had set it for her, hadn't seen what had happened but could sense the upset brewing and got up from his seat, seemingly asking her what the problem was as he laid a hand to her shoulder and stood beside her.

Visibly gritting her teeth at the man she was staring down – and possibly the annoyingly familiar gesture of the man beside her, Law watched her fists clench at her side, sure that he was about to see just how light a 'slap' Jeff had gotten from her this week for a similar offence.

To his surprise, Nayla's expression immediately softened as she turned to the sailor next to her, resting a hand to his chest and feigning distress as she pointed at the drunken newcomer, apparently explaining what he'd done.

Taking it upon himself to defend her 'honour' (Law would _absolutely_ use that term lightly) and his own pride, the sailor pushed her aside gently, getting in the grinning lecher's face. Receiving an unsatisfying, blasé response to whatever it was he'd said, he lost his temper, gripping the man's shirt and pushing him back a few steps.

The action prompted the middle-aged man's friends, who had merely been observing, to begin moving to back him up. That action in turn prompted the sailor's friends who had been sitting in a booth against the far wall to quickly get to their feet as well, voices rising, insults and threats being slung back and forth as things began escalating quickly.

It didn't take long for a retaliatory shove by the drunken man to have his shirt released to turn into a tussle between the two. It took even less time for that tussle to turn into a violent punch from the considerably younger, fitter sailor. That quickly turned into a series of blows back and forth between them, which immediately urged a friend of the losing party to get involved which pushed a friend of the opposing party to step in to even the numbers and in less than a minute a small-scale brawl had broken out between the two groups.

Barstools were knocked to the floor with noisy clatters; the men shoved and dragged each other down to the floor. A few glasses were knocked off of nearby tables as the scuffle caused them to bump into their edges, shattered glass and unfinished drinks began littering the floor - not that their owners seemed to mind as they cheered loudly and rooted the men on from their seats, enjoying the free entertainment as the staff rushed to break it up before it developed into anything more serious or more property damaging.

Glancing back at the bar as a slender hand moving across it slowly caught his eye, Law watched Nayla lean over the mess of bodies fighting on the floor by her feet to carefully pick up her newly bought drink. Walking away, she took a sip of her straw, catching his gaze with a cheeky smile before reaching her table and taking up her seat beside Ichirou again as he asked if she were ok.

"…Guess you were right." Connor grinned, turning back around from watching her settle into her chair, laughing and giving Ichirou a one-armed cuddle around his shoulders and thanking him for his 'chivalrous concern,' as she learnt from Jake that he'd nearly gotten up to help her too.

Law chuckled at him and at her in general. She'd completely discarded the man that had been flirting with her, used him as an attack dog (or shield), taken his free drink and abandoned him to his testosterone-fuelled fight.

It hadn't been the potentially violent response he'd been expecting from _her_ but it had been entertaining nonetheless. Despite her temper, he noticed that she overall seemed to avoid unnecessary fights when possible; she was surprisingly passive for someone so volatile.

Turning his attention back to the burly bartender as he and a few of the other, larger, male staff finally succeeded in peeling the last two brawling men apart, Law watched as they were promptly thrown through the front door, inadvertently making eye contact with a woman sitting at a table near it. After a moment, as if finally remembering that she ought to, she looked away when she realised she was staring at him…but shyly, unsurely looked back at him with a small smile.

Feeling generous, Law returned it before the friend sitting beside her, who'd been eagerly watching the men argue and fight at the doorway, grabbed her arm and talked animatedly to her about the excitement, drawing her gaze away from him as she turned to address the other woman beside her.

A blonde. Beautiful, long, glossy hair and a figure-hugging, black, halterneck mini dress. The large, thick, beige coat she'd needed to wear in this cold weather, hanging lowly over the back of the chair she sat on, the proximity of it to the floor drawing his attention to her black high heels and long, crossed legs.

Law couldn't tell what colour her eyes were from this distance, though he'd guess blue from what little he'd seen during their exchange in the dimly lit room just now. She'd been here for the better part of the evening. Noticeable on entry not only because she was a very attractive woman but because it seemed to be a slightly unusual place for two unescorted young women to visit for a drink. This was more of a working-class bar for the locals, rougher than would be wise for a civilian woman to stop by for a casual evening out.

The bartender had recognised her when she had approached him for drinks though; alluding to the fact that she must frequent this place fairly often. He'd given her a drink without her ordering one, seeming to know what her and her friend would want already.

Looking around the tavern once more confirmed that there were in fact, few other women there other than them and Nayla. It was obvious to Law what two women might visit a place full of men like this for. It certainly wasn't for the atmosphere.

Feeling eyes on him, he looked back in the direction of the doorway to find both women now looking at him, smiling widely and exchanging whispers behind cupped hands in a girly, gossipy fashion.

Smirking to himself, Law decided to make good on the promise he'd made himself last night.

* * *

Leaving the bathroom, Nayla made her way back over to the bar, waiting patiently for the tender to finish pouring the draft he was currently working on for a customer.

"Another cocktail?" He asked, not looking up, probably still miffed about the fight that had broken out, in no small part because of her.

"Please." Hearing his affirmative grunt, she glanced around the tavern, hoping some new faces had entered during her trip to the bathroom but was sorely disappointed.

There were few decent-looking men here and the majority were not in her age range. A disappointing haul overall. The guy that had been thrown out earlier had been, well…ok…she supposed. 'But certainly no Law. – Yeah well, not everyone is gonna be as hot as Law so, get over that. – Buuut… - Don't whine, stop pining.'

Resting her elbows to the polished wood, Nayla wondered if perhaps she'd have better luck finding a nice guy tomorrow night instead, before scrunching up her nose as she felt moisture on her forearm from the carelessly spilt drops of someone's drink. Hopefully it was just the clean condensation from the outside of a glass and not anything sticky from the inside of one.

Sighing, she lifted her arm, looking around for anything that might resemble a napkin before a powder pink; floral-print tissue was held in her vision from the side. Looking up at the woman in surprise, Nayla took the offering with a thanks, returning the warm smile.

"No problem, always did tell them they should keep a napkin dispenser on the bar, even if it _is_ just for the peanuts and pretzels." She mused, giving the bartender a playful look as he deposited Nayla's drink in front of them.

"And I keep tellin' ya, I ain't mada money. You want napkins you order real food." He gruffly replied, rolling his eyes as he slung his greying rag over his shoulder and headed to the other side of the bar as another man waved him down to order.

"Pfft, how expensive can napkins really be. Am I right?" The lady nudged her good-naturedly.

"Right." Nayla agreed with a polite smile, sensing the woman had some kind of ulterior motive for approaching her.

"I'm Stravia by the way, this is Illias." She motioned to the lady that came to a stop on her other side against the bar who waved in greeting.

"Nayla." She returned the gesture.

"Sooo…slim pickings, huh? Well, apart from your crew, coupla cuties there." Stravia, the tall blonde stated nonchalantly, looking around the room and leaning her weight onto the bar.

Glancing at them at their mention, she watched as the men at her table eagerly egged on Ichirou as he downed a tankard of the tavern's homebrewed, traditional ale. Apparently he drank like a fish, though didn't manage to hold it quite as well as Zoro did.

Laughing to herself as Penguin slapped the man across the shoulder blades proudly as he finished and wiped the back of his mouth with his hand, she turned back to the bar to pick up her own drink, realising now what the women had approached her for.

"Sure are, shame they're all off limits to me though." She said, offering the extra information to hasten getting to the point of this conversation.

"Oh, they are?" The blonde looked over her shoulder to exchange a poorly-suppressed grin with her brunette friend. "How come? No dating crewmates policy?"

"I'm not a part of their crew or even a pirate, just travelling with them for a little." Nayla clarified, smiling a little at her apparent excitement.

"Oh I see, that's a shame…Especially with such a cute captain." She unsubtly prodded, exaggeratedly feigning wonder as she tapped her chin with her index finger.

Nayla laughed at her jokingly-waggling eyebrows as she hinted the topic of her enquiry. "Out with it, what do you want to know?"

Pursing her lips with a coy smile, she broke the well-mannered conversationalist façade and leant in to speak more quietly. "You and that guy aren't involved?"

"Nope, all yours." She reassured, deciding the woman to be relatively nice if she were considerate enough to approach her before Law to make sure she wasn't stepping on any toes.

"Is…Is he safe?" Illias asked quietly from behind her taller friend's shoulder as she peered over it, frowning at the sour, exasperated look the blonde turned and gave her. "What? You've seen the papers. Keep hooking up with these dangerous freaks and you'll end up chopped into little pieces…Uh, no offence." She rapidly offered an apologetic look to Nayla as she realised she might have been insulting her friends.

Laughing aloud at how ironically close being chopped into little pieces was to what Law actually did do, Nayla managed to settle down enough to reply. "None taken."

"…Is he as bad as all the papers say? Did he really take down that battleship that left here a couple of days ago?" Stravia asked, watching her set her glass back down to the bar.

Stiffening slightly as she felt a familiar pair of eyes burning into her back, Nayla turned slightly to glance in Law's direction, wondering if he had some sixth sense that told him they were talking about him or if he just had freakishly good hearing.

"Well…I won't lie about it." Nayla looked away from his neutral, assessing gaze, not wanting to give him the opportunity to read her lips. She wondered if he thought she were bad-mouthing him and trashing his chances with them. "He _is_ as bad as the papers say - if not worse." She watched the disappointment on the blonde's face, waiting a moment for that to sink in. "But, having said that, I honestly don't think he's any danger to _you_."

"Really?"

Taken aback by how rapidly Stravia perked up, her blonde waves practically bouncing as she whipped her head back up, Nayla laughed as she shot her a big smile. "Yeah, really."

"How can you be so sure though?" Illias, her rightfully worried and sceptical friend chimed in, earning herself another frown from Stravia.

"Because I've personally irritated the absolute _fuck_ out of him all week. I can't imagine you doing anything that would piss him off more than I have and _I'm_ still alive." She snickered, thinking back to their heated argument…and nothing else remotely heated that had happened after it. She forced her brain to stop there.

Illias didn't find it funny, obviously still fretting over her friend's safety but even Nayla could tell the blonde's mind was firmly made up as she looked over at Law.

Turning around too, Nayla watched Law's eyes dart from Stravia to her own with a raised brow, offering him a small smile and a wave. 'Looks like I'll be getting out of here much sooner than I thought.'

* * *

Yawning a little, Nayla glanced at the clock on the wall behind the bar, trying to stay fully alert but not suspiciously awake for this time of night or this many drinks in.

Some of the other crewmembers were a little worse for wear though, having indulged themselves on their first, full day _and_ night off since landing. Well, apart from those left behind on the sub to take care of and guard the vessel whilst it was docked.

Most had retired to bed or had hit the town but a few still dwindled at their tables and booths, swilling down their last few drinks of the night over drunken conversation – mostly, boasts about their conquests since arriving.

When teased about having to watch naked men all night with her instead of going out and getting laid, Jeff had promptly gotten half-beaten to death in jealousy when he'd said he'd gotten laid during the daytime yesterday, more than once…not the same woman by the way.

Shachi had actually had some luck with the silly pickup line Jeff had urged him to try when a few more women had rolled in a couple of hours ago, managing to rope Penguin in with him when he was invited to sit with the ladies, hooking him up like a true friend. They and a few others were currently enjoying the company of those girls at a booth in the corner, all smiles, flirtations and laughter over there.

Nayla was currently biding her time patiently with the couple of men (and bear) still left at her table, easing up on her own drinks as she listened to their conversation vaguely, running over a few plans and scenarios in the back of her mind.

"Yo, sweetie. You sure you're ok?" Stirred from her thoughts as Connor spoke to her, she followed his line of sight to his captain standing at the bar, leant casually against it as he conversed with the attractive blonde woman she'd spoken to earlier.

Reminding herself that Connor meant well, Nayla sighed a little, trying not to find his insinuation that she might be upset that Law was with another woman annoying. "I'm not sure how many times I have to tell you that nothing serious is going on but I may have to start charging you for it each time you bring it up or ask."

She looked away from the pair as Stravia giggled flirtatiously at whatever witty, devilishly charismatic line Law had fed her. He could be charming. When he wanted to be. She'd heard plenty of proof of that from what snippets of their conversation she'd overheard throughout the night; he was quite the smooth operator. 'Heh, smooth _operator_ ,' Nayla snorted to herself, taking another sip of her drink.

Stravia, with the moral support of her reluctant friend, had shyly approached Law in his seat a little while after conversing with her at the bar. Earning a smirk from the surgeon as she asked if the seat beside him were free and accepted his invitation to take it as he ordered drinks for her and her friend from a passing waitress. Illias was currently enjoying another crewmember's company upstairs somewhere…Did she wander off with Dean? Or was it Jake?...

Relaxing her furrowed brows when she gave up trying to remember who had ultimately won the pretty brunette over, she huffed when she noticed that Connor was still staring at her, seemingly concerned over her quietness.

"Stop looking at me like that. Butt out of _my_ lovelife and focus more on yours. Shouldn't you be making more of an effort to get laid like your buddies?"

"Been there, done that, didn't get the t-shirt though. It wouldn't have fit me." He grinned deviously, ignoring the red nail she'd poked into his cheek gently.

Gaping a little before laughing, she removed her hand in favour of nudging his shoulder playfully, making him grin wider. "No kidding, you sly dog. When did _you_ sneak off?"

"That's mah boy!" Jeff raised his bottle, giving a fake sniff as if about to cry tears of joy. "I knew he'd do me proud, they grow up so fast." He crooned at a disinterested Bepo, giving another sniff as he leant his arm onto the bear's shoulder.

"Oh shut it, you're only two years older than me!" Connor tutted, ignoring his friend as he wiped invisible tears of happiness away and turning back to Nayla. "Met a real nice lady that works at the hangar yesterday, asked her out for lunch today and, well, you know how it goes." He shrugged, feigning nonchalance though he couldn't help the small, prideful grin that started tugging at his lips as he thought of it.

"Oh my, check out Mr. Connor the Casanova here. So was she a mechanic there or like an admin or somethi-?"

"Bepo."

"Yes, Captain?" All looked up as Law and his new lady friend approached the table, his arm looped casually around her waist.

"I'm going to be busy and stuck here for the most part of tomorrow. I'd like you to return to the sub early in the morning to check on everything and report back any problems to me."

Ah, that was right. After picking up the brochure when booking her trip to Kattou that afternoon, Law had been eager to see the contents of the manila envelope that had been slipped inside of it as soon as they'd arrived back at the inn but she'd demanded he let her have a proper nap. He'd surprisingly agreed to that, so long as she allowed him to examine the information thoroughly with her tomorrow morning. Nayla wasn't sure what exactly he was hoping to find in it that could be of any use to him, she'd briefly flicked through its contents herself before falling asleep but decided to put the task off if she were going to have to read through it all again tomorrow anyway.

"Aye aye, Captain. You going to bed?"

"Yeah." There was a slightly terse pause as his gaze locked with Nayla's before he began to turn away, but it didn't go unnoticed by his new company, she picked up on that small air of discomfort immediately.

"Um, wait, wait a minute." Stravia held up her hands, stepping out of Law's hold slightly. Despite her impressive height and model-length legs (Nayla guessed she was about six foot tall in her heels), she still had to look up at him a little.

Glancing between them briefly, the blonde spoke up again. "…There's nothing going on between you two?"

"No." Law reassured firmly.

"Yes."

Connor spat the drink in his mouth out across the table as Nayla contradicted him immediately, making his captain whip his head back to her in shock as she blinked up at him innocently.

"…Nayla." His tone dangerously low and his eyes narrowed in warning as she struggled to keep a straight face.

Though she couldn't keep it up for long, she began laughing when she heard Connor cracking up at the reversed answers to their usual response to this kind of question and the look on his captain's face.

"Sorry, Stravia. Couldn't resist, just an inside joke." Nayla took back, offering her an apologetic smile. "No don't worry, nothing's going on. He's all yours."

"S-Sorry, Captain." Connor managed out, holding a hand to his mouth as he tried to get his laughing under control as Law levelled an unimpressed look at him.

Sighing with a shake of his head, Law slid an arm around the woman again, guiding her away from the table before anymore damage could be done. "Let's go. It hasn't been proven that stupidity is contagious but let's not risk it." He remarked dryly.

Laughing again once he'd retreated out of ear shot from them, Nayla slapped Connor's palm with her own as he extended it under the table in gesture of a high five.

The other two scrunched their faces and exchanged confused looks as to what was supposed to have been humorous before Jeff finally spoke up. "I don't get it, what was so funny?"

"Nothing, you just had to be there." Connor snickered.

* * *

Tilting his head, Law deepened their kiss, pushing her backwards towards the bed gently as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders more tightly.

Slender fingers worked their way unsurely over the nape of his neck to weave into his hair. They were far longer than Nayla's. Her nails were short and unpainted.

Bumping her calves into the edge of the bed as they reached it, Law tightened his hold as he pushed her onto it with his body, earning a giggle as she landed on the mattress with him on top and another kiss as she smiled up at him.

She kissed so delicately, readily parting her plush lips and humming sweetly as she allowed and enjoyed his complete control. Unlike Nayla, there was no resistance to his tongue entering and exploring her mouth - though truth be told, he had little interest in doing so too thoroughly, he was looking far more forward to the main event.

There was nothing wrong with a completely inviting partner, though a passionate eagerness to reciprocate was nice too. He wanted control ultimately but wouldn't be opposed to _some_ fight instead of a completely passive response. Nayla put up a hell of a fight, it turned him on ten times more when he earned his control rather than had it handed to him.

This woman's lips were incredibly soft. Full, inviting and painted a demure, nude pink. They were comparable to the feel of Nayla's against his own, though hers were often painted in that shade of sultry red that she preferred.

Lying between the blonde's parting legs, Law ran his hands beneath her, gripping the skirt of her dress and pulling up, earning a gasp as he groped her ass in the process. Fleshy, soft, smooth skin met his fingers as he ran his tongue over hers. Nayla's ass was far firmer, though it still had a decent amount of give under a hard squeeze...Then again, Nayla was a professional mercenary, this woman was a civilian. It was only natural that their overall musculature would be entirely different.

Slipping his fingers beneath her panties to grab her bare ass as he ground into the blonde beneath him earned him a moan loud enough to break their kiss, though he quickly resumed it between their pants as he pulled her body towards him from her cupped cheeks, grinding his hips into her again. Her ass was more proportional to her frame than Nayla's was. He'd caught the latter examining her own in his mirror numerous times this week when she'd thought he wasn't looking; pouting at what she apparently felt was far too large of a behind. He didn't share the same opinion. She had an attractively plump ass for her build, something most women would kill for, not resent as she seemed to.

Sliding his hands up her back as she arched it from the mattress, Law worked his way to the zip of Stravia's dress as he began kissing her neck gently. A sweet giggle leaving her as his facial hair tickled her sensitive skin - practically porcelain in hue. Nothing like Nayla's, she had a natural bronze to her skin that was much like his own; an olive complexion.

Nuzzling her locks aside with his nose, he took a firm mouthful of her flesh, sucking and licking it between his kisses, earning a delighted moan as his teeth grazed her playfully and he began undoing her clothing. Her hair was a striking, shimmering shade of platinum ash that ran in gentle, thick waves down to her shoulders. Beautifully splayed out beneath her across the dark fabric of his bedding. Nayla's was much longer and although it had a natural wave to it, was much straighter and thinner than this woman's. The scent was completely different too.

In general, this woman, from her perfume to her moisturisers to her hair products, smelled sweet and sugary. A strong collection of delicious, saccharine scents - mostly fruits, though he could detect something akin to a milky-honey smell mixed in as well. Probably a body wash or cream of some kind. In contrast, Nayla had a far more floral scent to her. Exotic flowers and their extracts were the mainstay of the scents she had inadvertently filled his room and invaded his senses with all week.

The woman beneath him arched her back up from the mattress once more, making it easier for him as he unzipped her dress down to her lower back. Placing his hands to her shoulders, Law peeled the straps of it over her upper arms, pushing the fabric of her clothing down over her chest. Large, a similar size to Nayla's in fact, though they somehow looked less prominent on a woman much taller than herself.

Pulling back and resting his hands to her waist, Law gazed down at the blonde. Her eyes were an astonishing shade of blue. Close to a pale, icy colour, absolutely stunning. It was amazing he hadn't noticed their shade even _from_ across the room when they'd first met eyes. Nayla's shade of blue was far darker and deeper, with those characteristic and charming flecks of lighter shades centrally.

Taking his time, Law appreciated the sight of her breasts clad in a strapless, lavender-coloured bra and heaving with her arousal. He'd hiked up the hem of her skirt far enough to see it was part of a matching and impractical-looking set – a highly suggestive sign that she'd come to this tavern tonight for the exact reason he now had her in his bedroom. Though having said that, it was nowhere near as impractical-looking as the sets Nayla owned. Honestly, what kind of degenerate, back alley sex shop did one need to visit to get anything anywhere _near_ that kind of…'stringy' calibre?

Running his hands up her sides Law lowered his face to her chest, eliciting a moan as soon as his lips brushed against her skin. This woman moaned for him freely and at his every touch. Not faked but certainly exaggerated, keen to urge him on. On the other hand, Nayla made every effort to smother the sounds that he pulled from her. He wondered if she realised how often she bit and pursed her lips together. She tried to keep quiet but when she wasn't able to and _did_ make noise…Recalling the sounds she had made for him yesterday morning sent a powerful wave of lust coursing through him that seemed to settle in his groin. He wondered how loudly he could have gotten that woman to moan against her will, began questioning if he could have gotten full screams of pleasure from her as he made her cum. Would she have called his name as he fucked her into climax?

Peeling the woman's bra down her chest roughly, Law took a full mouthful of her exposed breast, sucking harshly as her eyes fluttered shut with another loud moan. Running his tongue over her as she thread her hands through his hair, he used his own to wrap her thighs around his waist. Nayla was always so keen to do that part herself, trapping him tightly against her with her legs, shamelessly seeking the friction she wanted. It made him wonder just how brazenly demanding she was throughout sex. If it were _her_ under him right now then she'd have already had him half-stripped and would be reaching for his jeans by this point, but this woman was absolutely content to leave the pacing to him.

Growling lowly around the flesh in his mouth, mostly in frustration at his invasive, Nayla-related thoughts, Law slid his hands back up her legs as he moved his tongue to trail to her other breast. It wasn't fair to his current company to be so distracted, she was a beautiful woman in her own right that wanted and deserved his full attention tonight. Making comparisons between her and the _annoying_ one downstairs wasn't fair to the woman currently writhing beneath him or himself.

Gripping her hips, he slid his thumbs beneath the sides of her panties, stroking teasingly against her heated flesh as her circled her nipple with his tongue. Hearing the loud moan that caused, Law wondered when Nayla would come upstairs to the room beside this one to sleep. It was late, maybe soon, or maybe she'd linger downstairs for longer, holding out for someone of her own to enjoy tonight…Perhaps having bedrooms directly next to each other hadn't been wise, in retrospect. Maybe in future he should have her across the hall or similar, something that was just as easy for him to keep an eye on her from but that they wouldn't be able to hear each other in.

Law cursed himself, then _that_ woman for being such a disturbance to his thoughts tonight, taking a pert, pink nipple into his mouth and steadying Stravia's hips as she squirmed under his touch, groaning his name breathily.

Although Nayla probably wouldn't appreciate the noise if she did come up to try to sleep, she hadn't really seemed bothered by him taking this woman upstairs overall. That or she was just acting as though it didn't bother her…Law didn't like that he seemed to be hoping it was the latter. That would probably mean that he _wanted_ this to be bothering her on some level, even though he genuinely didn't want to cause her any upset… And here he thought _having_ sex with Nayla would make things unnecessarily complicated. _Not_ having sex with her didn't seem to be turning out much better.

The woman beneath him squealed as he bit gently, the sound bringing his focus back to her, a smile to his lips and a chuckle as she gripped his hair more tightly.

Considering how things had developed between Nayla and himself anyway, he may as well have had her. It wasn't as if he hadn't entertained the thought enough times. He'd have taken her yesterday morning if he hadn't been needed on deck for landing. The idea of a quickie within those ten minutes had briefly crossed his mind but he'd dismissed the thought as quickly as it had formed. It wouldn't have been anywhere near long enough to reduce Nayla to the state he wanted her in. She had a lot to pay for. Biting her lips be damned, he'd have fucked her until she screamed his name at the top of her lungs, he'd make sure the whole sub heard her, over and over again until she lost her voice entirely.

Stravia gasped as he moved back to her other nipple, a more aggressive than intended graze of his teeth over it at the thought before he licked and sucked it soothingly, taking a grip of her panties and beginning to slide them down slowly.

Ten minutes wouldn't have been anywhere close to enough time to bring her to near-climax as many times as he wanted. Denying her completion again and again until she craved it - craved him, pleaded for his touch. He'd tease her into absolute insanity before he was done with her. The thought of Nayla swallowing that pride of hers and asking him, begging him for more…Law groaned at the hard throb that hit his groin at the thought. What would her expression be like, angry? Embarrassed? Needy?

He'd have needed at _least_ an hour to truly pleasure her into a sweaty delirium, fuck her until she couldn't think straight, until her vision blurred, until she passed out from exhaustion, until he was sure she wouldn't be able to walk properly afterwards – hell, until he was sure she wouldn't have even been able to sit without wincing.

Breaking his oral assault on the blonde's generous breasts, Law sat back as he slid the woman's panties down her legs, looking at her flushed face as she panted on her back, eyes glazed in her arousal.

No, a quickie within those ten minutes wouldn't have been satisfying for him, or Nayla for that matter, if she were as much of a sexual deviant as he pegged her to be. If he were going to have sex with her, then Law wanted it to be an experience that would leave a firm imprint on her memory. Something that would make her yearn for him long after she left his vessel, even if she didn't want to and even if she didn't like him. If he were feeling truly cruel, he'd go out of his way to ensure no future partner of hers would ever come close to the night he'd give her. He'd make it his mission to ruin other men for her.

Peeling the purple fabric over her ankles as he reached the bottom of her long legs, Law dropped it carelessly to the covers beside him with a feral smirk, pushing her thighs apart with his body as he leant himself back in between them and took her lips again.

He should have taken Nayla in the infirmary. He still regretted not doing it. Even before their heated exchange he'd wanted to. Topless, slightly bent over his examination bed, pulling her panties down for him. It had put some downright evil fantasies into his head. She had no idea how close he was to getting up from his seat, unzipping his pants with one hand, pushing her face first onto the table with the other and fucking her then and there…It had taken a lot of restraint not to…he'd mostly only managed because he knew Kotta was on his way up. Regretting it now though, he should have just done it, sent Kotta away when he arrived and pounded her mercilessly right there…He'd honestly been having trouble looking at that particular table in his infirmary since, the thought of him bending her over it and taking her crossing his mind every time that he did.

Stravia moaned heatedly into his mouth as he thrust his tongue inside of it, hands making quick work of tugging his hoodie up as he settled his weight onto one hand above her, using his other to reach between them, unzipping his pants.

Really, he should have taken her long before that infirmary incident. Against that wall when she'd pushed him to lose his temper. On his bed when she'd dared sneak into his bedroom whilst he was asleep. Right then and there in his brig when she'd spat on him – he'd seen the look on her face when he'd tasted it and teased her lips. It was clear as day. He should have just slammed that cell door open and had her there and then. A lot of missed opportunities that he'd passed up in the hopes of maintaining some semblance of a professional relationship with her.

Pushing himself up to allow her to remove his hoodie, he grinned a little as she gaped at his tattoos, pulling the fabric from her stunned hands and tossing it to the floor as he pressed her back down to the mattress with a chuckle at the playful lick of her lips she gave him at the sight.

It was too late now but it was for the best. He'd keep saying that too because Law knew it was true even if it wasn't what he really wanted. Putting some distance between himself and Nayla was the right thing to do at this point. He wasn't going to ruin a perfectly good opportunity to obtain information he needed over something as trivial as lust getting in the way. They'd both find their fun elsewhere and lose sexual interest in each other, then they could finally fall back into a more neutral and more workable relationship.

Groaning against Stravia's lips as Law felt her hand slip into his undone jeans and begin to rub against his length; he settled his mouth to her neck, lapping her skin as she teased his tip gently with her fingers.

It did irk him though. How Nayla handed, or _thought_ she handed, this woman over to him on a silver platter. He'd have had this woman one way or another tonight, with or without Nayla's apparently positive review. It still annoyed him that she had so readily passed him over, reassuring – _encouraging_ this woman even, to approach him and looking so completely unbothered as he led her upstairs. Happy even, laughing and waving them off with that stupid smile on her fac-…

Snapping his head up as the thought hit him; Law couldn't believe it had taken this long for it to. Catching a small glimpse of movement outside, he got up quickly from the bed, ignoring whatever softly spoken question had come from the woman on it as he strode over to the window. His instincts settling something heavy and unpleasant-feeling into his gut.

Squinting through the glare of the room's soft lighting reflecting off of the glass, Law scanned through the darkness, darting his gaze to the end of the road where he had seen something moving under the streetlights. Focusing on the small figure in dark clothing that stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding snowfall, his hopeful scepticism was debunked as he caught sight of distinctly long, dark hair fluttering behind it as it strode at a hurried pace in a familiar direction. Nayla was making a run for the harbour.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently Oda really did say in an SBS in the manga that Devil Fruit users are only immobilised once they're submerged at least knee deep into water. Nami seemed to be under the impression that Kalifa was weakened when she was sitting in a bathtub in front of her but she wasn't immobilised and apparently moving/running water like being splashed by a wave, in the rain or in a shower doesn't have any affect them.


	48. Wearing your heart on your sleeve

Maybe he was wrong. Taking the stairs two at a time in his hurry, Law quickly descended them back into the dimly lit bar on the ground floor, scanning the room quickly over the handrail in the hopes of spotting Nayla still in there. Pulling on the coat he'd grabbed in his haste on the way out of his room, he visually scoured the booths, the tables, eyes stopping on the bathrooms in the corner – maybe she was in the women's restroom?

"Oh, hey Cap-"

"Where's Nayla-ya?" He cut off, snapping his gaze forward and coming to an abrupt stop before colliding with Jeff coming up the opposite way.

"Uh…" Swallowing the last mouthful of the pretzel he'd grabbed from the table before ascending, he turned his head to look around the tavern from their elevated view halfway up the staircase.

Law watched impatiently as his crewmember furrowed his brows in confusion, eyes darting around the room in an effort to spot her.

Sensing his captain's growing annoyance, Jeff chanced a glance at his deepening frown before turning and beginning to make his way back down. "Lemme just check with Connor, last I saw, she was still sitting with him and Bepo."

Feeling his jaw clench, Law followed in hurried strides as Jeff jogged ahead of him to his friend's table, placing a hand on its surface as he leant down to speak to him quietly.

Watching as Connor's brows raised before he looked his way, Law approached, gripping his nodachi tightly to his shoulder. "Well?"

"Uh…Didn't she say she was gonna step outside for some fresh air or something?" Connor asked, turning to Bepo beside him.

"Oh, she did? I thought she said she was gonna check on the cat."

"Cat?" Law asked irritably.

"Yeah, there's a stray living near the dumpster around the side of the inn. She went out there earlier to give it left over food after dinner. She said she was worried about it, 'cause of the snow, and went to check on it…" Feeling the heat of his captain's glare, the bear lowered his gaze, twiddling his paws together. "…Sorry."

"How long ago?" Law asked, turning to Connor.

"Not long, like a few minutes ag-Uh Captain? Is something wrong? Do you need us to come with you?" Swivelling in his seat, the three watched as Law walked briskly through the bar to the inn's front door, whipped it open and left without another word. Leaving his crewmembers staring after him in confusion and slight worry.

Tugging the collar of his open coat up as the cold hit him, Law hurried down the street, feeling his annoyance grow as further supporting evidence of the person he'd seen running in this direction being Nayla – the small set of footprints he was now following, met his eyes.

His crew meant well, they really did but they were naïve or simply didn't _want_ to believe she was capable of being as manipulative and potentially dangerous as she really was. All that cutesy kindness and flirtation, it was easy for them to get lax around her. They trusted her far too much already. How they'd so quickly forgotten what she'd done to Penguin within an _hour_ of waking up on their sub on her _first day_ , he didn't know.

This was mostly his fault anyway. It wasn't as if he'd given any specific orders regarding watching her whilst on land. He hadn't thought he'd needed to, believing that the implication was in place, especially considering he'd made Jeff keep an eye on her for the most part of last night.

Promising to be clearer next time – and there _would_ be a next time because she was _not_ going anywhere tonight, Law rapidly made his way back towards the harbour, already guessing where Nayla would be headed and why.

* * *

Stumbling a little over the unseen cobblestone for the third time, Nayla reluctantly slowed her pace down again as she made her way through the empty street, she was out of sight of the inn already anyway.

Blowing into her numbing hands to warm them, she watched the visible vapour of her breath ascend into the night sky. It was still snowing but it had let up considerably, nothing but a gentle dusting now.

It had been much heavier for the better part of the afternoon and it looked like the local government had needed to clear the snow from the roads once already, if the large snowbanks taking up the majority of the sidewalks were any indication.

Unfortunately she'd missed most of the snowfall napping off her lack of sleep and had woken when it was already getting dark out. It had been a while since Nayla'd had the chance to enjoy some, she wasn't above playing childishly in it and as predicted, neither were quite a few of the fun-loving Heart Pirates. Apparently they'd taken to enjoying it this afternoon whilst she was snoozing.

Inwardly she'd hoped to have joined them tomorrow but well...an opportunity to leave that she'd be a fool to pass up had presented itself…She really was going to miss them. It wasn't the first time she'd left behind a group of people she'd grown fond of, it never did get much easier but of all of the ones she'd spent time with, she'd be missing the Heart Pirates particularly sorely. 'Even that pompous prick had his moments,' she sighed, crunching more carefully through the fallen flakes.

Walking too closely to a piled high bank, she winced a little as she felt the cold ice brush against her legs, beginning to regret not stealing a coat from someone on her way out. Only coming downstairs for dinner and drinks, she hadn't thought to bring her own with her and hadn't _dared_ go upstairs to get it from the room right next to Law. There were plenty of jackets slung over the backs of chairs unattended, even some by the door of the inn on a coat stand. Being kind enough not to do it had been stupid, it was much colder than she'd thought it would be and her warm sweater wasn't nearly enough to compensate the tights on her legs, even if they were her thickest pair.

It didn't matter now anyway, the harbour wasn't far. All she had to do was get back on board the sub unnoticed, pack her stuff up, wrap up a little warmer and at the last minute - break that damn safe, steal back her weapons then bolt out of there at top speed.

As far as she was aware, Jean Bart, Kotta and a few others were currently on board. It didn't surprise her that someone as antisocial-seeming as Kotta would volunteer to stay behind to watch over the vessel as frequently as he apparently did. Him, she wouldn't be missing.

She wasn't sure what option to take afterwards though. Maybe she'd hide at another inn or hotel but hated the thought of being stationary within this town with a very pissed off Law on the warpath looking for her.

Maybe doing a quick check of the harbour for any boats that seemed to be departing tonight _before_ getting back on the sub would produce a last minute travel option. Worst case scenario, there were constant ships to and from Kattou - including overnight trips, but going to an island so close to this one to get away from Law might not be the wises-

Wondering if something had gone wrong with her vision for a split second before immediately bolting forward at top speed, Nayla panicked as the faintly blue film that had tainted her vision a peculiar colour caught up to her again, overtaking her completely as it expanded, despite her best efforts to outrun its limit.

Gasping in shock and numbed pain when she suddenly hit the ground, she quickly propped herself up from the snow-covered concrete on hands and knees, stiffening as she saw boots and a frighteningly familiar denim right in front of her face. She didn't want to look up. She could only imagine how pissed off he looked and she'd prefer to _leave_ that to her imagination.

Panting, she peered over her shoulder at the street, seeing how far Law's 'Room' had extended down it and the trail of her footsteps in the snow that had abruptly ended when he'd transported her to right in front of him.

Hearing his clothing rustle, she turned back around in time to see a tattooed hand reach down and grip the front of her sweater tightly before he yanked her to feet by it.

Instinctively placing her own hands over his, she tried not to gulp as he brought her up to eye level, a cold fury on his face. It had been a long time since he'd been able to paralyse her so completely with his steel gaze, the sensation reminded her of the first time they'd made eye contact…Though this time was a lot more frightening.

A tense moment of silence passed as he scrutinised her with his stare, the only thing audible on the empty street was her heavy breathing and the gentle, electrical hum of the streetlights lining either side of the road they were currently standing on. Or at least he was, her toes were barely grazing it at the moment.

"…Where were you going, Nayla?" She'd nearly jumped at the sound of his voice.

"T-To the sub." Maybe she could talk him down, convincingly, if she could keep her voice a little more level.

"Why?"

"I forgot something on board."

"Something so important that you needed to go get it right now, in the dead of night?"

"Yeah well…um…" She looked away in feigned embarrassment, hoping he'd buy it or at least feel awkward enough to not pursue it. "…I didn't realise I'd need some…'feminine products' during our stay."

"Your last period was two weeks ago." He said bluntly, completed unfazed.

She whipped her head back to him in surprise. "…How-?"

"You said so in your medical history."

Opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, she inwardly kicked herself for not remembering that. "Well, that's why it came as such a surprise…"

Blinking at her neutrally for a moment, Law decided to indulge her obvious lie a little further. "Then why did you come out here alone without telling anyone where you were going?"

"The guys are all tired – or drunk. I didn't wanna tell them what I needed 'cause…well, ya know and I didn't wanna drag them or you out with me for something so silly."

"And you were in _such_ a hurry that you 'forgot' to wear a coat?" He asked dryly, looking her over.

"…I gu-"

"Cut the crap, Nayla." He pulled her in more closely, tightening his fist around the handful of fabric he was crushing in it before he spoke in a dangerously low and calm tone. One she hadn't heard since the day he'd stormed up from the cockpit. "What were you going to do to my crew?"

Eyes widening as she realised the main source of his anger she quickly held her hands up to placate him. "I wouldn't have hurt them – you know that!"

"You were going for your weapons. You were going to break my safe, they _were_ going to hear it and come running and they would have attempted to stop you. So I'm going to ask you again Nayla, what were you going to do to my crew?"

Biting her lips she suddenly felt overrun with a wild variety of emotions. Panic was prominent, she was panicking about what he would do or say if she lied _or_ told the truth. Guilt was there too, she really didn't want to resort to anything he was forcing her to have to resort to. There was a lot of anger as well, he had no right to be talking to her as though _she_ were the bad guy or doing something wrong, _she_ was the victim here.

Finally deciding to just answer honestly, Nayla lowered her hands back down to her sides. "I'd have tried to get past them but would have knocked them out if I needed to."

Feeling his malice palpably spike at her words and the grip on her clothing tighten even further, she watched his face intently before glancing nervously at the other hand holding his weapon. All too aware that he hadn't released his 'Room' yet, she waited patiently for his attack, using the time to try to recall what she'd seen and learnt about his ability so far and wondering what her chances were if she had to defend herself unarmed...They weren't good.

Despite what Kotta had implied, she wasn't as ungrateful to his captain as he seemed to think she was. She really didn't want to have a physical confrontation with Law, not only because she owed him her life but because she sincerely didn't want to be on the wrong end of this man's nodachi. Even with the extra knowledge and observation time she'd gained this week, she still had no idea how to go about defeating a man with his kind of power with her own skill set. How was she supposed to land a hit on an opponent that could teleport her or himself at will with the flick of a finger…She didn't have a projectile attack that could reach him from outside the edge of his 'Room' – not that he wouldn't be able to counter it as soon as it entered or that she had the speed to outrun or escape its boundaries to launch one in the first place. 'Apparently,' she thought bitterly, kicking herself for not giving more thought to how she would go about fighting him if she needed to.

Adjusting his nodachi in his other hand, Law raised his brows as Nayla flinched, his eyes drawn down to the hand that had reflexively flexed near the hip she used to carry her weapons on and sensing a familiar, growing, ominous aura as he held her.

To his surprise, he realised that she thought he was going to attack her. Same as in his brig. It had been a while since she'd felt a remotely genuine sense of fear of him…and he was even more surprised to find he took absolutely no sadistic pleasure in it. If anything, the opposite. The realisation seemed to rapidly drain all the anger out of him.

Allowing his 'Room' to fade, Law released her with a sigh, watching her stumble slightly as she took her full weight on her own feet again before turning back the way he'd come and beginning to walk.

"…What are-?"

"Let's go."

Blinking at his back a few times in shock, Nayla looked back down the street in the direction of the harbour before hesitantly moving to follow him as he, presumably, headed towards the inn.

It wasn't as if he could blame her for her actions. If it had been him in this situation, he would probably have done the same, if not a lot worse and a lot more frequently. Truth be told, she'd been relatively good-natured about the whole thing and was trying to go about running off in the least aggressive, harmful way she could manage. She'd had plenty of opportunities to simply try using force to get herself out of this and she hadn't.

Trailing behind him unsurely and still keeping a relatively safe distance – at least one long arm's length away, Nayla looked at him suspiciously. "…That's it?"

Turning his head slightly, Law glanced at her over his shoulder from the corner of his eyes. "Would you _prefer_ the response you were apparently expecting?"

"Well no, of course not…Just…"

"It's amazing that in all this time, you haven't already realised that I'm not going to hurt you. You are a lot stupider than I gave you credit for." He muttered, looking away dismissively.

"Wh-you! That's so rude!"

Feeling something in his chest ease a little at the sound of her feisty temper starting to ignite, Law glanced at her as she trotted to catch up to his side. "You can reassure a perfect stranger that she's safe with me, yet _you_ don't feel that way despite still being 'alive' after 'irritating the absolute fuck out of me all week?'"

"…Wow, she told you I said that?" Nayla muttered, as he spared her a small, amused smile.

Falling into silence, she sighed and looked around at the deserted street as they made their way back, only now noticing how large and full the moon seemed and watching the hazy, glowy-looking flakes of snow as they superimposed the streetlights in their descent, illuminated surreally transparent as they fell.

It was a cold but beautiful night. The gentle humming of the lighting was now unheard beneath the sound of their footsteps cruelly crushing the freshly fallen ice. Counting two of her footsteps to each of his, she glanced down at his long legs as he strode with ease to her double-time as she tried to keep up with him.

She was starting to regret not sticking to her original idea of waiting until she was on Kattou to see what her options of slipping away after her job looked like. She'd gotten greedy, saw an opportunity to escape _with_ her stuff, tried taking it and got caught. It was fortunate that Law was…well actually fairly merciful…to her anyway...Despite being an incredibly annoying bastard sometimes… _most_ of the time.

Beginning to register how quickly he'd realised she was gone, Nayla started wondering how. Had someone on the crew seen her make a run for it and went to get him? Or had they just noticed she was gone for a little while longer than expected? She really hadn't been away that long at all.

The crew were all tired and tipsy and Law was - or at least _should_ have been preoccupied upstairs. It had seemed like a great time to get away unnoticed, so what had gone wrong?... And more annoyingly, why did she feel just a little, tiny, teeny-weeny bit relieved that he _had_ caught her? It almost felt like an excuse to stay.

Side-glancing at him with a mild scowl and still trying to piece together how he'd found out she'd left, she began feeling less inquisitive about it, less shocked at her rapid recapture, less grateful he _hadn't_ beaten her into a bloody pulp and a lot more agitated about being caught in general.

As if reading her thoughts without looking at her, the start of a small smirk tugged at his lips. "What's the matter, Nayla-ya?"

Feeling her frown deepen at the smug edge to his tone and his obvious sense of triumph, she turned her gaze back to the street ahead, feeling the urge to be snarky. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how and why you were out here fast enough to have caught me. I really didn't think it of you."

Seeing him turn to her in confusion in her peripheral vision, Nayla absent-mindedly looked away from him at the line of trees planted along the sidewalk on her other side, the ones that she had found herself questioning the aesthetic use of the other day. The small, black gating at the bottom of their trunks now deeply buried under the snow.

"…Didn't think what of me?"

"Well, how to put it delicately..." She lifted a finger to her pursed lips in feigned thought as she admired the night sky. "All the stuff that's gone on between us this week, all that cockiness, all that teasing and sword length innuendo and you took that woman to bed what, less than ten minutes ago?"

Chancing a glance back at him, she saw the smirk had been wiped off his face, replaced with a carefully neutral expression but an obviously clenched jaw. "What are you trying to say, Nayla-ya?"

Looking away, she struggled to hide the smile that wanted to spread across her face. "After all that talk, I just didn't figure you to be a one minute man. That's kinda disappointing, thought you'd at leas-" Nayla barely had time to register why the nearest snowbank was coming up to meet her face before she landed in it.

Sitting up with a splutter, she whipped her head back around to find Law going on ahead at his own pace entirely calmly, not sparing her a glance, as if he hadn't just shoved her into the snow.

"Hey!" Remaining faced forward, he paid no attention to her; sliding the hand he'd just pushed her with back into his pocket nonchalantly as he carried on walking.

Growling a little under her breath, Nayla stood, brushing off the excess snow from her clothing before stomping angrily to catch up with him. "Don't ignore me!"

"Annoying, isn't it?" He drawled lazily, the satisfied smirk on his face audible.

Gritting her teeth, she ran the rest of the way, adamant to return the favour and make sure that at least just this once; he wouldn't be getting the last laugh at her expense.

Hearing her rapid approach, Law grinned a little wider, turning slightly to watch as she neared him. Predicting her intention he side-stepped her calmly at the last possible moment, looking forward to watching her plough herself face first into the snowbank behind him.

To his surprise she matched his movement, neatly side-stepped in the same direction and used her full weight to knock him off his feet and into the snow, the freshly laid powder flying up in an icy puff as they landed.

"Nayla!"

"Wow, I didn't think that'd work! Lucky guess that you'd dodge to the right again." She laughed, pushing the brim of his hat back up slightly where it had been knocked forward by him landing on his back. The action fully revealing his annoyed glare, his silent scowl only making her laugh harder. "What? You didn't think I'd fall for you side-stepping me twice, did you?"

Relaxing his brows a bit as he realised she was referring to how he'd avoided her by moving to his right when she'd been hurtled towards Eustass outside the auction house, he couldn't help but be just a tiny bit impressed that she'd remembered such a small detail from what suddenly seemed like so long ago.

Sighing at her rekindled laughter, he watched her sit up - obviously pleased with herself for managing to catch him off guard. That stupid giggle or hers. That stupid, annoying, mischievous giggle of hers. Someone on the crew had compared the innocent-sounding melody of her laughter to what they thought an angel's might sound like earlier this week…They obviously couldn't hear the subtle, naughty undertone of it. To him, sure, it sounded like the laughter of an angel…one that had just stuck a thumbtack on god's chair.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Law only then realised that his hands were on her thighs…that were on either side of him. She was straddling him, hands on his chest, though she hadn't seemed to have noticed their position.

Ignoring the slight twinge of whatever it was he felt about that, Law looked back up at her as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, her giggles finally beginning to subside. There was something oddly picturesque about her in that fleeting moment that seemed to last longer than it should. The way the streetlight across the road behind her illuminated the edges of her fine hair in a soft, halo-like glow, the soft chimes of joy in her voice - her warmth both audible and physically felt, the sweet, pink tinge the cold had caused to blossom on her cheeks, the amused smile she gave him and the laughter in her gaze as she sat atop him, all of it framed so perfectly by the most delicate flutters of snowflakes as they fell…The sight of her in that moment made his breath catch unexpectedly in his throat.

Sensing his quiet and stilled movement, Nayla began wondering if maybe she'd pushed him too far. "Hey, are you ok? I didn't make you hit your head or anything, did I?" Reaching a concerned hand to the back of his scalp, she ran it soothingly over his hair, examining his face for any signs that she'd inadvertently hurt him…or that she'd pissed him off to such an extent that she should probably begin running, but instead found her heart flutter rapidly, without warning, when she locked gazes with him.

His expression was soft, far _too_ soft considering she'd just tackled him to the floor. He should be angry, annoyed...She couldn't understand this soft, worryingly unguarded expression; she'd not seen it on him before.

Law sat up slowly, the action causing her to slide a little further down from his stomach to straddle his hips instead and his hands to glide up her legs naturally in his movement, bringing her attention to where they were in the first place.

Swallowing thickly as he searched her eyes, she suddenly became anxious about what he might be seeing in them and averted her gaze, trying to still her heart, surprised to find her breathing had gotten so rapid and wondering what had suddenly gotten into him.

Feeling his hand rest gently on her cheek, she hesitantly looked back at him, finding he was gazing intently at her lips. She clenched the fabric of his coat over his chest, her fingers finding their way between the thick, black strands of his hair as he began leaning in to her.

The empty street, the beautiful night sky overhead, the snowy scenery. Just the two of them. It was all so surreally soft, tender and perfect. A gentle, romantic kiss on a cold winter's night. Or at least, it would have been.

Law lifted his eyes back up to hers as he felt her hand over his approaching lips, no more than an inch from her own. Strangely, he didn't seem surprised that she'd stopped him. Sitting there silently for a moment, Nayla finally answered his questioning gaze as she moved her hand away.

"…You know…red may not be your colour…" She pulled her sleeve up over her wrist, before placing the fabric over his lips. "…but pink looks even worse."

Wiping away the small, subtle smudges of the other woman's lipstick that had made it onto his skin, Nayla avoided his gaze, though she could still feel it boring into her own from such a close proximity.

Sighing softly as she rubbed the last, faint, stubborn stain from the corner of his mouth, she found herself feeling sorely disappointed. Law reeked of her too; his scent that she usually secretly enjoyed from this close was completely overshadowed by that other woman's.

Realising his hat was slightly loose and askew, she pulled the fur down more firmly, adjusting it as she examined him, his expression unreadable now, though his hand still lingered on her cheek.

Offering a small smile (apologetic or sad she wasn't sure - hopefully neither), Nayla got up; immediately missing the warmth of his skin on hers as his hand slipped from her as she stood.

Dusting her knees off, she was thankful the snow was so dry and powdery or her tights would have been completely soaked through by now. Chancing a look back at Law, she found him still staring at her silently, she wasn't sure if he were in deep thought or simply assessing her, it was difficult to tell sometimes.

Sighing again and forcing her smile wider, she leant down and reached a hand to him in offering, seeming to break his reverie as it entered his vision. "Come on."

Snapping his eyes back up to hers, he hesitated for a moment before holding it gently, picking up his nodachi with his other hand as he made to stand.

Glancing up the road, she tried to work out how far they were from their destination now. "You know, if we're fast enough, maybe we'll get back to the inn in time for you to still be able to catch your lady frien-ommph!"

Unable to believe he'd had the nerve to tug her hand sharply and pull her to the ground as he stood, she looked back up at him in fury as he began walking away, pissed off that she'd even _remotely_ considered it a _pity_ – a pity! That she couldn't find it in her to kiss him and that she _had_ to keep learning the hard way that he always made her regret any desires she had for him nearly instantaneously.

"LAW!"

"Residents are sleeping. Be more considerate and keep your voice down, Nayla-ya."

"You-! God, just-What is wro-You know what? Fuck you. Just…Just fuck you." She seethed in exasperation, getting up again and ruffling the flakes of snow from her clothing, her annoyance only cemented when she heard a low chuckle in response.

Huffing she trotted to catch up to him, uncertain if she should find relief or upset in how rapidly he'd dissolved their tender truce. Maybe it had been his intention, out of discomfort or maybe a slightly vindictive act for her rejection or maybe just a childish vent of his frustration with himself or her. Narrowing her eyes at him as she caught up, she tried working out which of the three it was before deciding she didn't care because _any_ of the above made him an ass and falling into an infuriated silence as they walked.

…

"You know Nayla-ya, for someone who's accused _me_ of being jealous so frequently, I find your choice of timing for an escape attempt interesting." He provoked with a sly glance her way.

Rolling her eyes, she scoffed in offence. "It had nothing to do with that. I was just picking a time that you _should_ have been busy."

Humming in obvious disbelief, he glanced noticeably at the sleeve she'd used to remove the other woman's lipstick. "So you're not even in the slightest bit jealous?" He teased quietly, chuckling when she said nothing but tutted and pursed her lips stubbornly.

…

"A little." Not expecting that response, Law raised his brows in surprise, turning his head to look at her fully. "…Don't get me wrong, I'm just jealous that she got to meet you the way that she did…I wish we could have met like that…Just two strangers in a bar, pleasant conversation, getting to know each other a little better…Things could have been a lot different, we could have gotten along really well, maybe even been friends, ya know? Isn't it a shame?"

Glancing down at her arms as she crossed them, rubbing herself a little warmer through her sleeves, he looked away. "…No, it's not. We would never have been friends."

Feeling her jaw slack a little at his coldness, she suddenly wondered why she'd even remotely expected a different answer, regretting opening her mouth at all. Looking away with an annoyed huff, she ignored him and the distinct rustle of fabric as she felt him move a little closer to her side.

Feeling a heavy warmth on her shoulders she looked up in surprise to find Law draping his coat over them with a chuckle and amused gaze. "If we'd met in a bar and things had gone the same way as they had with Stravia-ya, chances are I wouldn't have bothered speaking to you again afterwards. We would never have been friends. So no Nayla, aside from the injury you suffered, it's not a shame that we met the way that we did." He clarified quietly, pulling the material closed around her chest.

Stunned as she numbly grasped the open ends of his jacket to hold them in place, she stared up at him as they walked before breaking out into a huge smile, unsettling him immediately.

"…What's with that look?" He asked unsurely.

"You _want_ be friends with me."

"…That isn't what I said." He denied firmly, frowning at her growing grin.

"Yeah, it is." She teased.

"It isn't Nayla, don't just hear what you want to hear-hey!" Stiffening immediately as she wrapped her arms around his, his expression quickly morphed from surprise to agitation as he attempted to slip out of her grasp. "Let go of my arm."

"Sure."

Quickly lifting his arm up and out of her hold he began breathing a sigh of relief – which was abruptly cut off as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist instead, nuzzling her face to his side happily.

"…What are you doing?" Law asked in exasperation, arm still raised, unsure of how to deal with her sudden, physical expression of affection.

"Helping to keep you warm until we get back to the inn, seeing as you were kind enough to give me your coat." She purred against him, closing her eyes.

"Nayla…" Sighing, he looked down at her, contemplating her next impromptu trip into a pile of snow, but paused as he took in her happy smile and the cheek pressed firmly to his chest.

"Hmm?" She waited patiently for him to continue, enjoying the feel of his warm muscles as he took a deep inhale and exhale, letting another long, frustrated sigh escape him as he closed his eyes tiredly. He knew that 'cute' look up was a gimmick of hers, a well practiced gimmick, it was obvious by the amusement in her eyes…So why was it still working?

"…You're too short for my coat. Hold the hem up so that you don't scuff the bottom as you walk." He muttered, lowering his arm back down to rest around her shoulders.

Giggling quietly, she did as she was told, removing one hand to hoist up the fabric around her legs, trapping the excess between their sides as she resumed her hold on him. "Who knew the infamous 'Surgeon of Death' _could_ be such a _sweet gentleman_ and lend a lady his coat?"

"Don't push your luck." He grumbled, lifting the hand he'd rest to her shoulder to pinch her cheek in warning, only causing another quiet giggle as she nuzzled into his side more comfortably as they made their way back to the inn.

* * *

"Oh good, you guys are back…Wait, you went out without a coat on, lil lady?" Jeff asked, getting up from the table as he saw the two re-enter the inn, bringing Connor and Bepo's attention to their arrival as they turned to look towards the doorway too.

"Yeah, silly me. Didn't think I'd be out there that long, colder than it looks." Nayla offered light-heartedly, brushing off some of the snow from atop the shoulders of Law's coat as she wiped her boots onto the welcome mat.

"Is the cat ok?" Bepo asked innocently as Connor eyed the jacket on her, looking between the two suspiciously.

"Uh…well…" She glanced up at Law unsurely as he pushed his hands into his pockets, watching her as she tried to find a way to word her escapade. Truth be told, she'd been so busy putting off processing the moment she'd so strongly wanted to kiss their captain and enjoying the physical contact with him on their way back that she hadn't even given a thought to what she'd say to them when she arrived.

"It's fine." Law intervened blandly, walking towards the staircase and ignoring her shocked expression as he glanced back at her over his shoulder. "We're heading to bed now as we have things to do in the morning."

Watching the men at the table exchange questioning expressions amongst themselves before looking back at her, Nayla snapped out of her surprise, shrugging and smiling apologetically at them before taking Law's unsubtle hint to follow him.

"…Think they mean _separate_ beds?" Connor asked Jeff with a grin, speaking in a fake-hushed tone.

"Dunno, think the blonde is still up there in Cap's though. Had no idea our lil lady was so kinky, who'd a thought she was into threes-Hey!"

"OI!"

Pulling Jeff's hat down hard with one hand and yanking Connor's ponytail back roughly with her other as she passed; she otherwise ignored their teasing and their protests. "Goodnight _Bepo_."

"Goodnight."

Smiling over her shoulder at them as Jeff pulled the brim of his hat off of his eyes and Connor rubbed the back of his head tenderly, Nayla carefully lifted the hem of the long coat and trotted up the stairs to catch up to Law. "You aren't going to tell them I was trying to escape?" She asked quietly as she met him halfway.

"No."

"…Wouldn't it be wise to so that they keep a better eye on me from now on?"

"It doesn't matter as you won't be leaving _my_ sight but I'll still make my orders regarding you clearer to them tomorrow. As of now, telling them that you were so able to leave them on a whim without so much as a word of goodbye or a second thought would probably serve no purpose other than to hurt their feelings."

Hearing no reply from her as he reached the landing, Law turned around, catching the look of guilt on her face as she began following him down the corridor, eyes on the carpeting under her feet as they made their way back to their rooms.

"…Is feeding stray animals part of your attempts at good karma?"

Relieved to hear her laugh at that, he smiled a little, side-glancing at her as she fell into step beside him. "No, I just like animals. I uh…"

Following her gaze to the end of the hall ahead of them, they watched as Stravia made her way out of his room, closing the door harshly in a huff and pulling on her jacket. She stopped momentarily in surprise as she turned and spotted them before shrugging it on fully. Glancing between them, the coat Nayla was wearing and piecing together where Law had gone, she bit the inside of her cheek as she began strutting towards them, head held high.

Nayla stepped aside to give her space to walk by in the cramped corridor, though it didn't matter, the blonde glared at her viciously as she shoved past roughly on her way to the staircase behind them.

Watching her descend out of sight in silence, Nayla turned back to Law, rubbing the arm Stravia had harshly jostled. "…I 'think' she might be mad at you."

"Not _me_." Law looked at her shoulder pointedly, before glancing back down the stairs.

"Aren't you gonna go after her?"

"No. I've lost interest." He replied levelly as he turned and resumed walking down the hallway.

"…Sorry about that." Nayla muttered, following him as they began making their way to their rooms.

"Are you?"

"Yes, of course I am." She snapped back, offended at his cynical tone.

"…Are you?" Law pressed levelly, narrowing his eyes at her.

Feeling a small smile threatening to break out as they reached their doors, she bit her lip slightly to stop it. "I am…Not as much as I should be but yes, I promise I am."

Pulling the neck of her sweater forward, she reached her hand down it, bringing Law's attention to the necklace and the dagger that she had apparently begun wearing again as she tugged out the small key trapped between it and her cleavage.

"…Really, Nayla-ya?"

"Yes, really. Don't go all Kotta on me." She scoffed, unlocking her door and stepping over the threshold into her bedroom as she began peeling his coat off of her shoulders.

"Do you just keep everything in there?" He muttered, taking it back as she held it out for him.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She teased, smiling slyly at him as she rest a hand to the door, beginning to push it shut slightly between them.

"And if I do?"

Looking up at the hand he had placed on the wood to hold it open, she felt the familiar, and now much more comfortable by comparison, sexual tension spark between them. His teasing words spoken in his smooth tone, his playful smirk and the edge of desire in his gaze, though the latter was a little more intense than she was used to. "It wasn't an invitation and don't look at me like that." She muttered, knocking his hand off of the door.

"Like what, Nayla?"

"Like that, like you want to eat me." Wondering why his brows suddenly rose to the brim of his hat, she realised what she'd said when a dirty, lopsided grin, wider than his last made an appearance.

Deciding not to give him the chance to capitalise on her poor choice of words with some sarcastic, inappropriate comment, she pushed him back gently with a hand to the chest, wondering when he'd crossed her threshold to begin with. "I'm _not_ your replacement for the night. Get out." She said dryly, slamming her door shut in his face.

Reluctantly smiling a little to herself as she heard him chuckle on the other side of the wood, she listened to him unlock his door and enter his bedroom beside her own.

* * *

Nayla found herself completely unable to sleep, tossing and turning in bed and trying to sort through her thoughts.

She should have waited until Kattou. That was one thing. It might still be a possibility but it would be a _definite_ give up of all her worldly possessions, she'd only have her small duffel bag of things. That meant she'd have no cash, few clothes and wouldn't be able to work any large jobs like wars without replacing her weapons first. She'd have to travel back pretty far to get new ones made…though if she had to do that then at least she'd get to see some friendly faces again…

'Boring stuff. Let's address Law.'

Speaking of the devil, he was going to be watching her ten times more closely than before now that he'd caught her trying to make a run for it…Maybe the better option would be to let this blow over, behave, earn some trust back and _then_ try again? It was an appealing option that could yield another chance to leave with her things and in the meantime she'd get to spend more time with hi–them, the crew in general.

'Also gives you plenty more opportunities to have him for yourself before you give him up so easily for other women to sink her claws in. - …Could you at least _try_ to sound a little bit less crazy-chick-jealous? – No. It is what it is. _I_ want him. - … - I'm only saying what you're thinking. - …How are you even _saying_ anything? You're just brain tissue. Loud, annoying, disobedient brain tissue.'

If she waited until at least the next mercenary job came along, then he'd _have_ to return her weapons so that she could work so maybe running off during or straight after that job would be the most sensible option? It _sounded_ like a good idea…She wouldn't rule out slipping away on Kattou tomorrow though, she'd have to see how things looked when she got there. Another attempt to escape so soon would piss him the hell off if he caught her again but it didn't really seem as though he would hurt her…

'He almost looked disappointed that you thought he was gonna. – Yeah well, nodachi to the scalp. – That look on his face when he stopped being mad at you and walked off was really cute... – Law and 'cute' are not words that sound verycompatible really. – Aww come on, admit how cute he looked when he gave up and let you cuddle up to him on the way back. All tired and exasperated with you. - …Alright well, that _was_ kinda cute. – Let's talk about that whole cuddling and near-kiss thing by the way. – Let's not…I wonder if I could get Law to re-op and remove you if I injure you badly enough.'

Nayla found herself wondering how much of Law's reasoning for not telling his crew about her escape attempt was true, sure that his motive was, at least in part, an attempt to use her attachment to them to guilt her into behaving. As much as she didn't want to upset them, she was fairly certain she wasn't all _that_ important to them overall. Yes, she'd consider the vast majority of them her friends, 'Fuck you, Kotta,' but they'd only known each other three weeks, they'd get over it. They were such kind-hearted souls that it honestly made her wonder how they'd all ended up as 'villainous' pirates in the first place. In fact she was confident that they were _such_ nice guys that she was sure they'd forgive her and be pretty understanding of it if she did manage to run off, maybe even be secretly glad that she'd managed to do it, even if they weren't happy about it on a personal level. So no, her guilt at possibly temporarily upsetting them with her abrupt absence wouldn't be enough to keep her there.

No matter how many times she tried to steer her brain back to the more pressing and important matter of her freedom, it kept constantly insisting on addressing things she really didn't want it to. Especially acknowledging anything that had gone on between Law and herself that night, it was only complicating her already torn feelings about sticking around or leaving.

There was absolutely, positively, one hundred percent no doubt that leaving was the better thing for her to do. Staying with a dangerous pirate on dangerous seas doing dangerous things, making dangerous enemies and provoking dangerous emotions that would inevitably end badly was _not_ the sensible thing to do.

Getting loose, going back to doing what she pleased, when she pleased, enjoying her travelling and doing jobs that at least (in her mind) made the world a slightly better place - even if it were done in such an ugly way, was what she was content to do in life. For now. At least until something more appealing came along that gave her more direction or new goals.

'Oh you want something more appealing to do? Yeah, hi, Law. - Yes yes, I hear you. I'll get your dirty needs met soon so that you can think straight and stop pestering me, just be patient.'

The…'thing' with Law was starting to not just be about attraction and it was beginning to get worrying. Nayla wasn't stupid…all the time. At least not so stupid that she didn't realise what that alarming heart flutter when he'd looked at her like that in the snow meant. At least not so stupid that she didn't realise that she shouldn't have felt _that_ much elation in her chest over such a minor and subtle slip of the tongue from him about being glad they had an opportunity to be friends...She'd hadn't been feeling much more than a tool and plaything for his amusement up until now, Law even mildly suggesting that he'd like otherwise shouldn't have made her anywhere near as happy as it did.

She'd already acknowledged she was coming to like that guy. It was one of the main reasons she was trying to leave in the first place - before she got too attached, because she was gonna…the longer she stuck around the worse it'd get. 'Tease _him_ about having a crush and _I_ end up with one,' she sighed at the irony, turning onto her other side.

It was difficult to admit it, she wasn't proud of it, but honestly couldn't help it…He was handsome…funny - in a twisted way…motivated, smart, capable of devotion and dedication – though that was more to his goal and his crew, _not_ women. Pirates weren't exactly famous for monogamy or settling down…Not that she wanted either of those things from him…and god, was he sexy…painfully sexy…

He'd completely thrown her though. That look when he'd leant in to kiss her was so entirely different to any expression she'd seen from him before. Neutrality, anger, amusement, lust – that raw, clearly sexually-centred look of his, all of those had been so easy to understand…Earlier wasn't clear at all. She couldn't make sense of that new expression that had seemed to have come out of nowhere and honestly, whatever plausible explanation her brain offered her for it frightened her a little bit. It wasn't like him at all. What on Earth had he been thinking of to have looked at her like that…

Growling in frustration when trying to rest on her other side didn't seem to be any more relaxing, Nayla whipped the covers off of her legs, feeling hot, bothered, annoyed and tired. Running a hand through her hair she wandered over to the window, idly kicking aside her boots to rest against the bedside cabinet more fully as she went and eyeing the envelope that she'd set, admittedly carelessly, atop it.

Pressing a hand to the cool glass, she looked out at the street below. It was still snowing; the footprints Law and her had left together were long gone under the fresh layers. Frowning at how suggestible and ready her mind was to return to thoughts of the man, she looked away from the road, directly down instead to the small, enclosed, concrete courtyard surrounding the inn. The room didn't have the nicest view; her window was on the side of the building, a narrow strip of concrete between it and the property's enclosing brick wall.

Looking around the dumpster that was stored within its confines below, she wondered if the cat that she'd seen there earlier had managed to find somewhere safe and warm to curl up tonight. 'It's a winter island, the poor thing must be used to the snow by now and have a place in mind to go,' she reassured herself.

Unable to see the small creature, she contemplated the dumpster itself. It was directly below her window and they were only on the first floor…A spark of hope and adrenaline ran through her then, she wondered if she could land quietly enough on top of its closed lid now that it had a fair layer of snow on it. Could she make another break for it? There was no way Law would expect her to make _two_ runs on the same night and so soon after being caught, maybe she could do it. Plus she hadn't heard any noise coming from his bedroom at all for hours…

'You should go pay him a visit. – …It's the middle of the night. – Yes, that would be the point. Hint, hint. – Um, no. He had another woman in his bed a few hours ago. That's fucking gross. – Nah, he probably didn't get very far with her, he was out chasing you within minutes. – I don't care, he definitely has a mouthful of Stravia-spit and I don't feel like sharing. – …Ya know, he's probably horny as hell. – …And? – I'm just saying, cockblocked two days in a row? That has to be rough…Last one was kinda your fault. – No one forced him to run after me, shut up and lemme gauge this drop. - I think before you go jumping out of windows that you should go to his room, do the right thing and take responsibility for it. Help the guy out. - …Help me with this or shut up and stop distracting me. - Come onnn, go be a helpful, responsible person. – Shut. The _fuck_. Up.'

Deciding she couldn't quite tell how much cushioning snow was on the dumpster and how noisy the landing would or wouldn't be, Nayla bit her lip and slid her window up as gently and quietly as she could manage. Poking her head out, she looking down in the darkness to assess the possibility a little better before deciding it didn't look bad at all and to go get dressed.

Startled by the thin, blue film that rapidly washed over her, she turned her head in the direction of Law's bedroom window beside hers, but he wasn't at it and his lights were off. He must have been awake in bed and heard her window.

When nothing else happened, she growled in annoyance at the non-verbal warning and found herself wondering why he was still up and if he really _could_ read her thoughts. "I was just getting some fresh air, geez!"

Sighing loudly when he didn't release his 'Room,' she pulled her head back inside and slammed the window shut harshly, watching as it finally dissipated before stomping back to her bed and scratching that idea, for now.

* * *

The bedrooms at this inn were plain but pleasant enough; she'd already made that observation plenty of times since arriving. Plenty of times that morning in fact, but found herself glancing around the room at the slightly bland, though well kept, décor in boredom and in attempts to keep her thoughts from wandering into places she didn't want them to wander into.

Hearing the characteristic wobble of Polaroid plastic as it swished through air, Nayla watched Law toss the photos in his hand back to the surface of her bed before returning her gaze to the window and leaning back against her pillow.

The inn in general wasn't a bad place at all really, she'd expected it to be a little worse, a little rougher but it was welcoming, of fair quality and the employees didn't seem _too_ fazed by the presence of an infamous pirate crew. Not unlike Baez's inn back on Sabaody. Though she got the distinct impression the bartender was no longer a fan of hers and it was a shame they didn't have hairdryers, that had been a misguided assumption on her part.

Listening to Law rifle through the papers that had come out of her job's manila envelope for the hundredth time, she wondered what it was exactly that he expected to find going through them _this_ time as opposed to the other ninety-nine that he had checked them. She'd asked but apparently even he didn't know exactly what he was looking for, he'd know if something were useful if he saw it.

Watching the gentle flurries of snow gliding past the glass, Nayla pushed her thoughts off of him and onto contemplating what she'd be getting for breakfast instead. The food at the inn was pretty decent too, so other than shopping, her job or to play in the snow – which she was hoping she'd get to do at some point, there was little reason to need to leave the place. Jake had urged her to try the restaurant he and some of the others had been to for lunch yesterday, apparently already set to try adding a new dish to the sub's menu rota based on what he'd eaten there. She'd take his recommendation on trying the place…if Law would allow her to go or at least agree to going there with her himself. She was pretty much on lockdown, he'd made that clear and it was looking doubtful that she'd have any independent roaming distance from him anytime soon.

Looking at the man sitting on the foot of her bed as he sipped his coffee in one hand and read through the floor plan of the senator's home in his other once more, he spoke up as he felt her gaze on him.

"What is it, Nayla-ya?"

"Nothing." She sighed out, removing her warming fingers from resting over the opening of her mug to have a sip of her own drink.

Law had woken her up early again but at least he'd been thoughtful enough to bring her something to drink, pleasantly surprising her when she found that he knew she preferred tea to coffee _and_ how she liked it…He'd never brought her one on the sub or even been around when she'd made one for herself. It left her wondering how he'd known…Though they'd lived together for a week and him being as annoyingly observant as he was was probably sufficient enough of an explanation she figured.

Resuming his silent perusal of her paperwork, he set his mug down onto his thigh. He was perched on the end of her bed, one leg tucked beneath him, the other planted on the floor. She'd have argued the point of him wearing his boots on her bedding but he'd done the same yesterday morning and simply didn't have the energy to do it. She'd barely slept last night and by the looks of his bags and the fact he'd been wide awake when she'd opened her window so late last night meant that he probably hadn't slept too well either.

Glancing at the profile photo of the elderly man she'd be meeting tomorrow lay strewn on her lap; she took a sip of her tea. Vibrant brown eyes, grey hair that didn't detract from the man's rugged appearance, a strong jaw line, a decent physical build – remnant of his days as a naval officer and a politician's polished smile. He'd have been a very handsome man in his prime.

There was nothing unusual about the information Marty had sent to her. He always took in as many details from the client as possible to make sure people like her had everything they needed to make their jobs as quick, easy and safe as possible. It was the client's responsibility to provide what he requested and everything in this envelope was the standard information that he demanded for a kill before accepting to pass the work on to someone.

A photo of the target, their risk assessment to her, the layout of the location – nothing a trip to any city hall with public blueprints for its properties wouldn't fetch anyone, the target's routine and any other miscellaneous details they could offer. The amount of the latter made it obvious that someone on the inside of the senator's mansion was also on Joker's payroll, the blueprint of each floor of the mansion had been annotated in detail with all the surveillance Den Den Mushi and guard locations – even their patrol routes, handover times, weapons and levels of combat training. It was above and beyond what the client was expected to know and hand over to them.

The reason for why there had been a change from the original plan Joker had wanted - to make this man's death simply look like a hooker he'd brought back had tried to rob him and things had gone south, to this new plan had become apparent when she'd opened the envelope.

Glancing at the stack of photos Law had tossed back onto the covers, Nayla gazed across the dozens of candid pictures of the senator entering his mansion with scantily clad women far younger than himself. Instead of the man going out under the scandal of a robbery from a _single_ interaction with _one_ hooker – i.e.: herself, Joker had decided it could be too easily played off as a one-off misjudgement on the senator's part.

This was now supposed to look like _blackmail_ gone wrong. The idea was to make it look like she was blackmailing the man for money or status in exchange for not exposing his long-running indiscretions via these photos, for things to go wrong and for there to be a struggle in which he gets 'accidentally' killed. Then her, playing the scared, greedy young starlet, would panic and run, 'forgetting' these photos on the floor by the body so that they'd get 'accidentally' discovered and exposed anyway…

Joker didn't play around. It wasn't about the hooker idea being too easily PR'd away, it was about petty vengeance. He didn't want to simply damage this ma'sn and his family's reputation; he wanted to absolutely _destroy_ it. He was being made an example of to send a message, loud and clear about what would happen to anyone else that might decide to purposely hinder his business. This was all so far past the point that would have been sufficient enough to meet Joker's needs. What an incredibly vindictive and tasteless man.

The fact that there was clearly someone else around the senator that worked for Joker that she hadn't been directly told about unsettled her too. Nayla wasn't happy with this, at all. Nothing about it. It was setting off her paranoia big time; she had no interest in messing with someone like this. It was downright dangerous…What would Joker do to _her_ if he ever found out she was feeding everything she learnt about him to Law?…This was all his fault.

Lifting his head to look at her then, Law raised a brow at her glare and deep scowl as she looked back at him, seeming to piece together her displeasure with this job overall and the concern on her mind.

"This is only your second job for Joker, you've given him no reason to be antsy about you. You don't have anything to worry about." He reassured, neatening the stack of papers on his thigh.

"Yes I do, I left the last job early and how would _you_ know I don't have anything to worry about?" She snapped irritably.

"As you said, leaving prematurely didn't hinder his objective there and not having to pay you was advantageous to him. If anything, he would have found you storming off amusing, not upsetting." He said neutrally, sliding the papers back into the envelope neatly.

"…You sound like you know an awful lot about this Joker guy."

"I do." He met her eyes squarely as he leant forward and lifted the piece of paper from her lap. "So trust me when I say that for at least _this_ job, you don't have to worry about a threat from Joker…or anyone else there that may be working for him." He muttered, looking at heavily annotated floor plans and stack of photos before picking those up too and returned everything to the envelope.

"And future jobs?"

"…We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

* * *

After Law was satisfied with looking through the information she'd been given, he'd waited patiently for her to pull on her jeans and sweater before escorting her downstairs to breakfast. Nayla was unsure if it were more out of politeness or out of keeping a strict eye on her…More likely the latter. Genuine politeness seemed to elude the man.

Making their way down the stairs in time to catch the last half an hour of offered breakfast options, she looked around the tavern for familiar faces. A few crewmembers already making their way out the door to get on with their day or whatever work they needed to do, a few crewmembers scattered around the tables and booths finishing up their meals and coffees...and a couple of very angry-looking women glaring at her from across the room.

Nayla was surprised to find herself looking at Stravia, looking significantly different to how she had last night in her set of conservative winter clothing, no makeup and thick coat – though the look on her face was still the same. Pissed.

She'd obviously just arrived, apparently here to pick up or check on her more successful friend who had stayed the night here. Illias was bidding farewell to Jake at the doorway, apparently he'd been the one to win the lucky lady over last night, when both women had turned to stare at her vehemently as she made her way down the stairs, causing the chef to look between the women in confusion as to what the palpable animosity was about.

"…Your girlfriend is here to see you." Nayla deadpanned turning to Law as he reached the bottom of the stairs beside her.

Lowering his raised brow at the silent, catty exchange between her and the women across the tavern, he chuckled, deliberately looping his free arm around her shoulders to steer her in the opposite direction, towards the booths. "Don't let it spoil your appetite."

"Don't antagonise her on purpose." Nayla grouched at the action, not sharing in his amusement of the situation.

"Hey! Morning, Nayla-chan." Penguin greeted happily, smiling around his mouthful as he shuffled in a little more, inviting her to sit beside him.

Brightening up too, she smiled at him, already guessing why he and Shachi were wearing such wide grins and in obviously high spirits. "Good morning. Did you two lady killers have a fun night." She teased, sitting down next to him as Law took the seat opposite, beside Shachi.

Penguin cleared his throat a little with a blush whilst Shachi sighed somewhat dreamily through his own. "Maybe."

Laughing at them but more at Law's distinctly sour expression at the reminder of how _his_ night had gone, Nayla took the menu the waitress brought over for her, scanning through the short list of offered breakfast basics and trying to ignore the two sets of holes being burned into her face from the women still at the doorway.

Apparently Stravia had wasted no time in viciously gossiping to her friend about how she'd messed up her night though she tried not to pay it much mind. The woman had every right to be angry really, she'd gone out of her way to make sure she wouldn't be causing Nayla any upset, made efforts to make sure Law was safe (enough) to engage with, had been brave enough to approach him – that took guts in itself and then there she was, just getting down to business with him when he runs off and leaves her hanging at…whatever stage they'd gotten to last night. She didn't really want to know and hadn't really let her mind linger on the thought too long.

Having let the rough and unnecessary shove last night slide, Nayla wasn't all that happy about being bitched about and stared down first thing in the morning as well but frankly, she would be damn pissed too if it were her. She really didn't blame the blonde for being mad; however…She looked up at Law who seemed to be thinking quietly to himself, his menu still untouched on the table.

Nayla hadn't actually done anything to wrong the woman. The opposite, if anything. Stravia was misdirecting anger her way when it _should_ be directed at the man across the table from her.

"Something the matter, Nayla-ya?" He asked, not looking at her but apparently more than able to feel her displeased gaze on him

Leaning forward to speak quietly and not draw the attention of the other two men at the table as they conversed with each other, she set the thick, worn plastic of the menu back down to the wood between them. "You should probably say something to her to smooth things over. She's still trying to murder me with her glare and rage-telepathy."

Pulling his gaze off of her nails that were wrapping gently against the table in her irritation, Law looked at her in mild curiosity. "Like what?"

"I dunno, an apology maybe? For rudely walking out on her like you did."

"Why would that warrant an apology?" He asked blandly, eyes darting to something behind her.

"Because you made her feel like running after me was more important than having sex with her." She muttered quietly before looking over her shoulder at the re-approaching waitress.

"It was." He answered simply, matching her surprised gaze as she turned back to him. "I only apologise for things that I'm actually sorry about."

"Hi, you guys know what you'd like? Kitchen is wrapping up breakfast to start lunch soon."

Watching as Law leant back, draping an arm over the back of the booth casually, Nayla managed to pull her eyes away to look at the waitress. "Uh yeah, just some pancakes please…"

"Coffee."

* * *

Lounging lazily on the sofa, Nayla stretched with a yawn, feeling her poor night's sleep, early wake and day of fun out in the cold catching up to her. The few hot chocolate cream liqueurs by the fireplace had settled her comfortably too, the perfect relaxer to the end of a long day and a great way to clear her mind before her job tomorrow.

Setting her naughty pirate book down onto the small coffee table provided for the seating area, she turned to look over the back of her seat, scanning the rest of the tavern to see what the others were up to.

The inn owners had done a good job of using the huge ground floor room to its fullest. A bar to the side, rows of tables throughout the middle, booths along the wall and comfortable, cushy furniture around the large fireplace at the back, near the staircase that lead to the bedrooms above. The fireside seating was mostly used by guests that were staying there though, seeing as it was far enough removed from the more noisy and bustling bar area.

Placing her arms over the back of the sofa and resting her head on them with another small yawn, she noticed the distinct lack of white boilersuits there tonight as opposed to the previous evening. Many of the crew were hitting the town to see what other entertainment options Shibumi's nightlife had to offer.

Seeing as Law was personally watching her from now on, it meant that if he didn't go out then neither did she. It would have been nice to, just to be able to spend time with the boys, but truth be told she was relatively tired. The thought of curling up in a nice warm bed soon would be a welcome evening plan too. She had an early trip tomorrow anyway; the boat she'd booked a place on to take her to Kattou was due to depart at 6am.

Whereas most of the companies offering trips to the neighbouring island had travel times of near enough a full day, the Shibumi Speedline boasted a trip of half that duration, the difference being due to their smaller and more practical vessels. There would be fewer amenities, luxuries and passengers on board. No lounge, amazing dining hall or on-deck sun loungers and the like, just rooms to sleep and wash in and a single area to buy food and drinks. It wouldn't be a glamorous trip but it would do.

Settling her eyes onto Law and watching as he conversed with Bepo, she realised how quiet he'd been today. He had spent the day seemingly relaxing or in thought, probably thinking over whatever it was he thought over so frequently. Maybe trying to fit in whatever information he'd found useful from what he'd read this morning into his plans.

Learning that he, and by proxy – she, wouldn't be going anywhere today, some of the other crewmembers had stuck around during the afternoon to spend time with her when she'd expressed how bored she was going to be. Sulking when they'd declined playing in the snow with her because they'd already done so the previous afternoon; they'd eventually caved and spent the better part of the day outside with her. It hadn't disturbed Law as they'd remained within the inn's concrete courtyard, visible from the windows.

It had been a long time since she'd had fun like that. What had started off as the innocent idea of building a pirate-snowman together had then divided them into two when no one had wanted to build a pirate-snowbear with Bepo. Feeling bad for the apologetic first-mate, she'd decided to side with him and help him build that instead, female of course. Then a collaborative pirate-snowpenguin for fun, just to use Penguins cap on it, then when Jeff had come back from town and examined their masterpieces in progress, he'd decided to 'show them how it's done' and build a snowwoman instead – Nayla decided he was suspiciously far too practiced at moulding snowbreasts.

It hadn't taken long for the men's competitive streaks to surface and a few 'accidental' damages then destructions of each other's works to occur. A few playful snowballs were thrown in retaliation, a few handfuls of snow down boilersuits might have occurred, a few hats may or may not have been stolen, filled to the brim with snow and slammed back onto heads – that had quickly resulted in a few play fights and tackles into banks – not unlike the one she'd given to Law last night though she hadn't let that thought linger too long.

It soon descended into an all out snowball fight which had seen the successful return of team Nayke, though the commotion had caused Law to exit the tavern to investigate what was going on, wholly unimpressed that his crew were behaving like children in plain sight and very loudly. It hardly painted a fearsome pirate crew image and he promptly gave her a look that said he blamed her for encouraging them.

He hadn't stopped them from having their fun though, simply sighed and took a seat on the bench outside. Despite his crewmates' requests, Law declined joining their antics (unsurprisingly), content to watch. Though what _had_ been surprising was Penguin telling her that it was for the best that he didn't join them as Law always beat them mercilessly at it. Going on to tell her about the last time they'd played together and tried secretly teaming up to beat their captain, ambushing him from all sides only to have him summon a 'Room' and pelt them all back in the face with their own snowballs with the flick of a finger for their 'mutiny.'

Recalling Penguin's story, Nayla found herself laughing quietly, imagining the shock on their faces and the smug smirk on Law's after thwarting his crewmembers' strategy to take him out. The thought of him being genuinely playful with them was strangely heart-warming…Realising she had been inadvertently staring and smiling at Law this whole time, Nayla pulled her gaze away before he noticed, not wanting it to be misinterpreted. Especially not after last night…and especially not with Stravia in the bar again.

She and Illias had been at the counter knocking them back all evening. Though Nayla had annoyingly felt the glares on her skin, again, she was doing her best to let it slide because the two women hadn't actually done or said anything to her.

Considering Stravia was dolled up as she'd been the previous night and had been spending more time looking at Law than at her, Nayla could only assume that she was probably there to try her luck with him again. Though this time, to her credit and sense of dignity, she hadn't gotten up to speak to him, seemingly hopeful that he'd take it upon himself to approach her instead. Probably hoping that he'd attempt to reconcile, try for her forgiveness, win her over again or at least show interest in wanting her the way that he had wanted her last night but he had all but flat out ignored her existence so far.

Nayla knew that _he_ knew she was there and that he'd noticed her attention on him but he'd paid her no mind. She wasn't sure what to make of that, maybe he was just too lazy and prideful to bother with 'grovelling' to a woman that seemed to want it from him – and why should he when the other women in the bar were more than willing to throw themselves at him. There were some pretty ones in tonight, all eager to catch his eye and unsubtly checking him out.

Rolling her eyes at the trio of women giggling at a table, she looked around at the other patrons - another unimpressive haul of men in there tonight but she hadn't expected much.

Deciding she may as well finish her drink and head to bed early, Nayla began turning around to pick up and down the last of it when her attention was drawn to the front door as it opened and a warmly wrapped, young man entered.

Leaning forward, he wiped his boots on the welcome mat as he reached up and tugged the black, woollen beanie from his head, ruffling the soft dusting of snowflakes in his blonde hair loose as he looked up, catching her eye accidentally.

Just as he'd done before, he did a double take as he spotted her, his brows lowering as the recognition set in and a warm, though cheeky smile graced his handsome features. The man that she'd seen unloading crates the other day.

Returning the smile whole-heartedly, Nayla lifted a few fingers and waved in greeting at him as he made his way into the tavern, this time returning it.


	49. 0 to 100

"No kidding, _you_ were a marine?"

"Hey hey, should I be taking offence?"

Laughing at his wide grin, Nayla set her drink comfortably onto her lap. "Well no it's just the…Well, you don't really look like the marine type, for _some_ reason."

Chuckling as she pointedly looked at his longish-hair, the piercing in his left ear and the prominent tattoo creeping up the side his neck in one sweep, he took a sip of his beer before mirroring her pose, leaning his side against the back of the sofa as he turned to face her more fully.

"Well, you're right there I guess. Not allowed to grow this out too long-" He ruffled his dark blonde locks. "-can't even have facial hair 'less it's a tash for some weird reason and definitely no visible tats or piercings. Or at least you can't get away with that stuff until you've built enough rep and climbed the ranks a bit. Makes for very boring late teens when you have to go for the squeaky clean, militant look to pass enlistment and drafting though, ya know?"

"So the second you left you did all this?" She asked in amusement, gesturing to the arm he'd leant onto the top of the seating between them at the additional tattoos peering out from under his partially rolled up sweater sleeve.

"Yeah pretty much, call it a late rebellious stage I guess." Smiling as she gently peeled up the thick fabric a little more to see the rest of the still slightly healing design, he felt a distinct prickle on the back of his neck that made him want to turn towards the table he'd seen Trafalgar Law at…though his better judgement told him not to…In fact, his better judgement told him to stay away from the girl altogether but she'd given him such an inviting smile when he'd turned away from the bar with his drink, inviting him over with a pat on the vacant sofa cushion beside her, how could he refuse?

"And you work for a delivery company now?" Refocusing on Nayla from his minor inner wave of anxiety, he watched her pull her hand away and settle her elbow atop the back of the sofa, resting her cheek to her palm as she smiled at him.

"Sorta, had always wanted to be a marine so I don't have any other education or training under my belt. For the moment, I'm just taking odd jobs that require muscle, seeing as it's all I'm good for right now until I can figure out which way to go from here, ya know?"

Glancing at the impressive amount of said muscle apparent even though his heavy top, she nodded in understanding, more than able empathise with his situation. With the insecurity, uncertainty and the sensation of being completely lost that a drastic change of life plans could cause. She'd basically fallen into her own job the same way, taking advantage of an existing skill to make a living until she could decide on another path she wanted to follow.

"So, what made you decide to leave the marines in the first place?"

"…Couldn't really stomach that war to be honest. In my opinion, the whole _point_ of the marines is to protect lives - provoking a war on purpose that was bound from the start to waste them on both sides? I didn't want to be a part of it, I didn't buy into that 'it's for the greater good' crap…I resigned the day they confirmed they were gonna go through with it." He sighed.

Deciding he wasn't lying to impress or win her over from his gaze or body language, she found herself in genuine awe of his conviction to have left the only thing he'd ever wanted to be because of how strongly it disagreed with his admirable moral code. "Hmm, isn't there like, a desertion or prison penalty for leaving?"

"My contract was nearly up anyway, only had a couple of months left to serve before I was due to renew it. Was on good terms with my superior officer, he didn't raise a fuss when I requested my leave, he was a good man."

Not missing the past tense or sobering tone, she watched him lean forward and set his finished bottle onto the coffee table. "Was, huh."

"Yeah…Lost a lot of good friends of mine that day." He glanced briefly over his shoulder at the tables attended by white boilersuits as he resettled comfortably.

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't be. They were willing to lay down their lives for what they felt was a good cause and they did just that. It's what we sign up for." He turned his attention back to her with a reassuring smile.

"…Do you hate pirates?"

Watching him furrow his brows in thought for a moment as he rest his thigh up onto the sofa more comfortably, Nayla waited patiently for him to choose the right words, guessing he assumed _she_ was fond of them and trying not to offend her.

"…No, not really….At least not all of 'em and it wasn't like _they_ started that war…I guess it's better to say I hate what they do. They're as human as the rest of us…for the most part." Smiling when she laughed at that and took a sip of her drink, he nodded in the direction of the crewmembers in the bar. "Friends of yours?"

"Hmm, yeah you could say that. Unlikely and unexpected travel companions would be a good way to put it, but they've – well most of them have been lovely to me, even though I'm not actually a pirate myself."

"Never woulda figured the Heart Pirates to be the friendly type, never heard of _any_ pirates that would be kind enough to take aboard any 'hitchhikers.'" He prodded carefully, genuinely curious and a little worried as to how she'd found herself aboard a ship full of dangerous men having heard horror stories of abducted women and what usually happened to them aboard pirate ships in his previous job.

"Well, they're kinder than most I guess." She offered in explanation with a nonchalant shrug.

"That right, heard nothing but bad rumours about them at HQs… _Real_ bad things about Trafalgar." He scratched his stubbled chin in thought, trying to recall if he'd ever heard _anything_ positive about them.

"I'll bet you did." Nayla muttered bitterly, taking another sip of her drink.

Raising his brows at how quickly her fond smile when talking about the crew had dipped into a frown of annoyance at the mention of the pirate captain, he took that as a cue to move their conversation along swiftly. "Well, enough about that. Tell me about you."

Smiling as he shuffled a little closer and flashed her a wide grin, she couldn't help but laugh a little. "Like what? My star sign? Blood type? Or would you prefer to nod attentively and pretend to be interested in hearing about my family or my job?"

Chuckling at the jaded response of a woman that had apparently been hit on in bars plenty of times before; he tapped his chin in thought. "Alright, how about something simple that I _don't_ have to fake interest in, like where does your name come from?"

"I would have thought that was a pretty nice and unique 'get to know you' question…if I didn't already know you were only asking it because you want a chance to explain _your_ weird name away."

Raising his brows in surprise before grinning again, he leaned in a little closer. "Oh a smart chick, huh?"

"Is it a turn off?" She mocked, undisturbed by his increasing closeness, their elbows nearly touching.

"Not at all, not a lot of point in having such a pretty face when there's nothing going on behind it. So, humour me, what does _your_ name mean first?"

"Actually, I'm not sure. When I _did_ try to look it up, it seemed to have different meanings depending on which culture it comes from. Seems to have roots in two or three different ones but my parents weren't from any of them, so I don't know if they intentionally meant it to reflect one of its meanings or if it was just a name they liked the sound of it and it has none."

"You never asked them?"

She shook her head, pushing down the small twinge of regret that surfaced. "No, never asked them whilst I had the chance. Probably just a name they heard somewhere and liked the sound of…How about _your_ name, Miles?"

"Well, my dad used to be a marine too and my mother is a civilian – they still live here on Ashibumi but a lot further inland. Dad was away on duty a lot, in fact, he found out when he was offshore that mom was pregnant with me. She wanted to name me 'Miles' because I was the one thing that connected her to her hubby most strongly across them and dad loved it. Corny, eh?"

"Aww no, that's incredibly sweet. Though I imagine you had plenty of teasing for it growing up." She laughed.

"Sure did, they didn't think that one through too well." He murmured through his smile.

"Well _I_ think it's really nice. It's like a keepsake of your parents' love for each other, you should be proud of it, not trying to justify or explain it away so that it doesn't sound so random."

Enjoying the feel of the reassuring hand she'd placed on his thigh, he looked back up at her from it, watching her take another sip of the thick, creamy liquid in her glass.

"Are you _really_ drinking hot chocolate in a bar?" He mocked lightly.

"I'll have you know that there's a _very_ generous dollop of hard liquor in this glass."

"...Really?"

Smiling at his surprised expression, she tilted the drink to him in offering. "Mhmm, give it a try."

"There's not much left, I don't wanna finish it for ya." The ex-marine looked at the waning contents of her glass unsurely.

"You'll just have to treat me to another."

Giving her a lopsided grin at her cheekiness, he reached for it, letting his warm fingers lingers over hers briefly before pulling it away. Turning the glass around, he kept her eye contact as he deliberately placed his lips over the print her own red ones had left.

Though his suggestive gesture was short-lived as the fluid touched his tongue and he raised his brows in surprise. "Damn…that _is_ nice. Been coming here for ages, never knew."

She laughed, watching him tilt the glass back and finish the last mouthful. "Well, I'm not surprised you never tried it. Guys suffer the unfortunate stigma of being labelled a 'pansy' for ordering the nicer, sweeter tasting things at a bar. I pity a gender that is confined to sour-tasting beers and ales to keep up appearances."

Chuckling he leant forward and grabbed his empty beer bottle from the table with his free hand, moving to get up. "You got that right, can't exactly maintain your 'manliness' by strolling into a bar and ordering a fruity cocktail with a pretty parasol in it, no matter how good it tastes. I'll go grab you another." He raised the hand holding her glass in gesture.

Feeling a subtle but familiar sense of foreboding, Nayla chanced a look Law's way, finding that his gaze seemed to be on Miles, though it was difficult to tell from that distance and from the shadows that fell from beneath the brim of his hat. Suddenly feeling a little concerned for the man's wellbeing, she got up as well. "I'll come with."

Raising a brow but saying nothing, he motioned for her to leave the space between the sofa and coffee table ahead of him. Straightening her skirt out a bit, she walked with him to the bar, still sensing the distinct feeling of grey eyes watching her every move.

Leaning against the edge of the wood, Miles stood beside her, flagging down the bartender, placing their orders and setting the money onto the counter.

Maybe Law wasn't even looking their way, it was probably just her tiredness catching up and playing tricks on her mind. Either way, the sooner she got upstairs the better...She was probably just being a little paranoid. 'And hopeful? - No, definitely just paranoid. Easy to do when you can feel sets of eyes on you all day.'

Glancing at the other side of the bar where Stravia and Illias were sat, she scowled at them as they laughed loudly, gossiping between themselves whilst openly looking her way. 'Annoying, childish bitches.'

Choosing to ignore them - again, and at least _try_ taking the high road, Nayla turned away with a long, heavy sigh.

"Wow, tired or just bored of my company already?"

Smiling a little at the light jostle Miles gave her with his shoulder to regain her attention; she looked up at him in time to see his gaze flit from the two women to her, obviously able to tell what had really been the cause of her sigh.

"A little tired actually." She admitted, noticing his side was still touching hers but finding his physical contact pleasant. "I was actually thinking of going to bed before you showed up."

"Oh? And what made you change your mind?" He teased, turning to lean his side to the bar to face her fully.

Giggling a little at the flirtatious edge in his voice and the cheeky glint to his deep, brown eyes, she smiled slyly, unable to resist a small tease back. "I didn't, I'm going straight to bed after this drink."

"Oh…Well that's a shame. I'll miss your company."

Smiling wider as he tried not to let the disappointment show on his face as he turned away, she placed a hand onto his forearm, leaning in closely to him to speak quietly as he turned back to her. "That would be difficult to do, considering we'd be in the same bed."

Raising his brows at the honeyed tone, lidded eyes and devious smile on her face before matching it with his own, he lifted the hand she'd placed on him, holding it gently as he leant his face closer to hers. "Maybe we should skip these last drinks then, I didn't really want that beer anyway."

"Well that was silly, what did you order it for then?"

"Just for an excuse to spend more time with you." He admitted shamelessly, using his other hand to gently tilt her chin up, as he leant in, closing his eyes. Smiling, Nayla did the same, enjoying the gentle squeeze he gave the hand he held.

Startled by the sound and the sensation of something hard slamming against the bar between their bodies, Nayla opened her eyes and looked down, barely having enough time to process the all too familiar design of Law's sheath before it swiftly pressed against her stomach, pulling her back into an all too familiar hard chest behind her.

Breathing heavily in her shock, she quickly got over it as her anger bubbled to the surface, whipping her head up to look behind her at Law. He wasn't even looking at her, instead staring right at the man in front of her, whose horrified expression she could only imagine.

"Why don't you introduce me to your new friend, Nayla-ya."

Gritting her teeth at his annoyingly calm tone and when he didn't even look down to address her, she placed her hands onto the sheath holding her against him, trying to push it away. "Oh but of course, how rude of _me_. Law this is Miles, Miles, Law." She seethed in mock politeness, her anger only rising when he placed his other hand to his sheath, locking her securely in place between his arms.

Feeling rather than hearing him scoff – at the man's name or at her response in general she wasn't sure; she looked back at the ex-marine to find him unsurprisingly a few shades lighter than she remembered him.

"It's getting late Nayla-ya, perhaps you should go to bed."

"Oh, I couldn't agree more." Finally prompting him to pull his intimidating stare off of the poor man, Law raised a brow as she managed to push his sheath out of one of his hands. Looking down and noting she'd pulled her sweater sleeve over her own, undoubtedly to use her ability discreetly to do so.

Watching her escape his grasp, she took the ex-marine's hand, to begin leading him away. "In fact I was just on my way there."

Turning fully to glare at Law in warning when she felt his grip on her sweater between her shoulder blades, she fought back the overwhelming urge to attempt to punch him in the face.

"Go to bed to _sleep_. You have an important day tomorrow and I want you in top form. You haven't slept well in two nights."

Swatting his grip off of her clothing with one hand and releasing the dumbstruck man's with her other she pointed a finger to Law's chest as she hissed angrily, finding his entirely neutral expression even more irritating than his usual smirk would have been. "And _who's_ fault was that?!"

"Um, Imma…I mean, sorry. I didn't know, she said there wasn't anything going on between you two." They both turned their attention to Miles as he spoke up for the first time, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck in discomfort.

"There isn't."

"There i-"

"Do NOT. Do not _even_! It is NOT cute when _you_ do it, Law!" Nayla rounded back on him, poking his chest again.

Finally breaking into his trademark expression at her absolute fury, he chuckled, setting his nodachi to his shoulder comfortably and keeping his eyes on her despite speaking to the man behind her. "It was nice meeting you, Miles-ya."

Hearing the obvious hint to leave, Miles looked between the two of them as they stared each other down, feeling his uncertainty as to the nature of her 'travelling' with the Heart Pirates resurface. He'd pushed it aside as none of his business and information not conducive to…what he'd been talking to her for in the first place…or to his health.

Sighing heavily to himself for his upcoming idiocy as he ran a hand through his hair, he spoke up. "Listen, Nayla…There are some buddies of mine at Kattou right now…Say the word and they'll be here in twelve hours."

Turning back around, she locked eyes with him, shocked that he'd make such a blatant offer to help her right in front of Law – even if he had spoken in vague code as Law didn't know his 'buddies' were marines.

Brought back from her surprise by the sinisterly amused chuckle Law emitted at the man's indirect threat against him, she could only imagine that he was entirely unworried and more than happy to meet this man's 'buddies.' Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before putting on what she hoped was a somewhat convincing smile.

"It's ok, Miles. It's not like that, it won't be necessary but thank you. It really _was_ nice meeting you." She reassured, hopeful he wouldn't put in a call to whatever unfortunate marines he'd send this way to get mangled by Law. It sounded like he'd lost enough of his friends already.

Obviously not buying it but sighing in defeat, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked at her sadly. "Yeah, same…Take care, Nayla."

"Leave."

His eyes left hers to glance up at Law at the barked order before he hesitantly began to move, pausing beside Nayla in slight indecision before he leant a hand to her cheek and a small kiss to her forehead.

Stiffening as she heard Law's grip on his weapon tighten behind her, she hoped the man wouldn't feel any braver and/or stupider and just leave without provoking the pirate any further so that he wouldn't end up diced into pieces.

The ex-marine pulled away and walked towards the bar door, pulling his coat and hat off the rack by it before making his way outside, giving her one last look back before shutting the door behind him.

Releasing the breath she'd held, she closed her eyes in relief, the tension she felt for the man's safety beginning to melt away as her anger came back full circle.

"That was _really_ fucking petty of you." She hissed, at Law as she turned back to him.

Feeling his frown lessen as he looked at her, Law took in the rage in her narrowed eyes, her tense posture and her clenched fists. She was absolutely furious with him – and rightfully so. Turning back to the bar with a small smirk, he nestled his weapon securely between his arm and neck. "What was, ensuring you got a good night's rest for when you work for _me_ tomorrow?"

Watching him pick up the drinks Miles had paid for, she wondered briefly when the bartender had set them down before feeling her temper spike as Law casually sipped the man's untouched beer. "That is _not_ what this was about."

"Then what _was_ it about, Nayla-ya?" He taunted, grin widening as he walked past her.

"Jealous. Flat out. 'Awkward psycho with a crush' theory, back in full force." She immediately retorted, following him.

"Oh, you added 'psycho' to your theory title, did you?" He chuckled, making his way back to the booth he'd been sitting at, the crewmembers there that had been watching the show hurriedly turning away as she glared at them.

"Then you're just being vindictive about last night – I _said_ I was sorry!"

"You said you didn't mean it." He placed the drinks onto the table as he slid back into his seat.

"I said I didn't mean it as much as I should but I really was sorry!" Chuckling again, he set his weapon to the ground and leant it against the seating. "This isn't funny, Law!"

"Come finish your drink then go to bed, it'd be a shame to let it go to waste. Besides, the crew have missed your company this evening." He gestured to the fresh hot chocolate liquor and the men at the table casually.

Placing the edge of her hand over her closed eyes, she rubbed them tiredly with thumb and index finger, suddenly feeling a huge headache coming on. "…Fucking asshole." She muttered under her breath, sighing as she reluctantly took the seat beside him, as physically far from him as the space allowed and moodily slid her drink over, ignoring his amused gaze as he draped an arm over the back of her seat.

Lifting the glass to her lips and deciding to drown out her rage with more booze before she killed someone, Nayla looked up at the quiet clear of a throat.

"Yo, lil lady." Jeff greeted unsurely from across the table.

"Hey Jeff." She managed out, in no mood to converse with the other three men at the table but trying her best not to take out her irate mood on them either.

"Whatcha got there?" Penguin asked from beside him, eyeing her drink curiously.

"Oh, nothing…Just cream liquor in hot chocolate, wanna try i-?"

"Hey, Neela – was it?"

Halting pushing her drink across the table towards him, she closed her eyes in irritation, feeling her pulse beginning to thump even more heavily through her temples at the sound of that voice. Nothing good was going to come out of this.

Lazily looking up over her shoulder as Stravia approached – somewhat wobbly, Nayla chose not to bother responding, instead waiting for the woman to make her purpose known. Naturally she must have seen what Law had just done and it had probably provoked her into feeling the need to say something.

Nayla could feel the tension of the other men in the booth rising as they quietened and stilled, watching as the blonde came to a stop beside their table and rest a hand to its surface as she turned to her.

They seemed to have a vague understanding of the situation. Though no one on the crew had spoken to her about what exactly had gone on last night, between the members that had seen her disappear, their captain return with her shortly after, the way Stravia had stormed out and the animosity between them in the morning _and_ this evening, they seemed to have pieced together enough of the scenario amongst themselves to know they would be wise not to ask her or their captain about it. Not anytime soon anyway.

"Settle something for us. Me and Illias-" At her gesture, Nayla glanced behind the blonde briefly at her mentioned, facepalming friend still sat at the bar who _clearly_ didn't think whatever Stravia was about to say was a good idea. "-have a bet going on."

Hearing no reply, she took Nayla's silence as her cue to continue. "Do you just do the whole crew, the captain only or does he like, share you out when he's done with you?"

Feeling her jaw drop at how casually she'd said such a crude thing right in front of all the other people at the table, Nayla heard a couple of gasps from the men across from her.

Shachi being the first one able to find his tongue, started to get up angrily. "Oi! Just who the _hell_ do yo-?!"

"Its fine Shach, just let her get it out of her system." Nayla said in disinterest, not wanting to give the woman the satisfaction of riling anyone up. Apparently, that was what she was there for.

Stravia glanced at him briefly over her shoulder before continuing to speak as though he hadn't just said anything to her. "'Cause _she_ thinks you're just a free-for-all chick but _I_ think Captain gets first dibs. Which one of us is right?"

Seeing the frowns on their faces deepening she couldn't help but feel grateful to them for their upset on her behalf. She didn't bother turning to look at Law beside her because if he had an amused smirk on his face right now, she didn't want to see it.

"Illias has it right. It's pretty much first come, first serve. Though if there's more than a few of them that want in then we use a number ticket system to keep things orderly. Answered your question?"

Blinking in surprise at Nayla's calm answer, her mocking smile was replaced with a scowl as she leant down, talking in a much less cheerful tone. "…Well don't you just think you're Little Miss Sassy. Admitting to being a _whore_ isn't exactly a winning answer."

"Being a whore is better than being a _slut_. At least I'm smart enough to charge for it, you just give it away for free." Nayla muttered, blowing across the hot surface of her drink calmly before taking a sip, waiting patiently for the woman to stop seething long enough to reply.

"…You wanna take this outside, bitch?" She eventually challenged nastily, leaning her other hand to the table as she hovered over Nayla threateningly.

Scoffing at how the woman had no idea she was picking a fight with a trained fighter - probably assuming _she_ had the advantage due to the height difference, Nayla set her drink back down to the table.

"No, because I honestly don't care. This is all because of him and I already told you he's not mine. Here, all yours have him." She held a hand up to Law beside her. "You got some kind of problem you talk to Law about it, 'cause I don-"

The woman knocked the drink off the edge of the table and onto her lap, the hot liquid making her hiss. "I'm talking to _you_."

Feeling Law tense beside her, Nayla ran her tongue over her teeth, pulling her gaze from her soaked lap to look at him. "Get your _slut_ under control or I'm gonn-"

As soon as she felt the hand on her cheek, she shot up from her seat and within the same split second had smashed Law's bottle over the woman's head without an ounce of hesitation. A glittering explosion of shattered glass and the fluid it had contained permeated the air the loudly with a resounding smash that silenced the bar, followed by the delayed thump of Stravia as she fell to the floor. There was a tense moment of pause in the tavern, all eyes looking over at the scene and all mouths shut or agape.

Feeling his own jaw slack a little, Law looked at Nayla in genuine disbelief. Clothing soaked in what had been her and now his drink and breathing heavily, looking down at the woman on the floor with an eerily emotionless expression.

Hearing a soft moan and seeing the movement Stravia's legs, Law started leaning over the edge of the booth's seating to see if the woman was coming to on the ground, alarmed when he saw a flash of movement from Nayla as she reached for the table.

"WHOA! Nayla-chan!" Shooting up from his seat, Penguin quickly grabbed the new bottle from her grip before she could bring it down on the woman's head. Undeterred and completely unfazed by the loss of her weapon, she began kneeling down over her, clenching a raised hand into a fist instead.

"Oi!" Quickly discarding it back onto the table, Penguin looped his arms around her waist, pulling her back up to stand, forcing her to release the fistful of the woman's clothing and miss with her punch.

"NAYLA!" Lifting her off of the floor when she immediately lashed out and kicked the woman instead, Penguin backed up a few steps to pull her completely out of range.

"Let go of me!" She finally growled out in frustration, squirming in Penguin's hold and placing her hands onto his arms.

"Lil lady! Take it easy! She's just a civilian!" Jeff left his seat to try to help Penguin diffuse the situation, looking at the woman on the floor when she moaned again. Stravia woozily rolled onto her side – a delicate sound of glass shards falling from her chest to the wooden floor as she did, clutching her bloodied temple with eyes clenched firmly shut in pain.

Hearing Nayla restart her efforts to wriggle out of his crewmate's firm hold, Jeff turned back to her, standing in her line of vision and placing a hand on either of her shoulders. "Hey, come on now, lil lady. You made your point, settle down, ok?"

"But she-!"

"I know, just relax, ok?"

Raising a brow as Jeff pat her head consolingly like one would do to a small, angered, domestic animal – and raising his other when she actually _did_ stop struggling, crossed her arms, pouted and dangled almost comically off the ground in Penguin's hold, Law slid to edge of booth, peering down at the woman and looking at her bleeding scalp.

"You treat her, I swear. I will beat. The _shit_ out of her." Nayla warned darkly.

Looking back up slowly in surprise, Law locked eyes with her. She wasn't even joking, she _would_ do it. She was absolutely livid. He'd honestly never seen such a vicious and violent streak from her before…Yes, the woman had been provoking her since last night but with this level of fury he couldn't help but feel Stravia had taken the brunt of misdirected anger Nayla was feeling towards _him_ right now.

"And what about treating you?" He asked, letting his gaze drop to the blood on Penguin's boilersuit sleeve.

Following his gaze, she looked down at the bloodied fabric in confusion before uncrossing her arms and examining her hands. Swearing softly under her breath when she saw her right palm had glass in it, Penguin set her back down.

"Sorry Pen, didn't see it." She muttered, wincing as she tried pulling out one of the small shards as she turned and began walking away.

"…N-No problem, Nayla-chan."

A quiet murmur picked up in the room as she moved away, a few men from the neighbouring booth and table came over to help the injured woman sit up as they warily watched Nayla make her way over to the bar.

"…God fucking damn…That was hot."

"A-Are you insane?!" Penguin exclaimed looking at Jeff in shock.

" _So_ hot. Like, crazy chick hot." Rolling his eyes at the man's shameless grin and the silence it was met with, Law got up from his seat. "…Hey, I'm just saying what we were all thinking."

"No _one_ was thinking that. Geez…that was scary, not hot." Penguin muttered, starting to cross his arms but pausing as he looked at the blood on his sleeve.

"No kidding, zero to one hundred in one second flat…" Shachi remarked, finally finding his voice.

"Shach, come on, tell me that did _nothing_ for you." Jeff teased with a knowing smile.

"W-Well…"

"Degenerate." Penguin muttered, watching his friend blush with a guilty expression on his face.

"Man, here I was just hoping for a coupla slaps, a bit of hair pulling - ya know, a lil cat fight. Damn this was way better, that wild streak. That has _got_ to translate to the bedr-where ya going, Captain?"

Ignoring the question, Law strode past him with a sigh and approached the bar; he could see the tender behind it was red in the face in his own anger, placing his palms to the counter and leaning forward menacingly at Nayla. "-First Aid Kit, for you?! _She's_ the one flat out and _you_ want it?!"

"Yeah yeah, I know she's a friend or regular slutbag customer of yours or whatever you bias prick but _she_ fucking started it - just hand it over already!" Nayla yelled impatiently, clutching her injured hand.

"Prick?! I oughta…"

Turning around when the bartender paled and trailed off, Nayla watched Law come to a stop behind her. "A First Aid Kit, if you'd be so kind, Bartender-ya."

Annoyed at how quickly the bartender shut up, stooped down under the counter and pulled open a cupboard to comply, she scowled up at the pirate behind her. "I don't need your help."

Opening his mouth to reply, she cut him off before he could, peering around his side to yell across the bar loudly. "Get back in your seats!"

"Yes ma'am!" Throwing his hands up in submission and backing away from Stravia, still clutching the napkins he'd been leaning down to offer Illias to help clean her friend up, Jeff retook his seat. Quickly followed by Penguin and Shachi, trying not to get themselves or the woman killed for being seen to be helping her in any way.

Law watched in mild bewilderment as his crew followed her barked order without hesitation; attention brought back to the bar as the man behind it set a small plastic box onto its surface. Reaching for it, Nayla snatched it before he could pick it up, glaring at him before beginning to walk away – stopping momentarily to yell at the woman crouched next to her friend. "That _fucking_ thing better not be here when I come back or I'll take the trash out myself."

Eyes widening at the open threat, Illias hurriedly looped her friend's arm over her shoulders, her other side quickly supported by another customer as they helped the drowsy woman to her feet.

Receiving one last dirty look, Law watched as Nayla turned and began making her way towards the women's bathroom, hating to admit that some part of him had to agree with Jeff. Some...deranged, low-functioning part of him found her aggressive side strangely attractive. Grinning to himself, he watched her reach the door, clutching the kit in her uninjured hand and pushing it open with her shoulder so as not to bloody it.

* * *

'That fucking asshole,' seething as she held her bleeding palm under the gentle stream of cool water, she examined her reflection, scowling as she came to the conclusion that she had no choice but to shower again before going to bed.

This was not what she'd had planned for her evening. She'd had such a fun day and had gotten so relaxed by the fire – minding her own business, unwinding with a delicious, warm drink and had been _super_ lucky to have run into Miles again. Spending the evening with him would have been the perfect nightcap to her day.

'Then that _fucking asshole_ has to go be a vindictive jerk about it.' Experimentally removing her hand from under the tap, she frowned as new streaks of watery red began running down her skin and placed it back under, waiting patiently for it to stop.

She hadn't planned on having to deal with the scorned woman Law had burned last night either…It really was a shame about Miles, he seemed like a genuinely kind guy, handsome too…It was beyond nice of him to stick his neck out to try and help her get away from that fucki-

"Nayla-ya."

"Get out." Chuckling, Law closed the door behind him, making his way over to the sink she was currently using. "This is the _ladies_ room, anyone could come in. Get out."

Setting his weapon against the one beside her own, he shot her an amused smirk extending an upturned palm. "After what you just did out there I don't think any other woman here will want to use these facilities until they've see _you_ leave them. Let me take a look."

"Are you fucking deaf?! Get. Out."

Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her hand up to his eye level to inspect it. "I'm not very good at taking orders, Nayla-ya. You ought to have noticed that by now."

"Not good at it or refuse to try? I'm sure you could manage if you did." She said, half-heartedly attempting to tug her hand from his grip but as always, he simply responded by tightening it.

There were a few small, brown, glass fragments embedded in her skin, nothing too deep, too large or too serious, though the cuts were still oozing blood readily. Humming in thought Law released her, turning his attention to the small First Aid Kit she'd set beside the tap.

"Rinse it clean until it stops bleeding. Hopefully this has a pair of tweezers in it." He muttered more seriously, popping the plastic clasp of the kit open and inspecting its contents.

"I don't know how much clearer to make myself, Law. I don't want your help, I don't even want to _see_ your face right now. Get the fuck out!"

"I thought I made _myself_ clear, Nayla. Do _not_ give me orders." He snapped, tiring of her stubbornness and attitude.

"This wouldn't have even fucking happened if you'd just spoken to that crazy bitch earlier! Why should _I_ have to pay the price for _your_ shitty behaviour?!"

"… _She's_ the crazy one."

"She IS! Apparently _you_ can't tell an insane chick from a regular one – which makes you a lot damn stupider than _I_ gave _you_ credit for OR you just have a thing for crazy chicks!"

Running his eyes up and down her form silently before resettling them to her own - practically alight in her fury as she glared at him, again, Law couldn't for the life of him decide what it was exactly about the sight of her being angry that he found so strangely appealing. With her hair clinging to the right side of her neck – slicked to her skin by the beer spilled from the bottle she'd broken, her chest heaving from her screaming – which he was sure half the bar could hear, and with what she had just done to the woman outside, it really was out of place for her to accuse anyone else of being crazy.

"…So it would seem."

Shocked silent by his unexpected, suggestive reply, Nayla promptly shut her mouth, turned around and placed her hand back under the running water, trying to shake off the flush she could feel rising as his husky tone resonated in her ears.

Chuckling at her response earned him a glare in the mirror above the sink as he approached her from behind, the act reminding her of a shark that had just sniffed blood in the water and was going in for a leisurely kill.

Peeling her wet hair aside from her soaked neck and placing his other hand to her waist, Law smirked as she tensed and glanced back up at him in the mirror. "I don't think I've ever seen you this angry before, Nayla-ya." He purred into her ear before running his tongue over her skin, tasting the beer he hadn't had the chance to enjoy.

Stunned still the by action and by the incredible tingle it caused when his tongue reached her ear, she instinctively began raising her injured, dominant hand to push him away but was preemptively stopped from doing so as he moved his own to hold it under the running water, pressing his body against her back, trapping her against the edge of the basin as he sucked her ear lobe, closing his eyes at the sweet sound of her gasp.

Feeling herself starting to sink into his touch, she growled in annoyance, managing to turn around and break his hold before he quickly slammed a hand to either side of the enamel edge behind her, not allowing her to escape him just yet.

Just as she opened her mouth to, undoubtedly, yell at him, he leant in and crashed his lips to hers, muffling her startled protest with his tongue as he forced it between her parted lips. Raising her hands to his chest, he pushed her injured one back down to the sink behind her, again holding it under the running water as she used her other to fist the fabric of his hoodie tightly.

Lifting his other hand to the back of her head as he felt the push on his chest weaken, Law tilted it back as he deepened their kiss, savouring her sweetness that had so very nearly been enjoyed by someone else tonight. The feel of her body against his, the soft sounds of him inside of her mingled with the lingering taste of their drinks on their tongues, everything blended into an intoxicating entwinement of flavours and sensations that went straight to his head, sating the intense craving for her that had been plaguing him since last night.

Hearing her muffled groan of defeat and frustration, he couldn't help but smile into their kiss as he felt her give in and reciprocate his sudden intrusion into her mouth, feeling her tongue press firmly against his own. 'This is more like it,' meeting her heated challenge whole heartedly, he could sense her growing irritation at his relentless domination as she gripped his top more tightly, pulling him closer as she kissed him with more fervour. Growling lowly at the arousal her aggression caused, he released her hand, using his own to instead press her lower back and crush her against him. An unjustified surge of possessiveness taking him as he thought of how close he'd been to letting another man have her, followed by a wave of annoyance and confusion at the unwanted and unwarranted feeling.

Her injured hand gripped his top to steady herself as he pushed her back further, pushed himself deeper and ignored the feel of moisture soaking into the fabric over his chest.

Unable to stop the moan that left her as she felt the powerful stir of lust his increased passion caused, Nayla matched his intensity, this kiss now far outclassing the raw heat of the one they had shared on his bed and _that_ one had been overwhelming enough to empty her mind of coherent thought.

Fighting every reentry of his tongue between the smacks of their lips parting for split seconds at a time for broken pants, Nayla could only briefly enter his mouth before he overpowered her again – she hated herself for being so eager to taste him after all he'd done.

Finding their staggered breaths growing more and more inadequate, Law finally pulled away, chuckling at the vengeful, though gentle, bite his tongue received on its way out of her mouth for his victory.

Chest heaving, Nayla glared at him angrily - feeling much more annoyed at her response to his actions than at his actual actions as he placed his hands on her hips, smiling smugly at her before leaning his mouth to the crook of her neck, immediately provoking her to hold onto either of his arms as he began sliding his hands down her skirt to her thighs. Kissing her soaked skin, he began pushing them up her skirt, gliding over her tights, feeling the straps of her panties beneath them and wondering if he'd recognise this pair as one that had graced his bathroom rail to torment him earlier that week.

"What-" Nayla cleared her throat and tried again when she heard how weak and breathless her voice suddenly sounded. "What are you doing?" She asked more firmly.

"…Seeing if your thighs are burnt from the hot drink you had spilt on you, Nayla."

Thankful he couldn't see the way his hot breath gliding over her moist flesh had made her eyes close, she felt his fingers curl over the waistband of her tights on either hip, the possible ulterior motive for him removing that piece of her clothing making her heart race even faster as his fingers crept beneath the fragile material. Opening her eyes as he pulled away, she swallowed slightly as he looked at her with unashamed desire, beginning to crouch in front of her as he slid his hands down her thighs slowly.

Pulling his gaze off of her, he lowered it to her exposed skin, running his fingers softly over the thigh that had taken the brunt of the hot spill, smiling as the underlying muscle tensed involuntarily under his touch and examining the slightly pink hue of her flesh carefully.

"It…just feels a little warm and tender, it doesn't really hurt or anything."

Giving an agreeing hum, he focused his attention on her uninjured thigh. "Just a mild burn, a cold compress will ease the inflammation. Soak a paper towel in cold water." Flitting his gaze to the dispenser suspended on the wall to the side of the mirror, she turned slightly to look at it too.

Reaching up and pulling a sheet out she gasped, whipping her head back to him when she felt his tongue, her breath catching in her throat as she watched Law lap her flesh, curling his hand around the back of her thigh as he pressed his lips to her skin, laying gentle kisses as he made his way around to the inner side. Crushing the paper in her hand against the enamel behind her, she gripped the edge of the sink tightly, honestly feeling weak at the knees as he looked up at her, paralysed by his lustful gaze as he ran the length of his hot, wet appendage teasingly slowly up her leg.

Snapping from her surprise as it began disappearing under the hem of her skirt she grit her teeth and planted a hand to the top of his head to stop him getting any higher. "Do you have a death wish?" She hissed at him breathily, feeling his smirk grow against the side of leg.

"You offered _Miles-ya_ and even Penguin a taste of your drink, I can't help but sense a preferential treatment here, Nayla." He taunted, feeling her fingers curl into the fabric of his hat in her anger.

"From. A. Glass." She grit out, realising he was tasting the sweet liquid that had spilt onto her skin.

"I'm sure it tastes better from here." He purred, sucking her flesh into her mouth and eliciting a small squeal from her - a mixture of shock and indignation, at the feel of his teeth on her sensitive inner thigh.

"Knock it off you fucking pervert!"

Holding the healthy hand she'd tried to contact his face with, he chuckled and stood, enjoying the blush on her face openly as he took the paper towel from it and leant his arm around her to soak it under the still-running water.

Narrowing her eyes at his proximity and unnecessary bodily contact, she glared up at him. "You could have just asked me to move or used a different sink?"

"Could have." He agreed, grinning unashamedly as he turned off the tap, pulled back and gently placed the cold, wet paper towel to her slightly scalded thigh.

Finding it admittedly soothing, she frowned when he didn't allow her to take over holding it there, each attempt provoking him into raising his hand higher and higher up her inner thigh in retaliation. Reluctantly giving up and crossing her arms with a sigh, Nayla leant her weight against the washbasin behind her as she stared at him. He looked beyond amused, his devious intent and laughter clear in his steel eyes as he smiled down at her.

"You're not funny. I really am mad at you."

"I know you are." He chuckled, leaning his weight casually onto his free hand on the surface behind her and using his thumb to stoke back and forth over her leg in an almost soothing manner.

Hearing a knock at the door, they glanced at it as it opened slightly, Dean poking his head in unsurely as he spoke. "Captain? I just got back, Pen told me what happened. You need a hand or anything from the…sub?"

Trailing off in disbelief when he spotted them, he silently took in Nayla's pulled down tights, the location of his captain's hand, his growing smirk and the venomous glower she was giving him in response as they stared at each other.

Clearing his throat awkwardly in his embarrassment, the medic began pulling the door shut as he backed out of the room. "Imma….Imma just -"

"I'd rather _you_ treat me, stay." Nayla said, though she didn't take her eyes off Law as she spoke.

"O-Oh, well-"

"Leave." She felt her jaw clench at Law's clear order, knowing that his crewmember would undoubtedly answer to him.

"Uh…aye aye, Captain. S-Sorry." He apologised when she briefly directed her glare at him as he closed the door and left.

"…There's not a single person on your crew that _doesn't_ believe we aren't having sex, is there." She muttered.

"Unlikely." He smiled, peeling away the paper towel, already seeing the improvement in the reddened colour before replacing it. "Let's see to your palm, shall we?" Law reached over to the First Aid Kit with his free hand.

"I'll do it myself." She said irritably, swatting his hand off her thigh to hold the makeshift compress in place herself.

"It's difficult to use tweezers well with your non-dominant hand." He explained calmly, using the soap dispenser suspended on the tiling above the sink before washing his hands.

"It's difficult to use tweezers with your tongue down my throat." She bit back in annoyance.

Chuckling, he turned off the tap and pulled a couple more paper towels. "Then I'll refrain until I'm done."

"…You say that like you expect to get another chance to." She warily watched his movements as he neared her, dried his hands and tossed the used towels into the trash can in the corner.

Glancing at her with a devilish grin, he pulled one last towel from the dispenser. "I do-"

"You won't." She interrupted, frowning as his gaze flit over her chest.

"-but first things first." Placing the dry, white paper onto the side of the sink, he plucked the pair of tweezers from the open kit – thankfully included, before motioning for her to give him her injured hand.

Sighing, Nayla extended it to him, keeping herself at her full arm's length away from him, almost expecting him to pull her closely for another oral attack. Watching him hold it up slightly under the lighting, able to examine it more easily now that it wasn't bleeding so readily, she was relieved to see him slip into his quiet, attentive doctor mode as he carefully set to work removing the glass for her.

Glimpsing the small amount of blood he had on his hoodie from where she had grabbed it during their kiss, Nayla turned away, deciding to examine the state of her own clothing in the mirrors and wondering where and how she could possibly get them cleaned and dried without having to leave the inn and return to the sub…Focusing on something trivial helped drown out the overwhelming amount of questions that were now running rampant in her mind. 'What the _hell_ did he just do?' – Being the most prominent one. Questionings of her sanity and weakness were close runners-up though.

"That bottle was full."

Looking back at him from examining her soaked skirt in the mirror, she furrowed her brows in confusion, watching as he carefully set another removed fragment onto the towel. Apparently already the third, he'd been so gentle that she hadn't even felt them being removed.

"…Are you trying to say I owe you another or something?"

"No. Being hit over the head with a full bottle carries a higher risk of brain injury than being hit over the head with an empty one." He stated simply, making her briefly wonder if he'd learnt that fact through his own crew being on the delivering or receiving end of similar attacks before she realised where he was going with this and her annoyance resurfaced.

"…And?" She deadpanned at him, making him pause slightly as he removed the last small shard to look up at her in surprise.

"You _really_ don't care if you gave that woman a concussion?" He asked, smiling slightly as he set it and the tweezers down beside the other shards, reaching into the kit for a small sachet.

"Should I? If _you_ care so much then go ahead and go treat her, _quack_. But if you so much as lay a band-aid on that bitch then I promise you - _I promise you Law,_ I will Fuck. Her. Up if I see her again." Raising a brow at her pointed index finger and how readily her temper returned at the mention of her victim, he pulled the small antiseptic wipe out of its packaging and wiped her cuts clean with a chuckle.

"…This is quite the impressive display of jealousy, Nayla." Grinning wider at her visible bristle at his words, he tossed the used wipe atop the removed fragments before picking up a small dressing pad from the kit.

Heavily annoyed by the satisfaction in his voice, she tutted as he began removing it from its sterile packaging. "It was NOT jealousy Law she _hit_ me! She shoved me, bitched about me, has been glaring at me _all_ day, had the _nerve_ to say what she did, _burnt_ me AND she hit me! Me deciding to knock some sense into her had absolutely nothing to do with _you_ and everything to do with _me_ defending myself so don't get so damn cocky and flattered about it."

"Are you sure? It's a little unusual to break the neck of a glass bottle when you use it as a weapon. You must have been exceptionally angry to have been clenching it with enough force to shatter it in your palm. I honestly don't think you even held back on the poor woman." He cooed mockingly, pressing the adhesive edges of the clean dressing to her skin.

"I'm sure. I don't fight over men. _Ever_." Snatching her hand away from him in irritation when he ran his thumbs over her palm in a placating manner with that vexing smirk on his lips, she lifted it to her own face, examining it.

" _You_ don't? I find that hard to believe somehow." He set the plastic packaging onto the pile of trash atop the edge of the sink.

Scoffing in disdain, she flexed her fingers experimentally, confirming the lack of glass still remaining in her skin by the lack of pain the action caused. "You shouldn't _have_ to fight for someone's loyalty or attention. If a man _can_ get stolen away from you, then he's not worth keeping in the first place. Fuck him, let him get stolen. The hell do I care."

"I'm not convinced." He teased, watching her remove and toss the makeshift cold compress into the sink and pull her tights up.

"I don't give a damn if you are or aren'-"

Feeling his hand abruptly on her lower back, she looked back up at him as he pulled her against his body, settling his other hand to her cheek as he silenced her grumbling with a kiss.

Refusing to part her lips when she felt him run his tongue over them, she placed her hands to his chest. Her pushing only made him press his hand to her back harder, crushing her to him as he bit her lower lip in annoyance of her stubbornness and sliding his tongue into her mouth as soon as she cried out at the action.

Running his fingers through her hair he held her firmly as he re-explored her at a more leisurely pace, feeling her resistance slacken and wane as he enticed her tongue to play with his by teasingly stroking against it in her mouth.

Chuckling at the annoyed half-sigh half-growl she emitted as her attempts to push him away weakened then stopped altogether, he felt her hands run up the sides of his neck as she began kissing him back. Slowing their pace even further to a deep, steamy passion.

Exhaling audibly as she pressed her chest against him and cupped his cheek, Law allowed her in, feeling her tongue glide over his and her fingers thread into the hair at the base of his neck, beneath the rim of his hat.

Sliding his hand further down her back he squeezed her ass gently as he broke their kiss, the look she gave him as he did doubling his arousal. "…Let's go to bed, Nayla."

Feeling her lips tug into a devious smile, she released him and pulled away, basking in the sound of his husky invitation and the sight of his devilish gaze. "Yeah, I better get to bed so that I can _sleep_ and rest well for the work I'm doing for you tomorrow, right? I'll go hit the hay."

Grabbing her hand as she began walking away, he tugged her to his chest, chuckling at his thrown back words and planting a short kiss to her lips. "Together." He clarified, snaking his hands around her waist.

"No."He kissed her again. " _No_." She reiterated, smiling into the third convincing kiss he pressed to her lips. "It's still a no you _cannot_ always do what you want and get what you want, pirate."

"Oh? Are you teaching me a lesson? Or punishing me?" He purred teasingly, trailing kisses along her jaw.

"Both. You _cannot_ deliberately – selfishly sabotage my love life and expect me to welcome you with open arms into my bed the same damn night."

"It's not your arms I want open, Nayla."

She was sure he felt the shudder of arousal that coursed through her at the lust-soaked words that met her ear. "You obviously have _no_ idea how angry I am with you right now." She managed out breathily, gripping his arms tightly to anchor herself as he pulled back.

"So you're saying that I'll get a different response when you aren't?" He deduced with a devious grin.

Scoffing in amusement at his expression, she peeled his arms from around her. "Good luck with that, you can't go a single day without pissing me off."

"Then that would be something we have in common." Grinning wider at the annoyed look she gave him at that, he watched her step back and straighten out her clothing. "Will tomorrow count?"

Releasing the hem of the sweater she'd tugged down, she felt her confused brows unknit when she realised what he meant. "You mean the one whole day that I'm spending _away_ from you in Kattou so you _can't_ piss me off? No, it doesn't."

Turning away from him she made her way to the door, reaching a hand up to pull it open and feeling a small stab of guilt hit her as she glanced at the dressing on it, her thoughts of not coming back after tomorrow surfacing to the forefront of her mind.

Biting her lower lip, Nayla glanced back at Law, leant back against the sink with his hands resting on either side of him on its edge, watching her expectantly with a neutral gaze and raised brow.

Lowering her hand, she walked back over to him, placing her hands on his chest and leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips, the lingering thought of it possibility being her last time to do so making her savour him slowly.

"Thank you for treating my hand." She said genuinely, letting him go and returning his smile before making her way back to the door. "…Even if you are an insufferable jackass of a quack that could have _easily_ prevented it from happening in the first place."

"I'm not responsible for that woman or her actions…Besides, she was 'talking to you.'" Chuckling when she glared at him mildly for the deliberate recall of the blonde's words, Law watched her pull open the door.

Still able to feel the lingering softness, affection and almost sadness of her last kiss, he called after her as she stepped over the threshold. "Oh and Nayla?" Turning to face him warily at his seemingly smug tone, she waited silently for him to continue. "…Be sure not to make any 'mistakes' getting on the correct ship back here tomorrow night and try not to make any overly eager attempts for 'fresh air' until I get upstairs. I'll be up shortly."

Narrowing her eyes at his annoyingly accurate perception and unsubtle warning, she stormed out through the open door with an annoyed sigh.

Smiling to himself as she left, he watched the door's pendulous swings back and forth on its hinges slowly lessen and then halt. Looking at it for a moment longer, he turned and balled up the trash on the neighbouring sink and tossed it into the waste bin neatly.

Glimpsing his reflection in the mirror briefly, he raised a brow at the amount of evidence of their entanglement that had been left behind on him, the damp patches her soaked clothing had left on him when he'd held her, the small drops of blood over his chest where she'd grabbed his top and the fresh red smudges on his lips.

Huffing in amusement at those, he picked up his nodachi and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he began walking towards the door. Looking forward to tomorrow night and feeling his smirk widen as he decided that red _did_ look far better on him than pink.


	50. Pirate-itis

Dragging her feet tiredly across the frost-covered ground, Nayla held a gloved hand to her mouth and yawned as she looked at the grey approaching sea ahead, heaving its small grey waves that crashed into small grey sprays as they hit the shore. Everything always did seem so very grey and bleak this early in the morning, even more so on such a briskly cold one…Not that she hadn't found a new and peculiar fondness for the colour.

Stepping onto the recently cleared wooden planks of the harbour's wooden pier, she looked behind her at Law as he conversed quietly with Connor and Koush – apparently due to do routine maintenance checks on board today. In fact, quite a few members had gotten up early to do some checks and preparations for the Heart Pirates' departure from Ashibumi tomorrow morning, though she got the impression that some of them had gotten up at the same time as her and Law to see her off before she left for her 'super secret mission,' that they weren't privy to the details of, as they called it.

Glancing a few piers down, she could see the Shibumi Speedline ship she had booked a place on from where she stood, the dwindling queue of passengers on its attached gangplank indicating its nearly completed boarding. The vessel was due to depart within the next ten minutes.

Despite the point of her not sleeping well being pointed out by both herself and Law last night, she'd ironically gotten even less sleep than she had the previous two. Naturally her mind had run amok with thoughts of him that kept her awake as soon as she'd gotten into bed. They'd also made an unwelcomed appearance in the dreams she'd had during what few hours of sleep she'd managed as well. Her filthy brain had taken the liberty of depicting each and every scenario that it had suggested to her last night (and that she had promptly ignored) that would have resulted in Law having her in a public restroom in overly graphic detail…Dirty, dirty dreams…Hopefully she could sleep off her terrible night's rest during her twelve hour trip, without the dreams this time.

"Wakey wakey, lil lady!" Planting a heavy hand atop her thick hat, Jeff playfully ruffled it over her scalp, snapping her out of her daze.

"How can you be _this_ lively this early?" She groaned, righting her woollen beanie as she stepped out of his reach.

"Mornin' person." He answered simply with a bright, toothy grin.

"Oi oi, don't provoke the savage little _beast_." Ichirou grouched, crossing his arms. Apparently, like her, he was _not_ a morning person…and had already heard about last night.

"I'm not a-…" Trailing off, she shot Shachi an unimpressed look as he mockingly took a hammy, defensive kung fu stance as she turned his and Ichirou's way. "…I'm not a beast."

"Pfft, tellin' ya, she clocks the chick out cold, sees her twitch _just_ a lil and was like 'oh here honey, lemme fix that' and starts reaching for another bottle." Penguin muttered to the grumpy chef, shaking his head.

"Beast." The man nodded in conclusion.

Opening her mouth to defend herself she halted the rebuttal on the tip of her tongue as Jeff approached her, reaching his hands to her face.

"Aww come on, this lil thing? A beast? More like an iddy biddy wildcat at best-" She deadpanned at him from between the two cheeks he pinched. "-and what a cute widdle kitty she is-Ow!" Pulling his hands away, he waved the one she'd just bitten the thumb of back and forth with a chuckle as he took a cautious step back. "Not saying it's a bad thing, lil lady…Not in _my_ opinion anyway."

Scoffing at the mischievous wink Jeff gave her, she looked at the others as they caught up, reading the 'I'm not even going to ask why you just bit my crewmember' look on Law's face before he turned to speak to the rest of them.

"You know what needs to be done before we depart. Report any problems or overlooked stock issues that need to be seen to today before we set sail tomorrow."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Wincing a little at the volume of the eager responses from the crew, she focused back on Law as he turned his attention to her.

"And you know what _you_ need to do too."

"Aye aye, Captain." Rolling her eyes as she adjusted the strap of her duffel bag over her shoulder, she raised her hand in mock-salute before turning and beginning to make her way down the harbour towards the pier her ship was docked at.

"Take care, lil lady."

"See ya soon, Nayla-chan!"

"Try not to kill anyone whilst you're gone."

Laughing a little at that, she glanced back over her shoulder at Shachi, catching the look of amusement on Law's face as they shared the private irony of the comment. "I'll try my best."

"What, no goodbye kiss for Captain?" Connor mocked, grinning at Jeff knowingly.

"Aww, that's so cold, Nayla-chan." Penguin chimed in, smiling at her.

"Captain has feelings too ya know." Shachi said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Told ya, heartless little beast."

Resting a hand to Law's shoulder, Jeff gave a heavy and dramatic sigh on the man's behalf. "Tough break, Captain."

Turning around with a sigh of her own, Nayla tutted when she saw the entertained smirk on the pirate captain's face as his crew poked fun at her. "Really, Law? You're not gonna say anything at all about your boys ripping on me?"

Getting nothing but a chuckle from him in response and wide, taunting, toothy grins from his crewmembers, she pursed her lips in thought before walking back towards them.

"Uh-oh, get ready boys. Here it comes, pint-sized savage on a warpath." Ichirou mocked.

Shaking her head a little as they got into childishly exaggerated defensive stances, she strode past them to their captain, resting her free hand to his chest as she tiptoed and kissed him gently on the lips.

Smiling at his stunned expression and at the dropped jaws of the crew, she readjusted her bag and walked back towards the other pier, smiling wider to herself as she heard the crew's delayed but loud uproar and wolf whistles in reaction.

"KNEW IT!"

"Lucky bastard…"

"Pay up you jerks, I TOLD ya!"

"No way, you still have no proof Cap was the one that left that hi-"

"How much more proof do ya need?!"

"Aww come on, what does one peck really mean? She's probably just messing with us."

"Oi, Captain, it _was_ you wasn't it?"

"Hey, hey Cap. How long you and the lil lady been, ya know?"

"…Don't you have work to do?"

"No way, it can wait!"

"Come onnn Captain, give us the juicy details."

"Yeah! Don't leave anything out!"

Laughing as the crew's harassment of him grew quieter the further she got, she reached the now empty gangplank to her ship, climbing up the short wooden walkway and handing her ticket to the man standing atop it as the vessel's engines roared into life.

Taking it and her assigned cabin key for her voyage with a thanks she climbed aboard, looking back over at the Heart Pirates as they clambered for answers from their unimpressed-looking captain.

Walking over to the side of the ship nearest to the show, Nayla rest her chin to her hand as she set an elbow atop the railing, watching as Law finally seemed to lose his temper and order the men to leave him alone, pointing to the sub at the end of the pier they were stood by.

Their unified groan of disappointment at the order had nearly been audible even from that distance _and_ over the noise of the ship she was on as they slumped away in defeat to do as they were told.

Adjusting his ruffled coat, and resetting his weapon to his shoulder, Law glanced over at her as he realised she was watching. Flexing her fingers at him in a small wave earned her a narrowing of his eyes as he turned to begin making his way back towards the street.

Laughing to herself as she heard the gangplank being pulled on board and the ship's engines revving more loudly, she watched as he reached the snowy road and looked over his shoulder at her one more time before beginning to make his way back to the inn.

Hoisting her bag onto her shoulder more securely, she checked the cabin number printed on the ticket stub in her hand as she turned to make her way inside, her smile widening as she thought of the small smirk Law had been wearing as he'd last looked at her.

* * *

Lingering at the ballroom window, Law began to get anxious when he couldn't see Nayla entering through the decadent double doors of this excessively luxurious hotel's function room.

According to the information she had been sent regarding this job, the charity function Senator Orlen was attending was to be held in an adjacent dining room with guest speakers giving numerous speeches outlining the devastating effects of a natural disaster on a distant island further along Grand Line, followed by a move to the 'Crystal Ballroom' for drinks, dancing and mingling. The guests had moved into this room some time ago now and Nayla had not been amongst them.

Law had worried slightly about the possibility of her immediately boarding another ship after landing in Kattou but breathing a small sigh of relief as she finally did appear at the doorway, he realised he'd been right in predicting that she wouldn't. He'd come to the conclusion that she would be unlikely to ditch her job this close to needing to do it because she didn't want to cause trouble or any compromise to the safety of that 'Marty' of hers by upsetting Joker again so soon.

Obviously having had no actual invitation to this event, she had no place set for her for the dining portion of the evening and he had assumed she intended to arrive after it, blending into the crowd as they moved to a room where her attendance wouldn't have been an obvious anomaly or questioned, as if she had been there all night. That, he could see now, had only been part of her reason for arriving for only the latter part of this event.

The expression on the senator's face as he, amongst others, looked at the woman at the doorway as she walked through the doors alone – no one else to obstruct his view or distract his attention from her said it all: 'How did I miss her?'

It wasn't simply an avoidance of the issue of the set places in the dining area or her laziness to attend the full evening, it was a well thought out part of her work plan. Allowing her target to settle a few hours into the evening having thought he'd already glimpsed and rubbed shoulders with all the beautiful women the night had to offer amplified the impact of _her_ first appearance on him greatly. She had his full attention, she was someone new, exciting and mysterious that he probably felt a compulsion to meet…and she looked absolutely stunning.

Donning the expensive, black evening gown that he himself had removed and checked from her suitcase, she caught the attention of many of the men in attendance as she walked elegantly on her matching stilettos, bowing her head slightly in demure thanks to the doormen that had greeted and ushered her inside politely.

The exquisitely fine beadwork on the figure hugging dress glistened attractively under the gentle lighting, as did the soft shimmer of her long, silk gloves – masking the small dressing of her injured palm, and the satin skin of her bare legs – an attractive slip of which peered out with every step she took from the long slit of her dress. The negligible inflammation from the minor scald she suffered last night long gone, only smooth, toned, tanned thigh apparent now.

She didn't own much formalwear and attending black tie events didn't seem to fit her personality at all. Law began to wonder if this dress, as well as the 'costumes' and other anomalies that stood out in her wardrobe were job-related….Apparently the silly, fuzzy items were just hers though…and he had to wonder what hospital would seriously hire a woman wearing a nurse's costume that looked like _that_ …Perhaps the jury was still out on the peculiar nature of her clothing choices.

Coming to a stop beside the rich, oak podium beside the doorway as the host greeted her, she allowed her silk shall to slip casually down her shoulders as she pushed her hair back – the dark shimmer of it emphasising the fact she had dyed over her red highlights to give back her natural, solid, brunette colour.

The fall of the fine fabric down her arms and chest drew the host's gaze the wrong way as she pointed a gloved finger to 'her name' on the list in front of him. It was almost comical how smoothly she managed to abuse her assets. Law snorted in amusement as he watched the host belatedly realise he hadn't answered her, pull his eyes off her chest and cough into a closed fist as he gestured his hand politely to the large, suit-clad man standing beside him.

As she turned back around to face the security personnel stepping out from behind the podium to greet her, Law's own gaze was drawn to the glittering platinum and diamond cleavage necklace delving deeply into the crevice of her voluptuous chest. No need for a second guess as to how exactly the Senator would be meeting his end tonight.

Having been through the majority of her things, he'd noticed she had a fair amount of fine jewellery that again, didn't seem to fit her personality. The vast majority were different cleavage chains that he naturally assumed were for use with her chest brace but some, like this one, were part of a matching set. Watching the glint of the platinum and diamonds in her ears he wondered if, like that expensive belly button piercing and swimsuit, this particularly expensive-looking matching set was another 'gift.'

Rolling his eyes at the thought he observed the security guard briefly – very briefly, pat her down and check the inside of her clutch out of reluctant obligation to do so, apologising profusely as he bowed deeply and allowed her to proceed into the room. If he had felt it, then he'd understandably assumed the strap of her chest brace to be the lower border of her bra and not having the 'utter _nerve_ to grope that deeply into a woman's cleavage,' she had slipped straight by with her weapon. The senator's personal security would do no different when he invited her back to his mansion.

Finding humour in the subtly smug look on Nayla's face as she took back her bag and strode confidently into the room, well aware of the number of eyes on her, she walked straight past her target on her way to the open bar, close enough for him to have caught the scent of her perfume.

Wondering if she were a natural born actress or if the accurately aristocratic mannerisms she was displaying tonight were something she'd formally had to learn, he made a mental note to ask more about those 'many schools' out there that apparently taught women to kill through manipulation of their sex appeal that she had mentioned. Her gait, gestures and body language were proud but demure, every bit as elegant and delicate-appearing as a woman of this social standing was expected to be…It was honestly hard to believe this was the same woman he'd seen so readily dropping to her knees on a dirty, wooden tavern floor last night in a fit of rage with every intention of punching the living daylights out of another woman in a lowly, dirty bar fight.

Smirking to himself, Law watched the elderly man take the bait. Closing his gaping mouth, he hurriedly offered polite nods and rushed handshakes as he excused himself from the small group of people he had been conversing with. Adjusting his tie the senator finished the contents of the glass he was holding as he made his way over to the bar Nayla was awaiting her own drink at, using his empty glass as an excuse to stand beside her.

The background information provided to her about Senator Orlen's behaviour had been a comprehensive read. Apparently, when the good senator was not indulging in the occasional 'lady of the night' he instead invited many people of influence to his mansion for a 'tour of his home' after occasions such as these. Something that he could play off publically as mingling, socialising and building better connections and friendships to those who also shared an interest in the topic of the event they had just attended…Though suspiciously those he invited back always seemed to be very young, very attractive women with similar…'build's to Nayla. The man wasn't very subtle about the side-glances he stole at her chest.

Placing his own order as the bartender returned with hers earned a slight glance of polite acknowledgement from her which he immediately took as his cue to introduce himself, extending his hand.

Chuckling, Law watched as she daintily lifted a hand to her cheek in 'embarrassment' as she shyly extended her other to the man as he bowed lowly and kissed the back of her gloved knuckles in greeting.

She was entertaining to observe, her and her peculiar array of acting skills. It was obvious she had done this kind of thing many times before and could understand why she might enjoy these 'Honey Pot' or 'Black Widow' jobs of hers. He wondered how many men had been fatally attracted to her so far...

Although he may have (very sensibly) tried to avoid engaging in a sexual relationship with Nayla and that she seemed to have been trying to do the same, it had become all too clear that they were both having trouble sticking to that, whether he liked calling his own self control into question or not.

Not only was he beginning to have trouble getting the thought of it off his mind, it had gotten to the point of becoming a hindrance and unnecessary distraction in general, including when with other women…and if it could happen when with someone of even Stravia's calibre than it was likely to be an issue with others he may choose to pursue in the immediate future…

Then there was the sheer discontent he felt at the thought of someone else having her when he was so vehemently denying himself the pleasure of it. Why should they get to enjoy her when he couldn't? It was especially irritant considering their heated entanglements and _especially_ if it was going to occur in a bedroom right next to his own.

Frowning at the thought and as he recalled the unpleasant annoyance he'd experienced when watching that cocky little worm _Miles_ flirt shamelessly with her last night, Law had come to the admittedly hopeful conclusion that perhaps allowing himself to sate his lust for her wouldn't be such a bad idea. Maybe it really wasn't.

Nayla had been so unaffected after their previous near miss, so perfectly level-headed and understanding of the nature of what he wanted from her – to the point that he was convinced she reciprocated the feeling and simply wanted a casual engagement as well…Perhaps he was being overly paranoid about causing upset with her by mixing business with pleasure…and he grew more and more confident she wasn't the overly emotional kind of woman that would backstab him in a fit of scorned fury if things, for some reason, did decline between them as a result of them having a sexual relationship…Then the more rational part of his mind would throw all of the above out and question which head he was thinking with exactly…

At this point, he didn't care. He knew what he wanted, he knew what _she_ wanted and he'd be taking his ninety-nine point nine percent bet that things would be perfectly fine between them afterwards. Either way, he was going to have her, tonight.

Take her off that desirable and forbidden pedestal he'd placed her on, get the craving to have her out of his system, get the yearning to take her out of his thoughts and then he, and likely she, could move on from it. Reality was always a far cry from the fantasy, they'd enjoy each other once, maybe a few times, lose interest - as he did with most, and then they could both move past it like mature adults without hard feelings. He wouldn't feel testy about other men having what he'd already finished enjoying and perhaps _she_ would feel a tad bit more apologetic about inadvertently cockblocking him…Though hopefully she'd never end up doing that again…

Chuckling a little at the thought, he peeled his eyes from her as he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, guessing that the upped security detail that were patrolling the perimeter of the building to ensure the safety of the prestigious and important people in attendance there tonight were coming back this way again.

Reassured that Nayla was doing what she needed to do and deciding that he'd seen enough of her at work, he took his leave quietly, slinking out of sight through the shadows cast by the grand walls of the hotel and back onto the night street.

He had his own business to attend to anyway.

* * *

Having finished cleaning herself up, Nayla pulled the cord by the door of the luxurious En Suite, turning off its light as she re-entered the senator's master bedroom. Examining the minor signs of metal corrosion on her freshly wiped dagger's blade - the price she paid for keeping it in its leather sheath more often than not, she decided it would be due for professional maintenance or replacement in the near future. That probably meant the dagger still in its leather thigh holster in her duffel bag would probably need the same soon as well.

Sliding it back into its sheath carefully and fastening her chest brace closed securely, she walked back over to the end of the bed wondering how her main weapons were faring. They were due to have their blades oiled and maintained too, the last time she'd done so was after the mercenary job she'd done for Joker - well over a month ago now, she was far too finicky about keeping them in good condition to wait much longer than a month between taking care of them. Maybe she could ask Law to remove them from the safe so she could, he was a swordsman, he'd understand the importance of needing to do it. It would be a good way to get them back in her hands...if she went back at all tonight.

Stooping down to pick up her gown from the plush carpeting she glanced over at the senator, still exactly where she'd left him - slumped against the wall beside his bed and still very much dead.

Sighing she stepped back into her gown, pulling the snug fabric back up over her underwear. The poor man hadn't really seen it coming. He'd bought her false identity as the daughter of a prominent international company's CEO whose father couldn't make it last minute and who'd arrive alone in his stead without even remotely questioning it. He hadn't even cared that she'd played the role of a woman who was avidly interested in using him as a stepping stone to delve into a possible political career; he'd honestly seemed unsurprised by it and had probably fed the same false promises to and taken advantage of many naïve young women looking to use him in a similar manner before.

It hadn't taken him long to invite her back to this mansion and he'd wasted even less time in bringing her to his bedroom after the very brief 'tour' he'd given of the rest of the place. Not that she had needed it, considering the extremely detailed information she'd received about it already, but it had been a good opportunity to double check that yes, all the information she'd received was accurate. The rooms, security personnel and cameras were exactly where they should have been and it had made it easy to always be casually turned away from directly facing any of them.

Walking over to the mirror she zipped up her dress, smoothing out its silk and examining it and herself carefully for any telltale bloodstains. Having not wanted to ruin a perfectly good gown, she'd removed it and the poor senator had stood idly by, enjoying the 'striptease' as she'd turned her back on him, unzipped it and let it fall to the floor around her feet, her hair had easily covered the brace and before he'd even realised anything was wrong she'd turned around and done her job.

Other than needing to rinse her right glove and a few drops from her arm, it had been a clean kill; no footprints, handprints or the like. She'd be able to exit the mansion without leaving any trails behind. Not that it mattered much anyway; she'd be on a ship and off the island within the hour, long before she predicted the body would be found. The traumatising honour of that, she figured, would most likely fall upon an unfortunate staff member in the morning.

Looking around the room, Nayla doubled checked everything for any details she may have missed. False signs of a struggle, the body in an appropriate position for the 'accidental' death that had resulted from it, the window left slightly ajar to indicate her escape route and the photos 'accidentally' kicked under the bed beside the man - plausibly unseen and forgotten in her 'panic' to flee the scene and give context to the situation for when authorities arrived. Everything was in place.

The senator had unwisely dismissed the security on this floor until morning to appease her when she'd 'shyly' expressed concern that she was a little noisy and didn't want to be heard. Although she intended to leave by the first floor window to avoid a questionably long gap between the senator's time of death and her being seen to 'flee in a panic' on camera, she was thankful the security were now gone from the hallways, it would make the next part of her job much much easier.

Bidding the fallen man a silent goodbye, Nayla picked up her clutch and made her way to the bedroom door. It really was a shame but Law was absolutely right, this man had been marked for death by someone who would - and had the means to, keep sending people his way to get this done. If she hadn't done it, someone else would have been along to anyway.

Sadly, the senator was well aware his work had upset a lot of people that you didn't want to upset. That much was evidenced by the abnormal amount of security personnel surrounding a single politician. Unfortunately, the man's libido had ultimately clouded his judgement and gotten him killed. That she saw a lot of. Most men do find it too difficult to resist a pretty face and a seductive offer…Then there were men like Law who were so much smarter, more strongly willed and so used to beautiful women's attention that they almost had a sense of immunity and resistance to it…Which was exactly why she avoided men like him as much as possible...Well, when they allowed it.

Annoyed at the inappropriate train of thought, she roughly forced the man from her mind, refusing to think of anything but completing her job and getting herself out of the mansion safely because unlike Law, _she_ couldn't dodge bullets like a superhero. 'God, damn hacks is what that is,' frowning at the unfairness of it all, she pressed an ear to the bedroom door and listened closely.

Ensuring she couldn't hear any movement outside she quietly left, carefully shutting the door behind her as she glanced up and down the spacious hallway to ensure she was alone before making her way a few doors down to the senator's study.

He hadn't shown it to her on their brief walk around this side of the mansion but she knew where it was from the floor plan she'd been provided and surprisingly, it only had a single surveillance Den Den Mushi outside it.

Spotting it up ahead, clinging to the wall above the doorframe, Nayla waited patiently for it to turn its eyes the other way before edging closer against the wall in the shadows. Waiting patiently a couple more times as it swung its vision her way and back again, she was soon close enough to sneak into the office quietly without being seen or recorded.

Keeping the room's lights off and steering clear of the windows so as not to be accidentally seen by any security personnel patrolling outside, Nayla crept over to the large filing cabinets on the side, reading the labels carefully before selectively pulling open the heavy drawer of her choice and sifting through the files.

* * *

After an uneventful escape from the senator's luxurious estate and picking up the duffel bag she'd hidden in the local park, Nayla had made a quick change back into her casual wear and was now making her way to the harbour, the mansion far behind her.

Yawning tiredly, she tugged her hood up a little more securely, more of the cold breeze sneaking beneath it than she appreciated. The weather of Kattou, an autumn island, was still chilly but much milder than Ashibumi, though the style of the town and architecture of buildings was very similar.

Understandable she supposed, they were proud 'Sister Islands' that shared a lot with each other. Senator Orlen's newest legislation had actually been to extend Kattou's new and successful security measures to the waters surrounding Ashibumi as well. With things already difficult enough for Joker to get his goods past one island, the proposition of making it difficult to get them past two adjacent ones – then three, four, even five if the security measures had been successfully propagated to the other neighbours had been the nail in the poor old man's coffin.

Honestly, she felt pretty dirty. At least if someone else had done it she wouldn't have had his blood on _her_ hands, literally.

Sighing at her sudden feeling of entrapment and remembrance of the gravity of her situation with Law, she glanced at the few uniformed marines coming down the street the opposite way. 'Obviously just grunts, no one strong enough to help me even if I did stop them and explain,' she thought bitterly.

Watching them walk by, she wondered what Miles was doing about now. Did he know any of these men? Would he be brave enough to return to the inn tonight? What would Law do to him if he did?...Would Stravia go back to the inn tonight? Maybe looking for round two with her or…would she try talking to Law? He seemed concerned about the injury she'd inflicted on the pretty blonde…Even if Stravia wasn't there tonight, maybe some other beautiful women had gone to the inn, ones that had _their_ eyes on Law too…

Scoffing in disgust at herself, Nayla wondered how in the same thirty seconds she could go from resenting Law for her prisoner status and forced hands to feeling unjustly jealous at the thought of him free to do as he pleased without her tonight.

...

'No input?...You're still mad at me, aren't you? - … - Look, just say it already. You told me so, bla bla bla. - … - Fine, be that way. Not like you ever contributed anything useful anyway. – …You could have slept with Law last night. - Yeah but - You could have. Slept with. _Law_. Last. Night. – Yeees, but – _Now_ you're worried about what he might be up to? I mean are you fucking INSANE?! - …Just gonna give up and let you rant it out of your system. - Do you have ANY idea how many women would KILL to have that man invite them into his bed?! I mean, have you not _seen_ the way women everywhere look at him or just me? _WHY_ do you do this to me? – Digni- – We've been over this! FUCK YOUR DIGNITY! –…Alright, my mistake. Go back to the silent treatment.'

Adjusting the strap of her duffel bag with a huff, she wrapped her fingers around it more tightly, her fingertips idly running over the back of the dressing pad still on her palm as she rounded the corner towards the docks.

There weren't many ships sailing this late, she had checked her travel options when she'd arrived earlier. The only other ship leaving tonight other than the return trip to Ashibumi she was booked on was another heading to Sabaody…which was a place she wasn't in any real hurry to revisit. Nothing but bad things had happened to her there and it was probably more overrun by pirates flooding into the New World than ever before.

Coming to a stop atop the hill, she looked down the street towards the pier at the bottom of it, scanning the busy docks until she spotted the 'Shibumi Speedline' - due to depart for Ashibumi in ten minutes, and the large cruise ship boasting a safe tour to and from Sabaody for its delightful, natural, bubble-related beauty and amusement park - due to depart in about thirty minutes.

After last night, Nayla hadn't really allowed herself much time to dwell over whether she still wanted to go through with an escape at this point or not, choosing to think it over later - after she didn't have to focus on work anymore. She really hadn't found much time to do so but had been functioning on the assumption that she would be leaving the crew behind for good tonight…she'd even managed to sneak one last kiss under the guise of getting under Law's skin.

Chuckling a little under her breath as she recalled the shock on his face, Nayla tucked her other hand into her hoodie pocket, gripping her ticket stub in thought as she glanced between the two ships.

The Heart Pirate's Log Pose would be ready by tomorrow morning and they were due to set sail straight afterwards…Law wouldn't realise she hadn't gotten on her ship until tomorrow morning when it arrived without her and then it would take him a minimum of twelve hours to get to Kattou to chase her down (if he wanted to). So, she _could_ stay in Kattou overnight and wait until morning to see what other destinations would be available, she'd even be nice enough to figure out a way to leave behind what she'd picked up for him tonight. It would be a nice parting gift, aside from the one she'd left for him at the inn this morning…

Humming in thought she leant against the well beside her, weighing her options. 'Escape now and never have to deal with Law again…but lose all my belongings and weapons...but be free to get off the Grand Line and not have to deal with this shitty unpredictable sea anymore or pirates or Joker…but never see those adorable Heart Pirates again…but I wouldn't have to do crap jobs I don't want to do anymore…but I wouldn't get to see Law again…wait was that a pro or a con…'

Narrowing her eyes in thought she stiffened as she suddenly heard movement shockingly close behind her. Wondering if she'd been sloppy, spotted and followed from the mansion, she reached for the hip she used to carry weapons on as she turned around to face the person right behind her – throwing a punch at the hooded figure instead when her fist grasped air.

Gritting her teeth as she read the D-E-A-T-H across the backs of the fingers that had caught her wrist in an overly perfect and annoying manner, she glanced up at the overshadowed face of the tall man hovering over her as he tugged back his hood slightly, revealing familiar, white, spotted fur and a finely arched brow under the overhanging streetlight.

"YOU!"

"Keep your voice down, Nayla-ya." Law calmly responded, releasing her and tugging the black fabric back over his characteristic hat.

"WH-What the _fuck_ are you doing here?! _How_ did you get here, the security in the waters around Kattou is tight, did you destroy a bunch of marines again?" She hissed angrily, feeling her heart strain to settle against the upsurge of panic he'd caused.

Ignoring her he glanced behind her, curious as to what she had been staring at so intently that she'd failed to notice his approach, his features morphing into an expression of mild amusement as he looked back down at her. "Are you having trouble working out which ship you're supposed to board?" Watching her refuse to answer his mocking question, he leant in closely, smirk widening. "Do you need a hint? It's the one that has 'Shibumi Speedline' printed in large letters across its side."

"Fuck off."

Chuckling as she turned on her heel crossing her arms, he followed after her as she began making her way downhill towards the harbour. "Hmm and here I thought absence made the heart grow fonder. You've had the whole day to yourself and you're already this angry with me?"

"Because you fucking stalked me, _again_. What, are you here making sure I come back?" She spat in annoyance side-glancing at him as he walked alongside her.

"It's not always about you, Nayla-ya. I had my own things to do here."

"I don't even belie-…" Furrowing her brows in confusion when he took her hand and slid it into his coat pocket, her eyes widened when her fingers contacted the flat surface of something pulsating.

"Who's-?..." Trailing off as she realised there were two inside, she turned and used her other hand to pull open his pocket for a closer look.

Raising a brow at her peculiar awe and curiosity, Law tugged the material of his coat away from her. "Unimportant. Though had you been following the news as _'keenly'_ as you'd been doing on board the sub Nayla-ya, then you'd probably already know which pirates were laying low on Kattou right now."

Scoffing and sulkily rolling her eyes at that, she refocused on the docks ahead of them. She hadn't found much fun in reading the morning paper since they'd started staying at the inn. There were always multiple copies of it available at breakfast, far too many to deface his picture in all of them and no way of telling which _he_ ' _d_ be picking up. Her only other reason to pay attention to the news at the moment was for any information about the Straw Hats but she already knew the crew would have mentioned anything about them to her if they saw anything during _their_ read.

…

"Was that bounty poster your intention of a parting gift, Nayla-ya?"

Feeling her lips pull into an uncontrollable smile, she chanced a look at him as they reach the bottom of the hill and hit the wooden planks of the pier. "Other than the loving farewell kiss I graced you with? Yes, did you like it?"

"Why a vampire?" He honestly had no idea when she'd had the chance to take a marker to his bounty poster on the board of the tavern's wall. Returning to the inn today after seeing her off, he'd found the bartender hastily trying to remove it as he walked through the door, apologising profusely and swearing he had no idea who'd done it.

"Aside from being a blood-sucking parasite, it was just a delayed thought from that whole demonic-doctor that can be repelled with apples thing. You'd look quite cool with fangs though, you should consider a vampire costume for next Halloween."

"…I'll bear that in mind." He deadpanned, coming to a halt a few feet away from the gangplank of the ship back to Ashibumi, prompting her to stop and turn to face him. "I assume your job went well."

"Yeah." She sighed out miserably, glancing up at the top of the wooden bridge at the few travellers hurrying on board last minute, suddenly feeling very tired. Surprised to find herself feeling so exhausted despite getting a decent amount of sleep on her way there _and_ still waking up in time to do something about her hair and makeup to make herself black-tie-event-presentable. "I'm guessing the lack of pervs in boilersuits and giant yellow sub means you got here the same way I did. Come on, let's get on board."

Ignoring the reappearance of the small, nagging guilt he felt in his gut as he watched the cheeky smile fade from her lips, Law followed her silently, watching as she gave her ticket stub to the man at the top of the gangplank who greeted her warmly, checked it and handed over her assigned cabin's key as he stepped aside for her.

Turning his attention to him, the man's eyes fell to the nodachi resting on his shoulder. "Uh sir, we don't allow weapons on bo-…"

Visibly gulping as he glimpsed the pirate's familiar face beneath his hood, Nayla watched the man numbly trail off as Law placed his ticket stub onto his open palm, prompting him to look down and read the cryptic threat printed across the back of Law's knuckles. "I'd appreciate it if you'd be kind enough to make an exception, Chief Purser-ya." Nodding silently, he moved aside as Law stepped onto the deck. "I'd also appreciate it if you kept my presence here to yourself. We wouldn't want your crew or the passengers on board to have an unpleasant trip, now, would we?"

"N-No sir."

…

"Ninety four."

"Oh! R-Right." With some fumbling, he removed the cabin's key from the hook board sat upon the small table set up behind him and held it out for the dark captain to take.

Shaking her head as Law took it, glided past the nervous man with a sinisterly amused chuckle and caught up to her, they began walking towards the entrance of the ship. "So that's how you got here without raising the alarm and making a scene. If you were just gonna bully your way onto the ship then I'm surprised you'd even bother buying a ticket in the first place."

"Twelve hours is a long time, I wanted to be sure I had a room…Although, I'm not opposed to sharing mine with you, Nayla-ya. It'll be just like old times."

Cracking a smile as he looped an arm around her waist, they entered the ship and began walking down the narrow, dim corridor towards the guest cabins. "As tempting as that is, I really just want to sleep tonight."

"You'll sleep a lot better when I'm done with you." He purred into her ear, tightening his hold.

"I also have a terrible headache." She laughed, amused at his persistence as she read the number of her own cabin coming up on the right.

"I'll have you know that medically speaking, sex is actually good for relieving headaches."

Giggling as she felt his goatee tickle her neck and his teeth tug her ear lobe playfully, she came to a stop outside her door, turning to face him as he pulled her in closely.

"Is that right, well I'm still gonna take a rain check on that." Glancing up at his raised brows as she fiddled with the fabric of his coat, she bit her lip guiltily. "Sorry, I'm just...really not feeling up to it at the moment."

Asking what was bothering her was on the tip of his tongue but Law had a feeling he already knew what it was and didn't particularly want to hear the answer, lest it provoke that unpleasant sensation of guilt in his gut again.

Looking her over carefully under the bleak, pale overhead lighting of the ship's hallway she didn't look like she'd done earlier in that ballroom. Lively, seductive, bright and full of subtle mischief. Right now, she genuinely seemed tired and drained.

Huffing in amusement at his silent, analytical gaze as it flit over her as a whole, Nayla smiled, tugging him down slightly by the fabric in her hands. "You think too much." Pressing her lips to his reassuringly, she was relieved when she felt his stretch into a smile of his own. "Don't look so serious."

Chuckling as she tried moving away he kissed her again, this time granted entry to her mouth more readily than he had been last night as he pushed her back against the door of her room.

Feeling his lips leave hers to kiss her neck she placed her hands to his shoulders with a silent sigh of satisfaction at the sensation. "You're only gonna aggravate yourself…" She warned, glancing up and down the hallway to make sure they were still alone in it. "Oh, I nearly forgot."

Reluctantly reigning in his lust and pulling away from her as she unzipped her duffel bag, he took the moderately-sized stack of papers from her as she held them up for him.

"Seeing as you're already here, you may as well have these now. Some night-time reading for you."

Glancing through the text, his brow raised as he nestled his nodachi more comfortably to the crook of his neck and used his other hand to flip through the pages in interest. "You took these from his home?"

"No, those are photocopies. I left the originals where they were so that no one would notice anything missing. I'm guessing he kept more at his main office rather than his home one, but maybe you'll find something useful in there." Releasing the pages and allowing them to fall back into their stack he stared at her silently with raised brows and a questioning look. "What? Didn't you say you wanted everything? Every detail I could find about you-know-who?"

"Yeah…I'm just surprised you brought this back. It wasn't part of your job."

"It wasn't a part of my job for _him_. This is part of my job for _you_." She clarified, tapping a red nail to the papers in his hand.

"…I'm impressed."

Scoffing in mild offence at his growing smirk, she dug around in her pocket, pulling out her room key. "Don't be, I do my jobs well."

"Take it as a compliment, not an insult." Law chuckled, leaning against the doorframe as she unlocked and entered her cabin, tossing her bag carelessly to the floor.

"…Nayla…" Turning back around at the suddenly serious tone his voice took, she watched him seem to internally debate with himself over what he wanted to say before he finally spoke again."Are you alright?"

Feeling her brows raise a little, she looked at him more closely, only now noticing his level of concern as he seemed to scrutinise her. Realising she hadn't responded yet, she shook off her surprise, smiling as she took a step back towards him.

"I'm fine…I really _am_ just feeling tired and headachy. I'm sure I'll feel much better after a good night's sleep…Thanks though." He hummed in response, unconvinced as she leant up and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight, Law."

"…Goodnight."

Standing upright as she softly closed her door, he stared at the wood for a moment before turning and making his way further down the corridor to his own room, unable to shake off his peculiar feeling of mild worry.

She really did seem off to him…It was probably just a bit of upset over her job. If that were the case then he had to believe that she was far too soft and sensitive to be working within the field she was. If one kill affected her that much than it was entirely her fault for choosing this kind of career in the first place, not his own…for making her take a job she'd never have done otherwise…

Biting the inside of his cheek, he looked back down at the papers she'd given him, flipping his way through the pages as idle distraction as he turned the corner to the hallway containing the higher room numbers.

* * *

Everything had played out better than he'd expected. Things had gone smoothly on Nayla's end and she'd done her job as asked. She _could_ have been lazy and omitted these and he'd have known no better but hadn't and had taken her job for him seriously…he appreciated the respect that demonstrated she had for him, though he wasn't sure if he deserved it.

Either way, having glanced through the information she'd given him last night, Law could already tell that having her work on Doflamingo's behalf could turn out to be far more promising than he'd initially hoped for.

Looking up from his desk as he heard the door to his bathroom open, he watched through the archway as Nayla stepped out of it, notably wearing the fresh set of night clothing he had leant her and towel drying her hair lethargically.

Without glancing his way, she trudged out of sight to his bureau, her disappearance followed shortly by the sound of the hairdryer she was using.

She'd been like that all morning. Since she'd left her cabin on the Shibumi Speedline, when standing beside him on its deck to watch the ship dock and when walking down the harbour to board the sub - she'd barely mustered the strength to return the energetic and excited greetings his crewmembers had offered her when they'd been spotted approaching. The latter in particular had been worrying. He could understand her being moody and silent around him but had thought she'd have at least perked up and smiled more when being welcomed back by the crew.

Not saying a word, she'd dragged her feet to his quarters ahead of him and he'd found her talking to her agent when coming in a little while later after giving his crew departing instructions and ensuring everything was in order. Apparently 'Marty' was working on lining up her payment and one, possibly two more jobs for Joker in the near future. They were to expect a call from him later in the week when they were closer to their next destination and when he had more information available for her.

Turning his attention back to the papers lay out on his desk, Law resumed inspecting their contents, trying to decide if there was some information that would prove useful or at least put him on track to finding something that would be.

These papers appeared to have been part of a file pertaining to Kattou's successful interference of criminal activity at its docks and in its surrounding waters. It seemed Nayla had sifted through it and removed only the records that were related to Joker's thwarted dealings.

Doflamingo had lost everything from drugs to weapons to human slaves and every detail of it had been meticulously kept. The type of ship commandeered, the number and names of the crew on board, those associating with the vessel at the harbour (if it had made it that far), what was found on board and ultimately confiscated, their intended delivery points and recipients…It was all there and Joker had lost a _lot_ of business.

It was understandable why the senator had been taken out…but this was only one island and the cost of the wares lost was chump change to Doflamingo overall. So what was important enough here that had caused the man to act? Was there something of more than monetary worth taken from him? Was this particular island or routes of travel around it important to him? Or maybe there was nothing important at all. Maybe Joker had simply nipped the propagation of these security measures to other nearby islands in the bud to save himself more hassle in future. Maybe it had been even simpler than that and he'd just been annoyed by the senator so brazenly meddling with his business and had acted on a whim - flexed his muscle to ensure no one else got any bright ideas like the late Senator Orlen…There were a lot of possibilities to sift through and it wasn't easy to understand or predict the motives and moves of such an eccentric but admittedly intelligent man…

Absentmindedly registering the sound of Nayla finishing with her hair and setting the dyer back atop his bureau – against his wishes, again, Law rubbed a finger over the facial hair of his chin as he wondered how many subtle and unsubtle warnings Joker had sent the senator to cease getting in his way before he finally had him killed. By the looks of the dates on the paperwork, it seemed the senator had been persistent for some time and had valiantly stuck to his efforts...and paid the price.

Law looked up at the thought of the falsely benign-looking woman as he caught sight of her shuffling past the archway towards the sofa she slept on. She honestly looked worse than she had yesterday. The bags under her eyes were beginning to rival his own, he wondered if she'd gotten any sleep at all last night.

To be fair, he wasn't feeling all that lively himself, though he'd put his own tiredness down to thumbing through these numerous photocopies and the thoughts thereafter of how he could translate them to good use that had kept him awake last night.

Overall he'd consider her first job a success, despite her expected and slightly roguish behaviour at the docks of Kattou last night. If each job she did yielded large chunks of information about Doflamingo like this one, hopefully getting progressively more sensitive as she earned the man's trust and did more intimate work for him, then there was a _lot_ of potential to be exploited here.

"Nayla-ya." He watched her stop and turn her attention to him though she said nothing, just waited tiredly for him to continue. "Don't go to sleep. Dinner will be soon."

"I'm really not hungry, I just wanna lie down."

"No one on board skips meals without good reason, you're no exception."

"If you insist on it then just have it brought up again." She sighed out unenthusiastically, leaning her shoulder to the side of the archway.

Tossing the paper in his hand back to his desk's surface as he removed his feet from it, Law sat up with a sigh of his own. She had skipped the menial breakfast options served on board the Shibumi Speedline, choosing to remain in her cabin until they arrived - which he had expected and allowed to slide, considering she appeared to need the sleep more than the food.

However, the sub had set sail a little before lunch and she'd turned down _that_ meal as well, claiming no appetite. Having decided to take his own lunch in his quarters he'd simply ignored her and asked Bepo to bring her one up from the galley as well…Which she had picked at and pushed aside before snoozing on his sofa. She'd barely been awake for half an hour since they'd gotten back to his vessel and had spent the majority of that thirty minutes in the shower she'd just taken.

"This isn't a restaurant or a hotel, Nayla-ya. My crew aren't here to bring food to you in bed."

"I didn't ask them too, I don't even want it." She grumbled quietly, running a hand through her haphazardly blow dried locks, bringing his attention to her red highlights, apparent once more now that she had washed out the brown dye.

There'd been so much junk in her suitcase that he hadn't really given much thought as to why a natural brunette would be carrying around a few sachets of wash-out brown tint, simply putting it down to one of those…'things,' that women just did for all sorts of peculiar and trivial cosmetic reasons that he wasn't going to spend time deciphering any deeper meaning behind.

The dots as to why she had them connected when he'd seen the absence of her highlights at the ballroom. It made sense. The last person seen with Senator Orlen when he was alive – the one people would soon be looking for after his body's discovery, was a young, slender, female brunette. A physical description vague enough that many women would fill it effortlessly. Far more vague then a distinct physical characteristic such as an unusual colour of highlights.

Narrowing his eyes as the off-tangent thoughts entered his mind and triggered a newfound suspicion, he observed the red shimmer to her hair with a critical eye. "…If you feel the need to temporarily mask your highlights when doing your jobs, why do you put them in in the first place?"

Stilling her hand, she opened her eyes and looked back at him, seeming to contemplate her response for a moment before grudgingly giving up with an exhausted huff and giving him an honest one. "…I don't have them on purpose."

Furrowing his brows slightly in thought and annoyance – partially because she hadn't bothered to mention it to him earlier and partially because he'd failed to notice it sooner, he quickly pieced it together. "Another omission, Nayla-ya? How long has the pigment been fading?"

"Pretty much since I got the ability, gradually over the last few years." She replied blandly, not surprised he figured it out so quickly from her minimal response.

"And your nails?"

Blinking off her confusion as she realised where his mind had gone so rapidly, she looked at them at their mention. "Oh, well the opposite problem actually. Losing pigment in my hair, gaining it in my nails for some reason."

"Black, linear deposits that correspond to times that you've used your ability extensively - after prolonged mercenary jobs."

Raising her brows in surprise she looked back at him, admittedly impressed. "...Yeah, how did you know?"

The number of times he'd seen her touching up small chips on her nails here and there, the time she'd sat across the room from him entirely to repaint them…it all made more sense now. Here he'd just dismissed her behaviour as her being overly finicky and girly about her nail varnish when in fact she was concealing discolouration that he knew already would turn out to be the same black substance in her blood getting deposited into the keratin of her nails at times of high concentration…The hair issue was strange though…

Ignoring her question and wrapping his fingers across the wood of his desk in thought, he finally replied. "You'll be removing your nail varnish at your next medical examination and I'll want a few strands of your hair."

There was a: 'Why? Keeping a lock of hair of your beloved?' or a voodoo doll joke in there somewhere, but she was just too tired to summon it. Rolling her eyes slightly, Nayla pushed off from her lean on the wall. "Sure, right after I get my _results_ from the last week's worth _and_ the medical lessons you promised me that never fabricated."

"You can go have one right now."

"Really?"

Feeling a small tug at the corner of his lips as she halted in her steps towards the sofa, he watched with amusement as she looked back at him with excitement and nodded in affirmation.

Glancing at the door to the quarters, as if contemplating the infirmary across the hallway her expression fell a bit as her headache and tiredness reminded her of its presence. Sighing at her luck to be offered one _now_ of all times, when she really wasn't feeling up to it or having to deal with Kotta's rudeness, she looked back at Law in disappointment. "I'd love to but…maybe tomorrow or something…I'm gonna go back to sleep."

Raising his brows in surprise as she walked away he stared at the spot she'd stood at for a moment before feeling his annoyance resurge.

The petulant princess act was getting old. He'd been patient, given her space, allowed her to pout, left her alone to rest and had dangled something he _knew_ she'd want and she was still moping like a child about last night feeling sorry for herself. It was irritating and the fact it made him keep feeling that very small glimmer of guilt was even more irritating.

Chewing the inside of his cheek, Law got up from his chair and strode over to the archway, peering into his darkened bedroom, as she curled up onto his sofa with her back to him.

"Don't you think you're being just a little too melodramatic, Nayla-ya?"

"…What?"

"This, this sulking. Haven't you killed plenty of other people that didn't 'deserve' it?"

Utterly confused, she turned to look at him over her shoulder slowly with knitted brows. "What on Earth are you talking about? I'm not sulking, I haven't even thought of my last job once since we left Kattou. I'm just really tired."

Crossing his arms in wary disbelief he leant against the archway as she had done. "You've been sleeping all day, have been exceptionally moody and refuse to eat anything."

"...I know, sorry…I don't feel very well." She admitted, turning back over and resting her head.

Brows relaxing, Law uncrossed his arms as he strode over to her. "In what way?"

"Like I have an annoying and persistent case of Pirate-itis. Go away and let me sleep." She mumbled, trying to swat away the hand he'd rest to her forehead.

"Nayla-ya."

Sighing at his warning tone, she lowered her hand in defeat and allowed him to rest his back to her skin as he crouched beside the sofa. "I feel exhausted. My headache from last night never left, painkillers haven't touched it. My muscles are really starting to ache and a hot shower didn't help at all. So I'm guessing I managed to get a flu."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" His annoyance at himself for simply assuming she'd been emotionally upset and at her for not mentioning her symptoms carrying through in his tone as he noted the slightly clammy feel of her warm skin and mildly elevated breathing rate.

"Denial…I thought I was just tired at first, then figured it was just a migraine…" She murmured, secretly enjoying the feel of the backs of his fingers as he gently pressed them to her cheek. "Hey, wait a sec…"

Raising a brow as she seemingly perked up and rolled over to face him, he rest his arms onto the sofa. "Can't you get rid of it for me? With your Devil Fruit?"

"What would make you think that?"

"That previous user's notes said he could remove microscopic things like poisons and toxins, so what about small things like bacteria and viruses?"

"...It's possible, though not particularly easy. It's relatively simple to remove a collection of bacteria from somewhere in the body but influenza virus resides _inside_ the epithelial cells that line your nose, throat and respiratory system. You don't really want me to slice you into pieces just to skin your airway raw to remove them do you? I don't think it'll leave you feeling much better." He chuckled.

"What, no! Can't you just…I dunno…teleport-thingy the virus _out_ of the infected cells?"

"You want me to meticulously vivisect you, examine your _entire_ respiratory system's lining, identify each and every virus-infected epithelial cell and remove microscopic influenza virus from them all for a simple, harmless and self-limiting illness?"

"…Yes?"

"No."

"Aww come on, please? You have _no_ idea how sick I get with flus, why else would I bother going to get that apparently completely _useless_ flu vaccine?" She whined, pouting and placing a hand over the tattoo of the bare forearm in front of her.

"You'll live." He chuckled, glancing at the fingers she was softly running over his skin in an attempt to convince him.

"Barely." She grumbled.

Grabbing her hand before she could pull it away in annoyance at his refusal, he held it as he leant down and planted a gentle kiss to her lips, smirking at her surprised expression. "You'll be fine."

"Aren't you worried you're gonna get sick?"

"It's already far too late for me to worry about coming into contact with your virus now, but I'll ask you _not_ to leave my quarters until you're well. I don't want the entire crew to be unnecessarily exposed, I can do without a sub full of men suffering flu." He sighed.

She pursed her lips in amusement at his expression as he obviously recalled an unpleasant memory off a previous incident. "Let me guess, they're all big babies that suffer from 'man flu?'"

"Some of them." He grumbled, his eyes resting back onto hers as she laughed a little. "I'll have Bepo bring up some soup or something similar for you at dinner - eat what you can of it." He added, seeing her open her mouth to protest the fact she wasn't hungry.

"Fine." She agreed, watching him stand and her hand slip from his.

"In the meantime, get some rest. Use my bed, it'll be easier on your back if you're beginning to experience muscle pain. I'll place some water and more effective painkillers on the cabinet for you, you seem to be developing a fever so take them regularly to keep it under control."

Watching him start to make his way back to his living quarters, she sat up. "…Alright."

Pausing at the archway at her unsure tone, he turned back to her, almost reading the question on her mind as she looked at him. "Providing you with the finest medical care available during your time with us was part of our agreement, Nayla-ya."

Huffing in amusement at his smug smirk, she pushed up from the sofa. "So it was, though I'm thinking cell- by-cell-Devil-Fruit-flu-virus-extraction would be the _finest_ you could offer." Peeling back the cover of the side of his bed nearest to her as he chuckled, she looked over at him. "…Thank you."

Reluctantly enjoying the warmth of her sincere tone and genuine smile, he turned away as he felt his own grow wider. "Go to bed."

"Yes, Dr. Trafalgar."

Scoffing a little at the playful tone she used on his title, he made his way back over to his desk, knowing without looking, that her smile had taken on that teasing edge to it that he'd come to have seen so many times already.

* * *

Swivelling around in his chair, Law quietly mulled over his next steps as he gazed out at the night sky through his window.

He'd spent the most part of the evening going over the wad of papers Nayla had given him, had taken some time off in the middle to finish the book she had gifted him and had then resumed generating possible avenues of interest from the information on his desk, though it was getting more and more difficult to remain focused on it.

Truth be told, he was a little bit worried about the woman next door. It had been far more difficult than it should have been to stir her from her sleep to eat when Bepo had brought dinner up for them both and she'd seemed a little drowsy and confused. She'd managed very little of the soup Jake had made especially for her, though she had smiled when Bepo had passed on his 'get well soon' message.

That had been about the only positive sign from her since she'd laid down to rest in the late afternoon. Since then, she hadn't stirred nor moved; every time he walked past the archway and glanced in at her he found her in the exact same position. Even when he went in to check on her she didn't wake and each time he did, she looked worse and worse.

Despite the medication, her fever was continuing to rise and she had begun experiencing chills in her sleep at some point during the evening. The shudders were violent enough that it had prompted him to place the blanket from the sofa over her in addition to the one already on his bed that she had pulled up to her chin in her grasp.

She hadn't been exaggerating when she said she got very sick with flus…It was to be expected he supposed. Among the array of medical results he'd collected from her was a low-normal white cell count, borderline deficient really. Although that on its own hardly meant her immunity wasn't as good as it should have been, in the context of her numerous other mildly low, mildly high or peculiarly non-specific, abnormal medical parameters, he was certain that her immune system was one of many systems that her ability's presence negatively impacted.

Making a mental note to remember to ask her if her illnesses became more frequent and/or more severe since having it or if she'd always been a little on the vulnerable side, Law rubbed his face tiredly, blinking blearily at his board, focusing - though not concentrating, on the deranged, greyscale grin of Doflamingo in the recent article about Warlord vacancies.

Out of precaution, Law had kept himself confined to his own quarters as well, not wanting to spread Nayla's virus around his vessel and unsure if he were going to become ill himself yet. He'd been hopeful that he wouldn't but he couldn't help but think he was going through the prodrome she had experienced last night. He felt awful. Unbelievably fatigued and a headache that the painkillers he had taken earlier hadn't improved much. If she had felt even _half_ this bad aboard the Shibumi Speedline last night then it was no wonder she had turned him down…Not that he had taken it personally or anything.

Sighing at that, he glanced tiredly through the archway at the part of his bed that he could see. All attitude, bravado and ensuring that Nayla knew he was firmly in charge aside, he wasn't actually all _that_ sure about crawling into it with her occupying it. It had been a short-sighted offer on his part, he hadn't expected her to become so unwell and to still be in his bed by this time of night…It wouldn't have been much of an issue if she were at least coherent and wakeful enough to _realise_ he was getting beneath the blankets beside her, so that she could protest or move if she chose to…He was pretty sure she probably wouldn't mind, though Law didn't want to deal with a potentially very negative, very volatile and very loud response when she rolled over in the morning to find herself face to face with a man who'd been a litt-…lot inappropriate with her recently…He _could_ just sleep on one of the sofas…

Eyeing the leather one across the room he contemplated the idea a little before his pride shot it down, deciding that Nayla would probably taunt him mercilessly for finally giving up his bed to her and taking the sofa like a 'gentleman' or whatever. He didn't want her to think for a second that she had actually won something or 'taught' him how to behave in a way that suited her…Rolling his eyes at the thought, he rest his arms over his chest as he leant back in his chair comfortably.

Most annoying of all was the unshakeable feeling of disappointment he felt. Of course it wasn't her fault that she'd gotten sick and sex _should_ have been the absolute last thing on his mind but it was very much there, nagging at him…though he imagined that if his own symptoms worsened to the point of hers that it soon wouldn't be.

* * *

Unsure of how many times she'd briefly woken already, Nayla opened her eyes a little, looking around the room. It was still dark and there was no light coming from behind the thick curtains drawn across the porthole of Law's bedroom.

Looking at the bedside cabinet tiredly, she wondered when the last time she took a painkiller was and how long she had been asleep. Was it still the same day or had she slept through into the next? It was difficult to tell the time in this bedroom.

The more time she had spent in Law's quarters, the more it had become apparent that everything from the dark, soothing colour scheme, to the thick curtains and the lack of clock were purposeful design choices conducive to peaceful sleep. Something the designer who had been so fond of Law had decided he needed apparently. It made her wonder how long ago he had earned those bags under his eyes and how long he hadn't been sleeping as well as he should.

Deciding she didn't care when the last time she took a tablet was and deciding the fact she'd woken _because_ of painful aches was enough of a reason to take another, Nayla tiredly sat up a little, reaching for the blister pack and half empty glass of water.

She wasn't sure if the sway she felt was the ship on the waves or if she were dizzy. In her haze, she wasn't even sure if they were submerged or sailing on the surface. Looking at the amount of pills missing from the sheet of foil, she couldn't even remember taking that many as she popped one into her mouth and sluggishly registering how empty the glass of water was as she lifted it to her lips, she wasn't even sure if she'd been the one to drink that amount…She wasn't sure of a lot of things.

It had been a while since she'd had such a rough flu, she felt deliriously tired and horribly cold, despite knowing she was feverish. Everything around her felt fuzzy and barely there, going unacknowledged by her senses and her silent, uninterested thoughts.

Placing the glass and medication back to the cabinet's surface, she watched her hand linger on it for a moment trying to recall why it seemed like a familiar sight in her exhausted haze. She vaguely remembered a tattooed hand placing it there for her…and reaching for it a few times afterwards actually…'I think? Maybe Law refilled it for me?'…Realising that if he had that it wouldn't have been near empty, her eyes trailed to the excessively empty blister pack beside the glass then around the room for him, seeming to only just remember his existence and trying to think of when the last time she saw him was…She _could_ remember the gentle touch of his tattooed hand to her forehead a few times…more than a few times actually. Though it had seemed dreamlike and short-lived between her bouts of sleep and fever.

Law wasn't in the room or in the bed even though she was more and more sure it must be late at night. Looking over at the light spilling in from the archway leading to his living quarters, she vaguely remembered hearing the turn of pages the last few times she had briefly woken, though there was no sound at all coming from that room now.

Had he left? Was he working in the infirmary or was it not as late as she thought and he'd ventured to some other part of the ship? Maybe the rec room? Feeling a mild pang of betrayal at the thought of him and the others leaving her there to suffer all alone whilst they enjoyed themselves without her (completely selfish, ridiculous, childish and unjustified she knew), she got up, wobbling slightly due to a wave or imbalance - hard to tell.

Shuffling wearily over towards the archway against the protests of her aching back and legs, she wrapped her arms around herself as she felt a violent chill shake her. Somehow feeling that the effort of calling out to see if he were there was more taxing, Nayla pushed on, wondering if Law's bedroom had always been this big as she finally reached the opening of the dividing wall and peered into his living quarters.

Not expecting him to have been there, considering the silence in the room and knowing that if he were that he'd probably have heard her moving and said something to her by now, she raised her brows in surprise when she saw him, her mental fog clearing a little at the sight.

The side of his chair against the edge of his desk, his elbow set on its surface and his cheek propped up against his fist, his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles as he leant back in his chair.

Watching Law's chest rise and fall steadily in his sleep, Nayla quietly approached as her gaze lifted to his peaceful expression, surprised to find that his eyes didn't open as she carefully stepped around his legs to stand by his side.

Glancing at his desk, she saw the photocopies she'd given him spread out across the wooden surface, his own neat, cursive annotations around the edges of their printed text, his elbow inadvertently crumpling the one it leant on and his hat tossed carelessly atop the others.

Looking back at him, she leant down and rest a hand to the side of his face, calling his name quietly as she ran a thumb over his cheekbone…She couldn't help but admire his features, he really was unbelievably handsome.

It was difficult to tell with her own fever but even to her, the skin beneath her hand felt too warm. Lifting her fingers to his forehead, she pushed the stray, thick, black locks clinging to the clammy skin back, raking her nails through his scalp gently to comb them out of the way as he stirred. Cracking open one eye, Law looked up at her as she placed the flat of her hand to his cleared forehead.

Feeling a deepening ache of guilt as she confirmed he was definitely ill, she caught his gaze silently as he opened his other eye and assessed her. The intensity of her guilt amplifying when she realised he wasn't just doing that intellectual picking apart thing that he did when he seemed to be carefully scrutinising her behaviour, he was taking a critical, medical eye to her physical well-being despite his own condition. She'd gotten him sick, kicked him out of his bed and he seemed more concerned about her than himself _._

Wondering when exactly he had gotten this considerate or if he had always been this way and she'd just never noticed, Nayla sighed and stood straight, placing her hand over the one he was resting his head to and pulling on it gently as she stepped back.

Finally, resignedly agreeing to her unspoken beckon, Law got up from his chair gingerly to accommodate his increasingly sore muscles, allowing her to tug him gently to his room, too exhausted to put up a fight or a front about it.

Leading him to the side of the bed she had been sleeping on, she silently let go of his hand, picking up the blanket she usually slept under on the sofa from atop the bed's covers as he sat down on its edge.

Turning and beginning to lay it onto the sofa's cushions, she stopped and looked back at him when she felt his hand clasp around hers.

Pulling her gently back to the side of the bed, he kicked off his boots and swung his legs up onto the mattress, moving back a little and making room for her to lie down.

Seeing her hesitance and questioning look as she contemplated the offer of resuming her sleep on a _real_ mattress, Law tugged more firmly, causing her to rest her weight onto her knee and free hand as he pulled her past the bed's edge.

Tiredly climbing back onto it with a moan - part defeat, part relief, Nayla took the insistent invitation and lay down, turning onto her side and facing away from him with a pained noise as her tender muscles took her weight once more.

Law watched her immediately curl back up, pulling the covers up over them as if she were cold, her shoulders tensing as another shuddering chill ran through her.

Sliding a hand between the curve of her waist and the mattress, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to his chest comfortably as he draped his other over her beneath the covers.

Sighing in a strangely comfortable content as she felt his warm embrace and his hand rub up and down her arm, she smiled as he rest his face to the crook of her neck. "…I'm sorry I got you sick."

"It's fine." He managed out quietly, his voice a low, croaky rumble as he nestled against her skin.

Closing her eyes tiredly and wrapping her own arms over his around her torso, she found herself focusing on the soothing array of sensations he provided. His familiar scent, the warming glide of his hand back and forth on her arm, his secure hold, the steady beat of his heart pressed against her back - his chest meeting it more firmly with his every breath and those exhales tickling softly over the flesh of her neck and shoulder.

Feeling the way his lashes brushed against the hair he had trapped beneath his cheek with each tired blink as they got further and further apart, she smiled wider as she felt it finally stop as he fully relaxed and closed his eyes with a small sigh.

"…Well, you finally got me into bed with you."

"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind." He murmured tiredly.

Smiling despite himself as he heard her laugh a little at that, Law pressed his lips to her skin in a soft kiss, nuzzling more comfortably as he drifted to sleep with her in his arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't it just be awesome if Law could really cure your common cold or flu with his Devil Fruit? I'm just taking a guess for fun on how that would work, who knows if he can really use 'Scan' on viruses and things…if he can remove traces of drugs and poisons then maybe he can.
> 
> Chef Purser – Difficult to pinpoint the name of the occupational role of the person who checks tickets before boarding a ship but apparently the people that do it hold this title and have other responsibilities on board as well.
> 
> 94 - Useless random detail of the chapter: 9 (kyu) torture, 4 (shi) death, so 94 seemed like a fun and fitting cabin number for our sadistic Surgeon of Death.


	51. In sickness and in health

"Captain?"

Waking to the feel of a disgruntled groan rumbling in the chest behind her, Nayla cracked open an eye to look into the concerned face of Bepo crouching by the side of the bed, peering at her worriedly.

"You didn't call down or show up for breakfast, are you ok?"

"Fine, just a flu."

Hearing Law's voice sound out from beside her ear, she realised they hadn't moved an inch since falling asleep last night, she was still being held comfortably to his chest, though she didn't feel cold anymore.

"Can I get you anything? I'll bring breakfast - should I ask Kotta or Dean to come check on you two?"

Smiling tiredly as she watched Bepo's fretful gaze dart between her and his captain's face beside her, she fought the temptation to reach a hand out and pat his cute, fuzzy head affectionately, reminding herself for the hundredth time that he was a grown 'man' and a fearsome pirate, not a pet. It was difficult to keep that in mind sometimes; she frequently had to stop herself from gushing over him.

"No, I don't want anyone else sick…if they aren't already?" His voice sounded so tired. A dry, rough texture replacing his usual dulcet, smooth tone.

"Everyone else is fine, Captain."

"Good. If anyone else does fall ill, the usual applies. They are to stay in their cabins to minimise spread and Kotta _is_ to check on them regularly." Law sat up slightly, loosening his hold on her.

"What about you two?"

"We'll be fine, just get us some water and painkillers from next door."

"And breakfast?"

Looking up as Law leant over her with a questioning gaze, she shook her head. "No, it seems neither of us have much appetite. Just leave us to rest for now."

"Aye aye, Captain." Watching the bear get up to dutifully fetch what he'd asked for, Law reached over Nayla, picking up the painkillers and glass of water from the bedside cabinet's surface as they heard the concerned navigator hurry out of the room, closing the door to Law's quarters quietly behind him.

"Bepo can't catch our flu?"

Glancing down at her from around the rim as he took a sip and swallowed his pill, he held out the blister pack for her to take. "It's possible but much less likely. There's enough genetic difference between humans and Minkmen to offer them some immunities to strains of our illnesses and vice versa."

Humming in interest as she sat up a little, took her own tablet and set the items back onto the bedside cabinet, she looked up at Law as she lay back down. His bags were worse than usual, his clothing was dishevelled and even in the darkened room he looked ill – his usual bronze hue paler than normal and his hair a wild bedhead. How did he manage to still seem so attractive, even when sick? She didn't dare imagine how wretched she must look. Realising how long she'd been silently staring at him when he gave her a curious expression, she cracked a weary smile. "…You look awful."

Raising his brows momentarily before chuckling, he grasped her hand as he began lying back down beside her. "Your pillow talk could use some work, Nayla-ya."

Laughing quietly as he settled his chest to her back, she watched his arm drape back over her side on top of the blanket, hand still in his. "I somehow don't believe _you_ are much of a pillow talk expert. Probably toss women out of your bed as soon as you're done with them."

Chuckling but choosing not to confirm or deny her accusation, he slid his other arm beneath her, resuming his comfortable hold around her slender waist and resting his head to the pillow beside hers. "It's _your_ fault if I look awful."

"Dunno about that. Maybe _you_ caught this flu from that _bitch_ at the inn and gave it to me."

Smiling into her hair at the bitter tone her voice took at his last would-be conquest's mention, he closed his eyes tiredly. "Or, _you_ got it from Senator Orlen-ya and passed it on to me."

"Get real, I didn't kiss a seventy-two year old man." Feeling his widening grin of disbelief she weakly attempted to elbow him only to have him tighten his hold around her and prevent it. Giving up at trying to punish him for his taunting as she felt her exhaustion rapidly catch up to her, she sighed and relaxed comfortably against his chest instead. "Jerk."

Reluctantly smiling as she heard him chuckle, she lay there watching their intertwined fingers until her eyelids grew too heavy for her and eventually fell shut. Her last thought as she drifted off was how she'd never have imagined in a million years that reading the word 'D-E-A-T-H' wrapped so warmly around her own flesh could ever feel so comforting.

* * *

Setting her book down on the bedside cabinet as she finished it, Nayla slid back under the sheets of Law's bed, pulling them up to her chin with an achy groan as she succumb to her persistent headache.

Gladly setting aside her pirate 'romance' novel, for the moment anyway, to read the rest of the more intelligible one she had bought for Law on Amazon Lily had been enjoyable. Though she did sulk a little bit about him finishing it without her.

The fever had subsided after a full day and a half of crippling chills, she didn't feel too hot anymore but Nayla honestly couldn't remember much of her first three days of illness. They had been a blur of unconsciousness and feverish delirium that made her brief moments awake seem dream-like at best.

Aside from spending the majority of them drifting in and out of sleep in bed with Law, she'd just about managed to stay awake long enough to eat meaningless amounts of food, take painkillers and wash up in the bathroom.

Rolling over to face away from the porthole as the daylight continued to irk her headache, she glanced at his empty side of the bed. He'd been laid out by the flu pretty badly as well, though he had been back on his feet more or less by the end of day two and had managed to get up and get work done despite still recovering.

The 'quarantine' on his quarters was still in place though; he wasn't allowing any unnecessary contact between them and the crew and was taking his meals up here. Apparently, flu was contagious up to a week after the onset of symptoms and it was now day four, he intended to keep distance from the thankfully healthy crew until they were due to arrive at the next island in another two days.

Despite not being awake most of the time, for the hours that she was, she was beginning to feel quite lonely and bored. Law spent most of his time in the other room, the occasional turn of pages and gentle clatter of his pen to the wood told her he was working at his desk. Still on strict bed rest - doctor's orders, Nayla had begun spending what little time she wasn't asleep reading or absentmindedly doodling in her notebook.

Although she didn't feel like leaving bed anytime soon, the fact that Law had ordered her not to because he wanted her 'as recuperated as possible for her next job,' made her want to defy him on purpose. Who was he kidding, it wasn't about him wanting her well enough to work for him, he obviously cared about her wellbeing…at least a little bit, right?

Furrowing her brows at the empty spot beside her, she realised she wasn't sure who was kidding themselves. The nature of their…friendship? Had changed so drastically and so frequently lately that it was becoming more and more difficult to understand, despite her best efforts.

It may not have been his intention to do it, and Law probably hadn't even realised how little she thought she meant to him up until their walk back to the inn on Ashibumi in the snow, but he'd made her feel like she was worth a bit more to him than just a tool of convenience he'd happened across by accident and picked up…He'd definitely broken down a serious and very final wall between them by openly stopping another man's advances and making his own. Since then, physical contact had become almost casual and when she had fallen sick, his behaviour had been so warm, comforting, reassuring…remarkably affectionate…

Although, since managing to get on his feet after his two days laid out by the flu, his behaviour wasn't quite as tender as it had been. Sure Law did still come sleep in this bed with her at night but he'd begun keeping to his side entirely, there was no physical contact between them at all now. Sure he did come check on her frequently, but he'd begun speaking to her in a more aloof and neutral manner again.

It wasn't that he was being unkind in any way, he had still managed to find the energy to tease her here and there and laugh with (or at) her…everything was there as it always had been just, no more soft pecks or hand holding or anything.

Considering she'd been in such a sick haze, Nayla almost wondered if she'd just imagined the whole thing, if all those sweet kisses, intertwined fingers and warm embraces had just been a figment of her fever-induced imagination…but she was sure it happened, she even distinctly remembered thinking that she wouldn't ever believe Law was kissing and holding her the way he was then later.

Maybe it had just been his fever, or pity for how sick she'd gotten, or perhaps he'd worried she'd take his actions to mean more than they did. She wouldn't deny she missed them but could understand why he may have rethought the level and frequency of his intimate actions.

They were about physical attraction, she understood that. Granted, it wasn't an uncommon issue with women to generally mistake attraction for affection but she'd appreciate a little more credit than that…Though if that were the reason he' backed off a bit, then it made her wonder what kind of experience Law'd had with women in the past to make him so concerned she'd misread physical gestures for anything over than physical gestures.

Snorting quietly in amusement as the thought of a woman the morning after clinging on to Law and happily declaring her love for him and desire to have his babies after their wedding popped into her head, she stretched out languidly, her sore muscles protesting the much needed movement.

A label for what exactly they were to one another would be handy. Labels came with a set of presumed boundaries and rules of what was and wasn't ok, acceptable or expected, though she couldn't really think of a label to give them. They didn't really fit enough criteria to comfortably fit under any that she could think of…which brought her back to why she hated labels.

Doing what felt natural, comfortable or right was sufficient in her books, for the most part. Over thinking things or trying to forcibly fit into a category when it didn't come innately was often an oversimplification of human nature and interaction that usually ended up doing more harm than good.

Hearing footsteps just as she was drifting off to sleep, Nayla opened her eyes as Law walked into the bedroom, coming to a stop in her line of vision on his side of the bed and peering down at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Ok, I guess. Just wiped out." Dipping as he set a knee to the mattress and leant over to place a hand to her forehead, she fought back a smile at the action. "How about you? How are you feeling?"

"The same…though you seem to be fairing much more poorly." Removing his hand, he leant back and stood up.

"I _did_ tell you I get beaten down badly when I get the flu…Believe me now? Does this mean I get the meticulous Devil Fruit vivisection next time?"

Huffing in amusement, he moved to leave the room. "No promises, keep resting."

"Hey, Law? I finished that book…do you think I could read one of yours, please?"

"Tired of your silly choice of smutty pirate novel already?" He teased, glancing at said book under the one from Amazon Lily beside her, the dog-eared page marking her current place apparent from its side.

'Doesn't seem as interesting when I have my own, real-life pirate smut these days.' "No, I just feel like reading something a little different." She denied, glancing at the bedside cabinet on his side of the bed where she knew he kept the few fiction books he owned.

A couple of the mystery novel titles had stood out when she'd been snooping around for his dirt (that she _knew_ he had in here somewhere), perhaps she'd give one of those try. Nayla was genuinely curious to see what kind of stories he might enjoy reading in his leisure time and if there were any crazed serial killers that dismembered their victims in any of them. In that case, he'd probably be one of the few people more able to identify with the psychotic murderer rather than the protagonist of the story.

"Whatever keeps you quiet and well-behaved." He dismissed easily, following her gaze before turning to leave the room.

"Pfft, I swear you wouldn't like me half as much if I _were_ well-behaved." She scoffed, crawling over to his side of the bed and reaching into the open space beneath the drawer of the cabinet to rifle through the spines of the books.

Chuckling at the sad truth of that, he made his way back into his living quarters. "Who said I like you at all?"

Pursing her lips in amusement at his taunt, she watched him disappear past the side of the archway. " _You_ did, idiot." She muttered, smiling against the arm she set her chin to as she resumed walking her fingers through the spines of the books.

Stopping on the ironically accurate title that had caught her eye before, 'A Taste for Death,' she began sliding the thick novel out, pausing as her fingers felt a linear, uneven discrepancy beneath the front cover. Heart skipping a beat as she hoped she'd finally stumbled across a member of Law's _very_ difficult to find porn stash - which she was growing more and more certain must have been _beyond_ filthy if he went to this length to hide it, she pulled the book up, watching as something slipped out of it.

Excitement dipping as she realised it was simply another book that had been accidentally, partially swallowed by the cover of the one she was holding, she sighed and picked it up, turning its pale, sea-green cover over in mild curiosity.

Furrowing her brows as she read the title and gazed at the elegantly framed picture on its front, she wondered how a non-fiction book of a completely different topic had found its way there…Though admittedly, it piqued her interest more than a mystery novel did. It was slimmer too, which would suit her inability to stay awake reading for very long at a time before falling into another illness-induced snooze.

Pushing 'A Taste for Death' back into its vacant slot amongst the other books in Law's cabinet, she shuffled back to her side of the bed, lay on her side and propped her new choice of reading material open to the first page.

* * *

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru."

Looking at the prone woman curled up and slumbering in his bed, Law raised a brow at how sick and exhausted she must have been to remain in such a deep state of sleep with a ringing Den Den Mushi inches from her head. That or she was profoundly relaxed to have been able to sink into such a depth of sleep that she could dismiss all surrounding noises and movement as a threat worth waking to.

Setting her transponder snail onto the bedside cabinet as it stopped ringing and crouching down more comfortably next to the side of the bed - despite the soreness of his still-aching leg muscles, he observed her serene features. Her fevered sleep over the past few days had been fitful and disrupted by shudders; she was resting much easier now than she had been before her fever had broken.

Placing yet another palm to her forehead he confirmed she still felt a normal temperature before letting it slide to her cheek...It was amazing that not more than two weeks ago she had been too worried and wary of him to close her eyes and sleep in the same room. Here she was now, so comfortable and trusting of his presence that she could rest this deeply and not even stir when he touched her, in his bed no less...It was strangely pleasing that she felt that way about him now.

"Nayla-ya."

Though, he did find his growing fondness of her a little worrying…It was remarkably easy to become partial to her. She was funny – though often in the most annoying way that often threatened his authority. She had a bizarre imagination – which was oddly charming though absolutely, one hundred percent immature. She had a remarkably rare, innate thirst for knowledge – though her level of curiosity often proved troublesome. She was smart – academically at least, he found she could go either way in other areas. It certainly didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes…Of everything though, he found her open shows of affection towards his crew incredibly endearing…and the ones towards himself unsettling. It wasn't her possible feelings towards him themselves that disconcerted him but more his responses to them.

"Nayla-ya."

It was far too easy for his liking to return her gestures. Actions spoke louder than words…and sometimes he found he wasn't entirely sure what his were saying to her. He wasn't even sure what they were saying to him. As far as he had been concerned, she'd been an object of physical desire…Not that he didn't like her for her other qualities - he honestly couldn't recall the last time a woman had said 'no' to him, which seemed to simultaneously increase his respect _and_ desire for her…but his attraction had been quite simple to understand up until the somersault his heart had done in his chest when she'd been sat atop him in the snow...It was all a little confusing.

"Nayla-ya."

…Admittedly, she had been mostly right about him not being much of a 'cuddler' or one for pillow talk. There wasn't much worth saying to a stranger you took to your bedroom for one purpose and there was certainly no desire to intimately hold someone you'd only known for a few hours all night…at least not for him anyway…Nayla had been his first. In fact, she was the first woman that he'd ever shared his personal bed with. He didn't bring, and didn't' allow the crew to bring, strangers they hardly knew back to the vessel. For obvious security reasons.

" _Nayla-ya._ "

Though it had initially just been an act of kindness to warm her enough to sleep, it had soon benefitted him as well when his own chills had started later that night…Then it had just been enjoyable…comforting, calming…It felt nice having her tucked closely to his chest, inhaling the floral scent of her hair, feeling her fingers entwined in his…He could better appreciate now why she had spoken so fondly of the pleasures of curling up with a lover at night.

Between his distorted childhood, disrupted teenage years of finding a way to survive alone, the early days of forming his crew, shaping his goals and the emotional baggage and scars he'd been left with he'd simply never had what he'd call a 'real' or serious relationship with a woman. Nor had he ever really wanted one or thought the experience to be worth seeking…at least not until after his goal was achieved…if he survived it…She really did make him think of the stupidest things.

There was no guilt in admitting he liked her, as a person - certainly physically, and she'd be with them for a while yet. At best, he couldn't really see their relationship developing much further beyond 'friends with benefits,' though with how sick she had managed to get, he may have to wait a little while longer to have her at all...But they do say good things came to those that do and that nothing worth having is easily obtained…and as soon as Law deemed her well enough to withstand the absolute _ravaging_ he had in mind, he planned on giving it to her.

Smirking darkly at the thought he gripped her chin, leant in and kissed her gently, pulling away when he felt her stir and smiling wider at the slightly annoyed but mostly tired expression on her face.

"…Are you _really_ sexually assaulting a sick woman in her sleep?"

"I did try waking you the normal way." He chuckled, removing his hand as she groggily sat up a little bit.

"And when that doesn't work you start stealing kisses?" She sighed out, resting her back against the pillow behind her.

"Pirate." He reminded, earning a humoured huff from her as she took in the amused mischief in his grey eyes. "Your Den Den has been ringing, I believe your 'agent' would like a word with you."

"Oh, really?" She murmured tiredly, noticing her small snail staring at her blankly from the cabinet and reaching for it.

Standing from his crouch as she began dialling, Law instead sat on the edge of the bed, watching her reach for her notebook as the line began to ring. She slid her pen from its binding rings before flipping it open to a fresh page as the Den Den picked up but remained silent.

"Me, Marty."

Hearing the telltale croak of recent sleep in her voice, the snail sighed heavily in frustration. "Are you ever _not_ goofing off? It's the middle of the day, why are you missing calls and sleeping in?"

"…I'm sick." She deadpanned at it.

"…The sky is blue." It deadpanned back at her.

"Physically - _literally_ , you fucking…" Heaving a sigh of her own she rubbed the bridge of her nose in a bid for patience. "Moron."

"Oh and here I thought we were having a 'state the obvious' competition, apologies princess." His feigned surprise sounded as genuine as his apology did.

Nudging Law's back roughly with her foot as he snorted quietly in amusement at the sarcastic pet name; she pressed her pen to paper. "Just gimmie the job outline, without the sass please."

" _Jobs_. Got two lined up neatly for you from your new favourite. One 'Black Widow,' one war."

Law watched her stiffen a little as the mention of a job similar to her last came up. "Alright, am I murdering another big, bad, harmless pensioner for Mr. Joker?" She muttered in distaste.

"Hey, _you_ wanna work for him, I'm just lining up what you asked for."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Sorry, go on." She groaned, tapping her pen to the page in irritation and avoiding looking in Law's direction.

"You'll be happy to know, your guy is an utter scumbag."

"Oh, really?" Perking up, she set her pen to the first line of her blank page eagerly.

"Yup. Joker traffics a lot of illicit substances through the next island you're headed to – and I mean a lot. He's virtually the only root supplier in that area of the Grand Line so he earns big Berries there. The Kingpin drug dealer on Kounai who has been distributing for him however, has been screwing him over. Embezzling a lot of funds for himself. Joker's obviously not happy about it but everyone on that island works under the Kingpin, he has no feet on the ground there that he can trust to take care of this, that's where you come in."

"So, I'm supposed to kill Kounai's leading drug dealer? The guy and his staff have to be armed to the teeth - especially if they _know_ that Joker is pissed with him."

"Oh they do and he has about a six person thick bullet absorbing barrier around him at all times now a days, but that's fine, he's not your target. You're killing his beloved son. Joker would prefer the man got to live out the rest of his life in misery and regret than die for daring to screw him over."

"Wow…talk about vindictive shit…Please tell me the son isn't a kid…" Raising her brows at the snail before turning to Law, she silently made it clear she'd be killing no children by the look on her face, though he didn't look much happier at the prospect.

"I told ya your target is a scumbag. Don't worry, he's an adult and a real daddy's boy. Spoilt piece of shit all set to inherit daddy dearest's drug empire so he hasn't worked a day in his life. Sits on his ass riding his dad's coattails and does nothing but snort, drink and indulge himself with cheap women all day. I hear he's an absolutely annoying, arrogant prick-" Law narrowed his eyes as Nayla's gaze shot to his pointedly. "-bullies regular folk into getting what he wants, wrecks the establishments he visits, slaps women around. Kid thinks he's a rock star or something."

"Oh, well then, it'll be a pleasure. Rough details?"

"Nicky Dexi. White, six foot, around one hundred and eighty pounds – flab, not muscle, brown eyes, brown hair. No combat training, armed but has probably never fired a gun in his life. Seems to just use it to make himself look like a big shot. Daddy dearest usually has a few boys around him though, keeping him safe, though the number of them might be a little higher now a days. _They_ will be your problem - if you have any. Big guys, know how to use their guns and will probably have a pretty high threshold for skanky little women, seeing as the snot they spend their time guarding is usually coated in them."

Scoffing a little at that, Nayla hurriedly jot down the main points to keep in mind. "Anything else?"

"Nah not really, should be another easy one for you. I took a look at the routine this guy has. You're arriving on Kounai on a Saturday. Guy hangs out in the same place every Saturday night, you can take him out as soon as you get there. I'll have your payment from your last job handed to you with his information when you arrive but I doubt you'll even need to look through it. Just memorise the brat's face is all."

"Alright, easy enough." She yawned, leaning back against the pillow. "War job?"

"I'm sure you've seen the war on Pugna mentioned in the news over the last few months." She hadn't, she tended not to pay attention to things that didn't directly affect her but for professionalism's sake, she'd pretend she had. "There are some ships travelling there from Kounai, supply ships. They're sending food and medical aid to the citizens still undergoing evacuation from the warzone and I've arranged for you to be allowed to board one of these ships to get you where you need to go. It's due to set sail Sunday at dawn."

Halting her pen at that, she glared at the snail, unimpressed. "So, you've left me no choice and no time. I _have_ to kill Nicky De-whatever on Saturday."

"Can't handle it?" The snail mocked smoothly.

"Of course I can you're just not exactly leaving me much time to rest. Week at sea, a job within hours of arriving at the next island, grabbing a ship to the next job within hours of _that_. Working me like a dog, as usual. I've been ill ya know."

"Pfft, you could kill a guy of _this_ calibre in your sleep and the ship from Kounai to Pugna takes at least five days. You'll have plenty of time to sleep it off."

"Gee, thanks. Remind me of the gist of the war."

"Eh, some territorial dispute. Boring, unimportant shit that isn't worth the lives it costs. The usual."

"And, which side am _I_ fighting on?"

"Neither actually. Joker _is_ supplying one side with heavy artillery - and I mean heavy artillery, like tanks, anti-tank guns, autocannons, mortars, rocket launchers et cetera, but he wants you to go in there and destroy them all."

"…What?"

"You heard me. He wants you to behave as though you are fighting in support of the side he has no dealings with and obliterate _all_ the heavy artillery he has supplied to their opponents beyond repair so that he can resell their destroyed equipment to them."

Giving Law an annoyed look, Nayla bit the inside of her cheek. "So he's fucking the people that are doing business with him, again."

"Yes and they aren't to find out he hired you."

"And the other side? The ones it looks like I'm helping? What am I supposed to say to them?"

"He doesn't care. As long as his name never comes up, he honestly doesn't care what it looks like you're there to do. Just ruin the artillery. He's supplied them with so much that he's hiring you for your full three week maximum contract to ensure you have enough time to destroy it all."

Looking at the pirate on the edge of the bed in obvious distaste, he nodded sternly, indicating she was to agree to it. "Got it." She grumbled, shaking her head and jotting down the rough outline of the job.

"Good. I'll have the information for both jobs and your previous one's payment enclosed together. Give me a call when you're on the ship to Pugna."

"Sure, later Marty."

Rolling her eyes as the snail hung up without a word of goodbye, she slapped her notebook shut, thread the pen through its wire ring spine and set it back atop the bedside cabinet.

"Real nice, this Joker guy of yours." She muttered, feeling the edge of the book she'd fallen asleep reading poking into her side beneath the covers and reaching for it

"Not 'mine' Nayla-ya, I-…" Looking up at Law as he trailed off, she followed his gaze to the book she'd pulled out before looking back at him curiously.

He wanted to ask where she'd found it but already knew where he left it. He wanted to ask if that was the book she'd been reading all day but already knew it was. He wanted to ask her to stop looking at it and put it back but didn't want to make her feel as though it held any significance to him.

The fact he even owned that book had been completely forgotten, it's existence hadn't crossed his mind once since unpacking it alongside his other belongings the first time he and his crew had boarded the sub. It wasn't exactly something he read often, in fact, he hadn't read it in years but had held onto it nonetheless out of a misplaced, meaningless sentimentalism.

Realising he hadn't said anything and had been staring blankly at the item in her hand for some time now; Law glanced back up at Nayla, glimpsing the concern on her face before getting up. "Go back to sleep, get some rest before Bepo brings dinner." He said levelly, avoiding her eye contact as he picked up her Den Den Mushi to return it to his desk.

"…Sure…" Watching him start to leave the room, she called after him. "Law, are you ok?"

Surprised to hear him mutter a barely audible 'fine' without looking back at her as he entered his living quarters, she stared at the hardback in her grasp, wondering what it was about a book on Flevance that could have rattled him so deeply.

* * *

Shouldering her duffel bag, Nayla made her way down the stairs to the second floor of the sub. It felt surreal to finally be out of Law's quarters and to even be awake awake this many hours consecutively at a time. It felt as though she'd slept full days of her life away.

Though admittedly, after nearly a whole week of bed rest, nutritious, flu-friendly soups and light meals and a pushy, but well-meaning doctor constantly checking on, waking and nagging her to take fluids and painkillers…she was feeling a lot better. No fever, no aches, just a residual tiredness that she guessed would take its usual week or two extra to fully fade away…She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been sick and had someone there to help her or care for her, maybe not since her parents had been around?

Getting sick now a days usually meant holding up in a rented room somewhere suffering in silence. Nothing could make you feel more lonely, unloved and sorry for yourself as enduring a flu alone without another soul around to utter a word to for days, too tired and in too much pain to even leave your own bed. There was nothing pleasant about getting sick but, as far as getting sick went, this experience, like many others aboard the Heart Pirate's sub, had been a welcome change to what she had become used to.

Pulled from her inner thoughts as she heard the usual loud raucous of joyful voices coming from the rec room down the hallway, she smiled, suddenly feeling excited to see the crew again. It felt like it had been forever since she had.

Law had left her to shower and get dressed, telling her to come down to the rec room when she was ready. They were due to arrive at Kounai soon and the crew were gathering up here until then…Aside from pulling back a little on the physical contact and sweet gestures, he'd been a little off lately, since he'd seen her reading that book.

Worried to ask about it and deciding that it probably wasn't any of her business, she'd had plenty of time to reflect and speculate on what it was that seemed to have bothered him instead. Like her, Law was from the North Blue and like her, would have been a child old enough to have heard about and be able to comprehend the tragedy unfolding in nearby Flevance. He hadn't specified whereabouts in the North Blue he was from in particular but maybe he'd lived close enough to The White City to have been negatively affected by what had been going on in it, maybe even know someone who'd lived there or had family members there. Perhaps he'd bought the book because he was simply curious about the nature of Amber Lead Syndrome from a medical point of view…

Nayla had been fortunate enough to have not known anyone from Flevance and to have been far away enough to have really not been affected by it at all. It had simply been a horrendously sad and frightening news story that had been constantly reiterated day and night through local media and 'boring grown-up talk' over and over and over again. Something her blissful, childish self had paid little mind to, seeing as it didn't have much impact on her selfish young existence.

Choosing to continue reading it out of curiosity, she'd watched Law's face carefully when he'd come into the room to find her with it but he hadn't reacted in the slightest. If it did bother him that she'd continued to read it then he'd certainly masked it well…Well enough that she was beginning to question whether she'd misinterpreted his initial reaction to it somehow…Though her intuition told her that was wrong. She'd been around Law long enough now to begin to notice cracks in his mask, when he chose to wear it…especially cracks _that_ big.

The thought pushed itself from her mind as she heard a roar of laughter coming from inside the room as she approached it, pursing her lips in amusement; she pushed the door open quietly, peering in. The warm, golden glow of the sun setting on the horizon was filtering in dazzlingly through the portholes, illuminating the large room and its inhabitants in a cheerful, bright hue.

"-I swear, I've never hightailed it outta any place faster. You shoulda _seen_ the size of this guy, had no idea the woman married a freaking gorilla bodybuilder. Jumped out the second story window butt-naked and ran."

Laughing quietly under her breath as she pieced together the context of Jeff's sordid story, Nayla slipped inside the room silently, setting her duffel bag to the carpet beside the door as she looked around the room. Most of the crew were gathered around one seating area, sat on the sofa's facing a central coffee table, casually sipping their drinks as they relaxed and awaited their arrival.

"You'd live a lot god damn longer if you could keep it in your pants once in a while, geez." Connor sighed out, unimpressed with his friend's antics.

Spotting her arrival from his seat facing the door, Penguin's brows raised, removing the bottle from his lips as he made to greet her but she held a finger up to her lips to indicate he and the others sitting beside him be quiet as she tiptoed stealthily to the sofa opposite his, Jeff and Connor's backs to her as they sat on it, intending to surprise them with her arrival after not seeing them all in what seemed like so long.

"Like you're one to talk, acting all high and mighty and stuff. You're as bad as I am, just quieter about it." Jeff chuckled.

Glancing at Law as she spotted him lying casually on a sofa to the side of the room, back resting against Bepo's side, his smirk widened beneath the brim of his pushed forward hat as he watched her playfully sneak up on her unsuspecting prey.

"Ain't that the truth, weren't you flirting with that pretty little married thing a coupla months ago?" Shachi teased, giving her a toothy grin as he nudged Penguin beside him.

"I didn't _know_ she was married until her hubby came barrelling out the back with a pool stick! Not like she _said_ anything. If I _know_ a woman's off the table, I leave 'em alone. _I_ don't have a death wish." Connor grumbled, looking at the man next to him pointedly.

"Aww come on, name _one_ time in the last mont-"

"Nayla." Stopping a few feet behind the sofa, she raised her brows in surprise at her mention.

"She's not _taken_ …per se." Jeff defended, rubbing his chin as he glanced up at the ceiling in thought.

"You knew before anyone on board she'd end up with Captain and yet you _still_ couldn't help but go for a grope, you dirty animal."

Looking over at Law, he said nothing, simply lay there quietly listening intently to the conversation as he watched her reaction in amusement. She wouldn't have been surprised if the crew had failed to remember he was in here and could hear them, he'd left his quarters to go to the rec room a long time ago and had probably remained silent and out of their line of sight long enough for them to have relaxed and forgotten about him.

"Had to get one in before she ended _up_ taken, can't very well get one in _after_ she is now can I?" Jeff justified.

"Still, Captain's? I swear you'll be the only crewmember he _actually_ hauls off and kills someday." The mechanic snorted.

"No kidding, only a matter of time 'til you march to your death dick-first." Jake sighed.

"That'd make an interesting obituary." Shachi laughed.

"And tombstone." Penguin added.

"Here lies Jeff. Suicide. Died dick-first." Another crewmate chipped in, reading out an imaginary tombstone with a swipe of his hand.

"Here lies Jeff…or at least what pieces we found once Cap was done with 'im for touchin' his girl." The man beside him added, earning a roar of laughter from the crew.

Rolling her eyes at the imaginary claim their captain had on her, Nayla rest her hands to her hips, feeling Law's entertainment at her expense practically radiating towards her from his side of the room.

"Ah come on, it was harmless and meaningless. Tits as big as that, come on, you gotta. Just a lil feel, one for the road." Jeff dismissed casually.

Feeling her face morph into a deadpan as she stared at the back of his head, she heard Penguin clear his throat and attempt to move the conversation along in a valiant attempt to steer his crewmate away from the impending beating he may be on his way to earning. "Uh, so-" He glanced at Shachi for help but the man simply shrugged. "-how hot was that wife with the gorilla husband did you say?"

"One for the…Don't you respect Captain or his orders at all?" Ichirou grouched in annoyance from one of the side sofas, a chorus of disgruntled agreements, head nods and stern looks Jeff's way.

"Oi oi oi! Women be damned, I'd lay my life down for him in the blink of an eye without him ever asking me to. Don't _ever_ question my loyalty to or respect for Captain again." Jeff warned seriously, pointing an index finger at him, earning their silence before he relaxed back into his seat. "Besides, even if he wasn't my captain, I'd still consider him my friend. No woman, no matter how hot, comes before my friends. Bros before h-"

"I _dare_ you to finish that sentence." He bolted off the sofa and whipped around to face her as Nayla spoke into his ear, the other crewmembers erupting into laughter.

Holding a hand to his chest, he exhaled the breath he had suddenly held. "G-Geez, you spooked me, lil l-"

"Who's a ho?" She pressed, walking around the sofa towards him as he cleared his throat, Connor giving him a gloating grin from his seat as he crossed his arms.

"N-No one, not you! I didn't mean it like th-"

"That's what I damn well thought you dirty little bastard. Go get me a drink."

"Yes ma'am." Tipping his cap and bowing apologetically, he weaved out through the spaces of the other sofas around the coffee table towards the bar as she sat in his seat.

"How you feeling, sweetie?" Connor greeted with a smile over the laughter of the crew as they watched Jeff make his retreat to the bar area at the other side of the room.

"Much better, thanks." She smiled, relaxing her gaze as it settled onto him.

"Nice to finally see ya again, Nayla-chan." Shachi beamed at her.

"Yeah, we were starting to get nervous that Captain had finally lost his temper and did away with you in there." Penguin chuckled half-seriously.

"We were worried about ya, hun. Heard you got hit pretty hard by that flu, good to see ya up and about finally. The soups ok?" Jake asked.

"Amazing, thank you for those."

"Anytime." He beamed, as Jeff hurried back over with a rapidly poured drink to appease her.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Nayla asked, taking it from him as he held it out and settled to the carpet beneath his former seat, wisely choosing not to ask for it back.

"Jeff's dick." Ichirou muttered unimpressed, his unexpected bluntness causing her to pull her drink away from her lips before she took a sip as she snorted with laughter.

"Wow, alright. Interesting topic."

"Oh, it is." Jeff craned his head up to flash a cheeky grin from beside her legs as he rest his arms over his bent knees.

"We were just talking about women in general actually. Perv always comes up, naturally." Penguin corrected, gesturing at the man on the floor beside her.

"I bet." She muttered, still on the receiving end of his suggestively waggling eyebrows, slapping a hand to his hat and sliding it forward over his face to correct the issue. "What is his problem anyway?" She asked, turning to Connor.

Watching his friend struggle to remove the hand over his face through his hat, he raised his amber eyes back up to hers with a deadpan. "You'd have to be more specific."

"I mean his deal, with women. What is his problem?"

"Loving women is _not_ a problem." Jeff disputed, voice muffled beneath the soft fabric of his hat as he stopped his one-handed struggle to point an index finger up in her general direction.

"I dunno, he's always been like that. Ever since the day I met him." Connor shrugged, ignoring the man as he finally managed to remove the hand and hat Nayla was making a mild attempt to smother him with.

"Since the day you met him, huh."

"More like since the _moment_ I met him." The mechanic muttered in distaste.

"What, did he harass your sister or something?" Nayla asked, giving Jeff a knowing look as Jake's sister crossed her mind. Raising a brow, she watched as Jeff's grin suddenly widened and Connor abruptly tensed angrily beside her.

"Don't."

"It wasn't his sis-"

"Don't." The mechanic warned again, leaning forward with a stern glare.

"What's there to be ashamed of, man? Your m-"

"I will kick your teeth in." Connor hissed, raising an index finger of his own at him.

Nayla looked between the two as they silently stared off for a long moment, Connor readying to get out of his seat to make due on his threat and Jeff openly contemplating if it were worth it. A glance up at the other men in the room told her they were hoping he would decide it was, obviously in the know of whatever this was about.

…

"Your mom's hot."

"That does it you fucker, how many times do I gotta tell ya not to talk about my mother!" Connor yelled, slamming his drink down to the coffee table as he got up from his seat and crouched over Jeff with a fist raised.

"Take it as a compliment!" He defended, holding both hands up.

Blinking in shock as Connor knocked him flat to the ground, Nayla looked across the table at the other men as they rooted for him to win, laughing at the two wrestling on the floor as he tried to land a solid punch to his friend's face.

"...So they met because Jeff came onto Connor's mom?" She asked, moving her leg out of harm's way as the two fought beside her on the carpet.

"Phrasing."

"He wishes."

A couple of them snickered before Shachi cleared his throat and spoke up over the noise. "Apparently, when they were kids, Connor came home and caught Jeff around the side of his house, playing peeping Tom outside his mom's…bedroom?" He asked Penguin beside him.

"Bathroom. Was watching her shower." He corrected, taking a sip of his drink through his grin.

"The two of 'em had it out and have been as thick as thieves since." Shachi chuckled, watching Connor headlock Jeff.

"What the f-…How _old_ were you?" Nayla asked him in shock.

"T-Thirteen." Jeff gasped out, trying to remove Connor's forearm from around his neck.

"Geez, how did you two end up friends after _that_?"

"Oh well, Connor went crazy, started kicking my ass. You'd be surprised how hard an eleven year old can hit when they're mad." He chuckled out raspily. "His _mommy_ heard the commotion, wrapped a towel around her and – oh, hers are nearly as big as yours by the way-gh." Choked silent by the increased force Connor used, he answered her instead, convinced his friend would push him into a homicidal rage if he allowed him to keep talking.

"My mom saw me _rightfully_ beating the crap out of him, ran out to break us up and _invited_ the idiot in. Forced _me_ to apologise to him, tended to his boo boos – which he completely over exaggerated and milked by the way!-" He shot Jeff a dirty look at the memory, before turning back to her. "-And then insisted we walk him back to his house to explain the bruises to his dad and somehow we ended up befriending his family. His brothers aren't a lot better than he is." He muttered, deciding Jeff had been deprived of enough oxygen and releasing him, standing upright.

"You didn't tell your mom what he was doing to have made you kick his ass in the first place?" Nayla asked, watching Jeff rub his abused throat.

"Course I did! My mom forgave him, just laughed it off as 'boys will be boys.'"

"Wow, your mom is a saint."

"Oh Linn is, she's gorgeous too." Jeff chimed in, earning a glare from Connor as he turned and looked back down at him, silently warning him to say another word.

…

"Where do you think Conny gets his pretty eyes come from?" Jeff beamed up at him cheekily.

"You don't know when to shut up do you?" His friend said darkly, cracking his knuckles before hovering over him and reaching down for a fistful of his boilersuit.

"Connor." They all turned to glance at Law as he spoke up, reminding them of his presence – which admittedly, even Nayla had quickly forgotten about after sitting down.

"Aye aye, Captain." He sighed, releasing his friend reluctantly.

Flashing him a triumphant grin, Jeff earned himself a harsh thump to the head as he started sitting up. "Ow!"

"Whoops." Connor muttered, 'accidentally' bumping into the man as he walked past to retake his seat.

"So you've just always been woman-crazy? No rhyme or reason to it?" Nayla laughed, looking at him slightly pitifully as he winced and rubbed the back of his scalp.

"Pretty much." His jaded friend answered for him, settling beside her with a sigh.

"That's not true at all." Jeff mumbled, resting his back against the foot of the sofa beside her legs once more before removing his cap to rub the bruise that was no doubt forming underneath it.

"Oh? Then what _is_ your deal, with women?" Looking up at her in surprise as he felt her fingers run soothingly through his chestnut locks over his tender spot, he smiled at her, lowering his hand from it.

"You mean aside from women just being gorgeous, fragrant, bewitching, goddesses and boobs just being the most amazing thing ever?"

Laughing in amusement she rubbed his abused head gently as he leant it against her leg comfortably. "Yes, apart from that."

"Well, my mom passed away when I was too young to remember her, so growing up, I only had my dad and my brothers - I was the middle of five boys." He added brightly, making her raise her brows and wonder briefly what it would be like to be around five versions of Jeff at one time. Six, if he'd picked up his behaviour from his father.

"Dad is a lumberjack by trade, so we lived on the edge of town, by the woods so that he could work. That meant school was too far away for us to travel to each day so we were home schooled by him and our elder bros. We had no neighbours and we only went into town once in a while for some groceries here and there. So day to day life was spent around a bunch of dirty, smelly rough-housing bastards of little boys in an old wooden shack of a house out by the forest. Camping, hunting, hard labour, gross games that boys play…Then going into town and seeing all those pretty girls?"

Laughing a little at the bright awe that took to his features and the practical glitter to his green eyes she smiled down at him, getting the idea of why he developed such a strong…'liking' of women. "They were so cute!...And clean and soft, ugh and they smelt sooo nice. So gentle and caring…ya know? Just so different, in all the right ways, to my brothers…I mean I nearly called you a ho behind your back, what, five minutes ago? And women are so sweet and nuturely that you just can't help but-ah, ah…" He scrunched his eyes shut as she tugged a fistful of his hair threateningly.

"Don't remind me."

"Right." Wincing he breathed a sigh of relief as she released it and resumed stroking his sore spot kindly instead.

"Anyway...so you and Connor, just like that, you guys became best buds and ended up wanting to be pirates together?"

"Pretty much. Took lil Conny here under my wing, taught him everything he knows about women." Nayla snickered at the toothy grin on Jeff's face as he looked at his friend and the amused snort the man gave in response. "And spend my life travelling the world meeting beautiful and exotic women at every island? Why not?"

"Why not a sailor, or a merchant or even a marine? Why as a pirate?"

"Because he'd get fired from the first two and dishonourably discharged from the third. Being a travelling outlaw is the _only_ way to get away with his behaviour without consequences." Connor clarified, earning chuckles from the other crewmembers and no attempt at denial from the man in question as he rest his elbow onto the sofa cushion beside her leg and turned to face her more comfortably.

"And you guys just couldn't bear to part ways so 'Conny' decided to become one with you?" Nayla teased slightly, looking back at him.

"Hell no, I was an apprentice mechanic. Working under the best one on the whole island by the docks, but the island was small though, ya know? Limited variety of work, nothing too stimulating or challenging. Ultimately, I planned on leaving to go carve out a career with more interesting work. Then Captain rocks up to our backwater island with big cash, amazing blueprints, a basic sub and a lotta materials looking for a quiet place where he and his crew could hire some extra hands to help build this baby up without being disturbed by authorities."

"And you fell in love with the sub whilst working on it?"

"Better. Connor, even as an apprentice, had an exceptionally talented eye. He suggested some very innovative improvements to the ideas we had in mind for adjusting the submarine's ship hybrid functions. I asked him to join the crew."

Looking over at Law as he cracked an eye open and smiled proudly in their direction at one of his head mechanics, she felt the man in question fidget beside her under his captain's praise. "So you asked _Connor_ to join you...Then what was Jeff?"

"Excess baggage." Penguin immediately supplemented.

"Cabin-filler." Shachi offered.

"Oi!" Snickering at his offence and patting his head soothingly as his crewmates laughed at him, she turned back to Law as he spoke up again.

"It never hurts to have another strong fighter on board, especially not one that is as sharp a shooter as Jeff is. Besides, having his childhood friend on board would make Connor happy – despite what he may say about it. Happy crewmembers with meaningful bonds to one another makes for a stronger and more unified crew." He corrected, closing his eye and resting his head back comfortably again.

Smiling at that, she belatedly realised Jeff's mentioned talent, looking back down at him. "You're a gunman?"

"Yup, lived out in the sticks and hunted dinner more often than not. Dad taught us how to shoot so that we could take on some of the workload for him at home. You start _that_ early, believe me, you get to be a good shot."

"I've never seen you armed though…" Come to think of it, she rarely saw the crew really armed that much, even when fighting the marines.

"Strong enough without 'em." Jeff waved dismissively.

"We only bother arming up and carrying our weapons if we actually expect a decent fight. Burden carrying them around all the time otherwise." Shachi added.

"So what about you, sweetie?"

"Hmm?" She turned to Connor curiously.

"We told you a little about us, what about you?"

"Yeah, we hardly know anything about ya, lil lady. What's _your_ deal?"

Silently pursing her lips and feeling as though she'd walked right into that question, Nayla felt the sudden sensation of grey eyes on her, glancing up at the other the crewmembers as they seemingly perked up and lowered their drinks in curiosity as well.

Shifting a little uncomfortably at the sudden amount of attention she was on the receiving end of, she clasped the drink on her lap with both hands as Jeff pulled his hat back on. "…Um, well that's fair enough, I guess. What did you want to know?"

"Well…for starters, where'd ya come from? Any sist-siblings? What was _your_ childhood like - how'd a dainty lil thing like you end up a mercenary?"

"Weeell I grew up in North Blue too, only child, uh…regular childhood I guess, aside from being pretty spoilt."

"You were rich?"

"No no, nothing like that. Just had two well-earning parents and no siblings to compete with for toys and other things I wanted. Private schooling, a nice house, that sorta thing."

"Private schooling huh, the type with uniforms." Jeff nodded in approval, fingers to chin. "So I take it you were a smarty-pants too then. Did you go to college?"

Feeling grey eyes focus on her more intently as the question came up, she chewed her lip subconsciously as she tried to find the right words. "Um, well, I tried to. I mean I just got in and started and stuff but uh…family life kinda, fell through last minute so I lost all my funding for it. Mom got too sick to work and dad divorced her and left us shortly afterwards which meant I was suddenly saddled with paying for her medical bills plus our family home with no job. Top it all off our family dog was getting on in years and decided that would be a good time to start getting sick too so…"

"Geez, so you dropped out?" Dean asked, exchanging a pitied look with Jake beside him.

"I begged the college to hold my place and give me a chance to get a job and earn the money I needed for my tuition. The best they could do was defer my entry until the next academic year, so I had twelve months to build up the funds to save the spot I earned on that course."

"…Did you manage?"

"If she did, do you think she'd be here? A mercenary? Use your head." Ichirou muttered, elbowing Dean in the side for asking a question that obviously didn't have a happy answer.

Shaking her head, she leant back more comfortably against the seating, rubbing the condensation on her glass away with her thumbs. "No, it was impossible. I'd never worked before, no one wanted to hire someone with no experience and when I finally did find someone willing to hire me, it was just minimum wage. I even took on two jobs, day and night shifts. Barely slept a wink, worked myself to the bone but between the medical costs for my mom and dog plus all the bills, I could barely put aside a penny for school…I failed to earn the money to go back, I lost the place they were holding for me. Then my mom died, then my dog died, then I lost the house. I ended up drowning in debt that wasn't even my own, alone and homeless within that year."

"Damn…" Connor sighed out under his breath, resting his head back.

"S-Sorry, lil lady…I didn't realise…"

"Its fine it was a while ago, besides, it's not like other people in this room haven't had hard times either, right? It could have been worse."

"Yeah, that's true. Quite a few of the crew have their fair share of rough patches, you aren't alone there, hun." Jake chimed in brightly, looking at Ichirou beside him, making her wonder if the other chef had had a hard time as well.

"Sooo…after that, how'd you end up as a mercenary, Nayla-chan?" Penguin asked cautiously.

"I ended up wandering aimlessly for a long time after that…I honestly can't remember a lot of what happened to me during that time, I think I was just in a shell-shocked daze. I ended up stumbling across an army camp at the borders of a war-torn country that were desperate for recruits. That meant food, medical care and shelter to me at the time so I 'informally' enlisted and eventually they offered me a temporary, off-the-books contract seeing as I was actually doing a pretty good job for some random, untrained nineteen year old that just wandered onto the battlefield someday…Seemed like a pretty sweet gig at the time, certainly wasn't qualified for much else. So I just kinda, fell into it by accident I guess and been doing it ever since."

"Didn't imagine there was that much baggage behind that pretty smile of yours, lil lady." Jeff offered with a low whistle. "Still, you did good for yourself though."

"Yeah, musta been hard. You managed to get back on your feet though, that's the important part." Connor rest a reassuring hand to her shoulder and gave her a warm smile.

"Better days ahead for sure." Shachi offered with a bright grin, hoisting his drink up.

"Yeah, to better days." Penguin agreed, doing the same.

"For all of us."

"Here here!"

"Cheers!"

Feeling her chest swell as she looked around the sunny room, at the warm expressions and raised drinks, she couldn't help but smile widely and raise her own. "Cheers." She agreed, clinking her glass with Connor's beside her before taking a sip with them, toasting in happier days for everyone.

"You know what they say, hun. Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." Jake beamed at her.

Feeling Law's gaze still on her, Nayla chanced a glance his way, able to guess from his neutral expression that he was already inwardly poking holes and filling in the deliberately blank spaces of her story.

"No, it just leaves a scar." She mused quietly in response.

* * *

"Do you _really_ have to tag along for this?" Nayla grumbled as she counted the number of alleys they passed whilst strolling through the night streets.

"You haven't given me much choice, Nayla-ya. You've already made two attempts to escape in the last two weeks."

"Fine, wait here a sec." She sighed, shoving her duffel bag into his free hand as she stopped at the third alley on the right after 'Randy's Bar' and ducked into the narrow, dark crevice.

Peering around the corner, Law watched her weave her way past the trash bags and around a dumpster to a suspicious-looking man concealed in the shadows at the end, leant against the brick wall of the building behind him. Tossing his cigarette down and stomping it out under his boot, he briefly exchanged a few quiet words with her before handing over the two envelopes tucked beneath his arm, pushing off from the wall and walking further into the alley towards the opening to the street on the other side of this row of buildings without looking back.

Quickly peeling the thinner slip of manila open and sliding out the top page, Nayla looked at it carefully for a moment before returning it and trotting back through to the street, towards Law. Unzipping the bag he was holding she quickly and subtly slid both envelopes inside before closing it back up.

"That's it?" He questioned, striding to catch up to her and letting the fact she'd begun walking without taking her baggage back from him slide for now in favour of pursuing his curiosity.

"Yup, one's payment, one's info. Photo on the top page, only needed to see his face." Nayla replied briefly, glancing around to make sure they were still alone on the street, unheard and unseen. "Sorry but I don't think I'm going to be getting anything useful about you-know-who from this one. It's gonna be a real quickie…You're welcome to keep the file on it though, if you want to. I'll just take out the war info for myself for tomorrow."

Humming in acknowledgement, he unzipped the bag, making her turn back to look at him in warning as he reached in. "I won't remove anything." He reassured, well aware she was trying to ensure her brief, but shady-looking exchange hadn't drawn more attention or suspicion than necessary if it had been seen.

"Then what do you want?" She asked, watching his tattooed hand squeezing something - one of the envelopes from the crunching, paperish sound the action was eliciting.

Raising a brow as he felt the number of thick wads of bound cash within, he opened the bag a little more to look inside at it, as if to verify what he'd been feeling in disbelief. "Just how much did you get paid?"

Turning away to look at the street signs coming up ahead, she smiled deviously to herself. "A lot. Offing a well protected public figure all alone, minimally armed _and_ staging the scene? That's not a cheap job."

"That's still a _lot_."

"My rates are high because I have a good track record. I've earned the right to have high fees for my work…Give me that." She muttered, reaching over and pulling her bag away from him when he stopped focusing on her to explore the other contents of it in mild interest.

Chuckling as she zipped it back up and slung it over her shoulder, he tucked his free hand into his pocket – his jeans pocket. He'd forsaken his usual hoodie for a light, button shirt. Kounai was a summer island and although they'd arrived in the evening, it was still warm out…He'd kept his hat though. 'No separating him from that, apparently,' she mused, glancing up at it in thought and wondering if it held some kind of sentimental value to him or if it were a gift from someone special or something.

"Do you really expect to simply find this man at his usual hangout tonight, waltz in, kill him and waltz out, Nayla-ya?"

"Absolutely, except replace 'waltz' with 'strut.' If Marty says he's gonna be there _and_ is so confident about it that he's already booked me another job to leave for tomorrow, then believe me, he's there. That man is worth way more than his twenty percent cut."

"...Thirty."

Scowling at the reminder of the extra ten percent he was now costing her, she narrowed her eyes at Law's smug smirk, though followed his gaze to look at the shop window they were passing when something seemed to have caught his interest.

They were in a fairly rough part of the industrious area of the town. There was little else here but blue collar bars and merchants that sold equipment needed for local, laborious jobs; mostly safety equipment, tools, materials and the like. Open late to accommodate the dockyards and factories that continued their businesses well into and sometimes throughout the night.

Coming to a stop beside Law as he paused at the glass looking at the thick carriers, crates, sacks and tool belts on display, she watched him in surprise as he began making his way to the entrance. "Hey, where are you going? I need to go get my job done."

"This won't take a moment, Nayla-ya." He said without looking back, pulling open the door.

Sighing at his back, she trotted to catch up and followed him inside, glancing around at the various storage and transport equipment hung up on the side walls, and displayed on shelving.

"What do _you_ need from a shop like this?" She asked, eyes falling onto the silent owner at the back of the store as he bit his lips and clasped his hands in front of him, watching them (Law) nervously.

Ignoring her, he zeroed in on the items of interest as he spotted them displayed in neat rows within a box on the far end of the retailer's wooden counter. A variety of small, burlap pouches arranged by size, colour and design.

Reaching for a small, plain one, Law turned it over in his hand, examining it briefly as Nayla stood beside him. "If you insist on buying me jewellery, I'd much prefer you give it to me in a pretty box or at least a colourful _velvet_ pouch." She commented, leaning on the counter and looking at the item in his hand curiously.

He spared her a mildly amused side-glance though spoke to the man in front of them. "I'd like one hundred of these."

"O-Oh well, I don't have quite that many in stock at the moment, s-sir." The middle-aged man stuttered out, fiddling with the edge of his tattered work apron.

"How many do you have at the moment?" He asked, replacing the item as he turned his piercing, steel eyes to the merchant behind the counter.

"Around fifty or so in stock b-but I can have the rest made and ready for you by tomorrow evening if you'd like?"

"Good, I'll have someone come pick them up by this time tomorrow." Turning on his heel as the man nodded his agreement, Law made his way back to the door, Nayla in confused tow.

"…What do you need a hundred burlap pouches for?"

Opening the door and allowing her out first, he said nothing but gave her a knowing, sinister and unsettling smile.

* * *

Double checking the street name then the worn, wooden sign hung above the doorway once again, Nayla observed the old, run down, brick building that spilled loud, rowdy laughter and cheap, red-tinted lighting out onto the concrete around it in distaste. "Wow, you'd think the son of the most prominent drug lord on the island would pick a less rundown piece of crap bar to hang out in, huh?"

Humming sceptically from beside her as they looked at the establishment from across the street, Law tapped a finger to his nodachi's sheath in thought.

"Listen, no need to come in with me." Setting her bag down by their feet, she crouched and dug inside the small side pocket. "If you need to keep an eye on me then do it from outside – _subtly_. I don't need any of his armed guards tipped off, thanks." She quipped, painting over her lips with the high shine gloss she'd plucked out before tossing it back in.

"You really expect me to stand out here waiting for you all this time?" Law grumbled, watching her rub her lips together to even out the fresh, moist coat as she stood and ruffled her hair up a little.

"I didn't _expect_ you to do anything, _you_ insisted on being here." She reminded, lowering her hands to rest on her hips as she shot him a look. "And don't worry, these jobs don't take long. Especially not when the client doesn't give a damn about when, where or how you off the person. Much less time and planning needed than the previous one. Just give me fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen?"

Pursing her lips at his disbelief and displeasure, she promptly unzipped her hoodie down to an indecent exposure of her cleavage, just above the fabric of her bra. "Ten." She compromised confidently, a pleased smile spreading on her lips at Law's slightly distracted gaze.

"Keep an eye on my bag." She sang, pushing the fabric of her top down one shoulder a little as she strut across the street with a sway to her hips that he was sure was for his benefit…mocking, but a pleasant view none the less.

Chuckling to himself, he watched her tiptoe on her boots to glance inside the front window briefly, likely scanning inside quickly for signs of her target before seeming to spot what she was looking for, lowering herself back down and making her way to the front door.

Picking up her bag and placing it over his shoulder, he crossed the street towards the building at his own pace. Watching her raise a brow and pick up a discarded beer bottle beside the entrance before flashing him a wink and making her way inside.

Smirk widening at that, he slinked around the side of the building subtly, following her with his gaze through the windows as he went and watching as her gait became deliberately more drunken-looking as she stumbled to the bar, drawing immediate attention from the men inside, including what he presumed to be her target.

He hadn't seen the photo Nayla had glanced at earlier but a man fitting the physical description he'd heard over the Den Den Mushi sat in the corner, arm looped around a scantily clad woman on either side of him, a tabletop full of expensive drinks and a half a dozen overly muscular men surrounding the free edges of his booth. They were stood at attention, arms clasped at the wrists in front of them and their gun holsters on open display.

Her unfortunate victim, amongst others, watched as Nayla made her way over to the bar, calling for the tender loudly as she set 'her' empty bottle to the wood loudly. Bending over it as the man approached, she tucked her forearms beneath her breasts – pushing those up and allowing a tempting view of her behind as the hem of her skirt rode up.

Asking for another drink from the leering bartender, she then turned her back to the counter as he went to fetch it for her, resting her elbows on it as she looked around the bar curiously. Double taking her target as if seeing him for the first time she gave him a devious smile and bite of her lip as she checked him out brazenly.

Finding himself chuckling at her behaviour and how much of a contrast it was to how elegantly he'd seen her behave at a ball last week, Law inwardly commended her for managing to look and behave every part a drunken party girl gone astray in a rough area looking for some 'fun.' A highly appealing prospect for more than a few of the customers inside, including the one she currently had her eyes on.

Thanking the bartender when he returned and set her new bottle of opened beer on the counter for her, Nayla picked it up and took a generous swig before beginning to converse with him, responding favourably to his obvious flirtation as he openly stared at her chest.

Law watched the man, Nicky, remove his arm from around one of the women at his table to call over his nearest guard, asking something of him and pointing in Nayla's direction. Nodding, the large man walked over to her, though she seemed to have been expecting his approach as she casually glimpsed him in the mirrored wall behind the man she was currently talking to.

Facing the guard as he set enough money onto the counter beside her to pay for the beer she had just bought, he gestured over to the generous buyer who had treated her to her drink and who was apparently 'inviting' her to sit with him. The drug lord's son raised his glass slightly when her 'surprised' gaze fell onto him. Raising her own in thanks she said something to the guard that seemed to displease him, before he finally turned and walked back to the table without her.

Relaying whatever it was she had said to his boss, the dealer's son's brows rose in surprise before looking back at her. Lifting an index finger, he beckoned her over, apparently not willing to accept her declination to join him. Pursing her lips and shaking her head, she sent him a seductive smile as she raised her own and mimicked his action, taking generous gulps of her beer before setting the bottle back down and making her way towards the backroom of the bar, maintaining her eye contact with him.

Blinking away his shock, Nicky grinned ear to ear, excusing himself from the women at his table as he got up – not even seeing their scorned expressions as he kept his gaze on Nayla, watching her strut down the short corridor.

It didn't look as though the bartender were particularly pleased with what was apparently about to happen in his back room, especially not with a woman he'd been attempting to flirt with himself, but Law figured the man knew better than to speak up against a powerful man surrounded by heavily armed personnel. He wouldn't have been surprised if the bar as a whole was under the stranglehold of the younger man if this were one of his regular hangouts.

Making his way out the booth past the other women, Nicky was stopped with a hand to the chest by one of his guards as they seemed to voice their opinion on the situation, a warning, Law assumed. The drug dealer's son seemed to briefly contemplate what was said as he glanced over at Nayla who had reached the end of the short corridor to the back room, stopping at the corner and turning to look back at him with a bat of her eyelashes and a dirty lick of her lips.

Smirking at the invitation the man arrogantly gave his guard a dismissive wave and pat on the shoulder before following after her, rubbing his stubbled chin and looking her up and down as he approached. His grin widened as she slid a curled finger beneath his thick, gold chain and tugged him around the corner, into the room and out of view with a sly smile.

And just like that, the man was doomed. Law smirked widely at how ridiculously easy it had been for her, she hadn't even needed the full ten minutes. Snapping his gaze towards the sound of crunching gravel, he looked down the side of the building, watching as Nayla landed on the ground below an open window at the back.

Tugging her hoodie down and looking up in surprise when she noticed him right there, she smiled proudly at him. The childish triumph and 'I told you so' in her grin in stark contrast to the amount of very adult skin she was showing. "Did I take long?"

Chuckling as she zipped her top back up and made her way over to him, he held out her bag for her to take. "Not at all. That was an interesting show, Nayla-ya."

"Glad you enjoyed it, I'll have to charge you for it next time though." She teased, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder as they made their swift escape before her victim was discovered, walking back to the street and turning in the direction they had come from.

"You didn't use your dagger?" Law asked curiously, glancing briefly at her chest at the thought of it.

"Nah, no need. Reach your hands up to either side of his face like you're gonna kiss him and just twist." She said brightly, making him chuckle at how nonchalant she made it sound. "So, what do we do now?"

"We'll go check on the crew, see if they've found a suitable inn yet." He watched her glance up at the night sky and hum in disinterest at his answer, wondering what it was she'd been hoping to hear instead. "Did you have other plans in mind, Nayla-ya? Anyone else you wanted to seduce and kill tonight?"

"Hmm well, not so much the latter. It'd be a shame to _kill_ you, I guess."

Glancing at her in surprise of her unexpected forwardness, he quickly recovered from his shock and smirked devilishly at her. "But you _did_ have plans to seduce me, did you?"

"Mmmaybe." Nayla sang, smiling in amusement as he walked decidedly closer to her side.

"How well are you feeling?"

Biting her lip at his low, husky tone and the implication of his question, she returned his suggestive gaze. "Oh, I'm well enough to handle you."

Chuckling at her challenge, he slid and arm around her waist as he came to a stop, leaning in closely to her lips. "You want a bet, Nayla?"

"There he is!"

"CAPTAIN!"

'This had better be good,' she thought bitterly, observing the expression on Law's face that made it obvious that he was thinking something similar. Biting her cheek in annoyance as he pulled the lips he had barely begun grazing against hers away, they looked over at Ichirou, Dean and Vereck – the fourth, though quietest, chef on the crew running towards them at top speed. Nayla hardly ever saw him and when she did, he was always in the back of the galley working practically silently. Apparently he was terribly shy and reserved for the most part and tended to hang out with other quieter members such as Kotta. Another reason she hadn't seen a lot of him.

Scowl deepening at the thought of that man, she watched as the three pirates came to a stop in front of them, Dean bending over and resting his hands to his knees as he gasped for breath.

"What is i-?"

"It's Jake, they took Jake, Captain!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really do wonder where Law went after Corazon got killed on that island. Maybe he sailed away alone on the ship they'd arrived on together. I wonder where he went or what he did at thirteen years old and all alone, what he did for money or food, where he lived and whether he did manage to build any meaningful friendships/relationships before meeting Bepo at sixteen and forming his crew. Poor thing must have really had it rough, so many unanswered questions…
> 
> A Taste for Death – Real mystery novel book by Adam Dalgliesh but I've not read it, just used it because I thought the title was fitting.
> 
> Flevance book – I imagine that if Doflamingo owned a copy of this that Law, at some point, might have picked up one too. I'd think that if anyone were unfortunate enough to be involved in a major tragedy that had literature published on it that they'd probably be curious at some point in their lives to see what had been written about it.


	52. Chained beasts

"What do you mean they took Jake? Who is 'they?'" Law asked calmly, though from the steel tone his voice suddenly took, she could tell he was immediately on edge.

Ichirou took over explaining instead of Dean as the man struggled to catch his breath from their exertion – all three of them looked like they had been frantically searching for their captain for a while. "Outta nowhere, some guys – bounty hunters we think, jumped Jake when we weren't with him. I dunno what they did to him but when we saw him he was nearly out cold."

"We couldn't do anything to get him back - they held a gun to his head!" Vereck exclaimed in a panic, obviously distressed.

Feeling her heart clench at the thought of the sweet chef who had always been so kind to her in such a state, Nayla wondered how a man his size and strength could have been taken down looked as she looked at Law.

"Calm down. What do they want with him and where did you last see them?" Gripping his nodachi tightly, he strode past them with authority, heading back the way they had come and causing them all to turn immediately to keep up with him.

"We were at the market checking out the fresh stocks available here as they closed down for the night." Dean explained, catching up and walking beside his captain. "As for what they want, they…uh…"

Catching the unsure look on his face as he glanced at Ichirou on Law's other side; they turned to the man for an explanation. "They want to talk to you, Captain."

"They said they're at the old manor at the edge of town, down South ways and that we had better show up in the next coupla hours if we want Jake back in one piece." Vereck added from beside her as they hurried to keep up with the others in front.

Feeling the tension of the silence that followed as Law turned his gaze forward again, Nayla could practically hear the conclusion he came to on deciding what these men were after.

"Lead the way."

"Aye aye, Captain."

* * *

The portside town in general was fairly small, it hadn't taken them long return to the harbour then head in the direction of the abandoned manor at the edge of it, running into crewmembers that had split up to find Law on their way.

The majority of the crew had fallen into step with them, a few relaying the situation back to the sub and letting the others know where they were going. They followed Law in silent understanding that he was on his way to swiftly (and likely, mercilessly) rectify this problem and retrieve their crewmate, their friend.

Walking up the hill towards the lone, grand building, they could see a few floodlights on in the front courtyard and a gathering of figures that were silhouetted against them, though not much more could be made out from this distance yet.

Biting her lip with worry, Nayla glanced around at the others. A collection of stone cold expressions and tense postures. A mixture of sombre faces ranging from upset to outright anger and everything in between, she could barely recognise the normally relaxed, jubilant, happy men that she'd come to know. This was understandably, and by far, the most serious she had ever seen them.

The only ones with different expressions were the chefs that had been with Jake earlier. Their postures were slumped and defeated, their features etched deeply with guilt. They seemed to be beating themselves up over this, questioning what had gone wrong, why, and how they could have done things differently to prevent this. Hindsight was always a real bitch that way.

Glancing up at the shadowed face of Ichirou as he strode silently beside her, face tilted down to the ground as he watched his feet, she could practically feel his overwhelming sadness and distress. It had become obvious during her stay that he was one of the closest, if not _the_ closest, to Jake on the crew.

Unable to help herself, she reached a hand out and rest it on his arm gently, making him look up at her in surprise as she rubbed it consolingly, offering a reassuring, though small smile. Looking at her in shock for a moment before he hesitantly reached his own hand up and placed it on hers, he pat it gratefully for her gesture, returning her small, sad smile before lowering his gaze back to his feet.

Hearing voices ahead as they were spotted, Nayla looked up as the figures scrambled to open up the manor's black, iron gates to let them through, a couple running into the building behind them, presumably to fetch whoever was the leader of this ragtag bunch to inform them of their arrival.

There were at least eight men outside waiting for them, most of them sporting thick and severe battle scars. All of them tall, heavily built and even more heavily armed - the metal of large rifles, drawn swords and guns glinted dangerously in the floodlighting. The group looked more like a guerrillas than bounty hunters.

Walking into the courtyard behind Law, Nayla watched him stride in confidently, front and centre, taking in everything around them with his intelligent, analytical gaze as he approached the men standing in the middle of it brazenly.

Coming to a stop about ten feet in front of them, his crew fanned out to his sides, staring down the men that had dared to harm one of their own in open contempt.

If it hadn't been for the gravity of the situation and the fear she felt for her friend's safety, Nayla would have rolled her eyes at the suffocating level of testosterone that was stifling the air around them as the two groups of men sized each other up silently.

Deciding it best to not serve as an unnecessary distraction, Nayla remained behind them, out of sight. As much as she felt she wanted to join them in their fight for someone she'd consider one of her own friends, she couldn't help but sadly feel as though it wasn't her place to do it, that she were butting into their business if she did; she wasn't part of the crew.

Sighing at that, she peered through the gaps between the pirates in front of her, examining the opposition carefully for her own benefit…This may not be her fight to have but if one _did_ break out, she'd take absolute pleasure in the opportunity to help beat these men down too.

Law was eventually the one to break the silence. "I'm here for my crewmember. Where is he?"

Sharing in the crew's irritation as the men chuckled, Nayla focused on one of the hunters as he spoke up. "That's a little rude, don't cha think introductions are in order first?"

"I don't give a damn who you are. Where is he?" Law repeated levelly.

Whistling lowly and raising his brows to his bald, scarred head, he glanced at the men around him, sharing another chuckle and a toothy grin - though a few of his were missing. Shrugging at the pirate captain's refusal to engage in bravado and small talk with him, he gestured to the building over his shoulder with his rifle. "Relax, relax. We just sent someone in to go get hi-"

"Trafalgar Law." Scrunching her nose at the familiar voice, Nayla listened intently as she couldn't see the man just yet. "Supernova, Surgeon of Death, worth a cool two – ah, no wait, you've been a busy boy these last few weeks, _three_ -hundred million berries. My my, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Feeling her stomach flip at that nauseatingly recognisable, patronising pattern of speech, Nayla nearly groaned aloud, rolling her eyes skyward and hoping she was wrong.

"Jake!"

"Oi, Jake! You ok?!"

Hearing a thump and a chorus of disgruntled noises coming from the crew thereafter, Nayla peered around Ichirou's rigid side in worry, taking in the scene. Jake had been carelessly tossed to the ground between the crew and the bounty hunters, limp, barely conscious, wrists bound behind his back and his head heavily bloodied.

Feeling herself tense at the sight of him as Ichirou, amongst others, reflexively made a move towards him to see if he were ok, Law held an arm out wordlessly to halt them in their steps, his gaze on his crewmember as Jake breathed unevenly on the ground, struggling to crane his head up from the dirt.

"You were asking about him, well, here he is." Hearing a gun cock, Nayla looked up at the man that had been talking, the leader, as he trained the long barrel of his rifle to the back of Jake's head.

Throwing his arm back up in frustration to silence and stop his agitated crew again, Law visibly clenched his jaw as he dragged his gaze back up to the man, his expression calm but his gaze furious. "What do you want?"

"Well, as you mighta guessed, we're bounty hunters. Problem is, this guy here-" He unnecessarily illustrated who he meant by tapping the barrel of his gun to the back of the chef's bloodied scalp. "-doesn't seem to have one. So I'd like to propose a trade for someone who does. We give fatty back, safe and sound and yo-…Naynay?"

Thick, black brows rising as he spotted her, the men on both sides whipped their heads around to look at her, making her clutch the side of Ichirou's boilersuit more tightly as she fell under the scrutiny of everyone present.

"That you, Naynay?" The man grinned widely.

"Hey, Nefari." Nayla reluctantly greeted, stepping out from around the chef's side into full view.

"Damn, still lookin' good doll…" Pursing his lips as he rubbed his bearded chin, he looked her up and down in approval. "Old man Marty still doin' alright?"

"Fine." She sighed out; avoiding the questioning gazes of the crewmembers, Law's in particular she worried might sear her skin.

"Oh, wait. You working these guys?" Lowering his hand in sudden realisation, he nodded towards the pirates.

"No." She curtly replied, crossing her arms.

"So...what, you're hangin' with these pirates? Since when do _you_ hang with pirates?"

"None of your business."

Chuckling as she rolled her eyes, he ran a hand through his thick hair, a wild bed head that could almost rival Law's. "Still as cold as ever, doll. You ougtha work on that." Leaning down and grabbing a fistful of Jake's, he pulled him up to kneel, nodding his head at him. "Friend of yours?"

"…S-Sorry…Captain…" Jake wheezed out, seemingly unable to open his eyes or even support his own weight upright, looking even more worse for wear now that they could see his dirtied, bloodied, exhausted-looking face.

Watching Nayla's face immediately contort in concern as she looked at him, the lead hunter hummed in understanding. "Take it from your expression that he is. Well, we can-"

"You know this man?" Law cut over him, losing his temper and voicing the question on all of his crewmembers' minds as he glared and they stared at her.

"...I don't really _know_ him - know him. We worked together a couple of times, unfortunately. He used to have his own mercenary group before quitting and going into bounty hunting. These are the dregs of his band of merry idiots."

Whistling lowly, Nefari drew their attention again. "Harsh, take it that means you wouldn't wanna reconsider joining us?"

"What? _No_." Nayla spat out, furrowing her brows in disgust at the idea.

"Aww, you wound me." He mocked, dropping Jake to use his free hand to hold to his chest in mock-hurt then glancing down at the fallen pirate with faux surprise as the crew verbalised their upset at his treatment. "Whoops." He shrugged, before planting a foot to Jake's back to pin him to the ground, though it didn't look as though the man could go anywhere on his own steam right now.

"Anyhoo, back to business. We'll trade tubs here for you, 'Captain' Trafalgar, and if you don't feel like being too compliant." He nestled his gun back to Jake's head in completion of his sentence, letting the implication hang morbidly in the air.

"You kill him, we'll kill you. You're not foolin' anybody, you ain't gonna pull that trigger!" Dean yelled, losing his temper and earning a chorus of angry agreements, the crewmembers growing more and more agitated, readying to make a move at their captain's order.

Contemplating the situation and biting the inside of his cheek as his crew roared threats in their outburst of upset, Law turned to look at Nayla, assessing her silently. Watching the scene unfold as it was now, she looked genuinely distressed at the thought of them charging in, at the gun held to his crewmember's head, at everything. Noticing his stare, she looked back at him as he quietened down his crew again with a raised hand.

Holding her eye contact solidly for a long, silent moment, he eventually decided that her gaze and what she'd said was honest. She _wasn't_ friends with this hunter and seemed as surprised to see him as the vice versa. Considering the circumstances around how they met, Law knew it was extremely unlikely that she had purposely infiltrated his crew and/or that she was working with this pack of bounty-seeking thugs…and he wouldn't make her repeat herself a third time. He knew she meant his crewmembers no harm.

"Nayla, will he do it?"

"…Yeah, he will. Please, don't." She glanced at the thumb on the hilt of his nodachi subtly, watching as Law took her word for it and stopped pressing on it. He was a hair trigger away from slicing the men in front of him into pieces. "He's not right in the head, he never has been. Gambles with every bounty he hunts like this, he's always had an 'all or nothing' attitude. It's one of the reasons I didn't want to work with him."

"You still harpin' on about that, Naynay? Living dangerously is what _you_ do for a living too, isn't it? Hardly a reason not to join us." Nefari interjected, grinning lazily.

"There are _plenty_ of reasons not to join you. You still run around in a pack to make yourself feel big and strong. You still target those close to the bounty _instead_ of the bounty to get what you want. You still use pure numbers _and_ that underhanded drugging shit of yours to ambush people." She counted off in annoyance before turning her attention back to Law. "Jake has been drugged by the way. Nefari's tactic is to have one of his goons stick their target with a needle as they bump past in a crowded place, then drag them away once they start dropping and beat on them whilst they're helpless. Soulless lunatic." She muttered, glaring at the lead hunter.

"That's rich coming from a certified succubus. Still got those hypocritical morals of yours I see." He snorted. "As if anyone with a bounty - a pirate no less, were some kinda saint that deserved to be treated with kindness and respect or something. Sometimes I wonder whose side you're even on. Anyway, enough of that shit. We got a deal Trafalgar?"

Quietly assessing the man and absorbing the information Nayla had given about his nature, Law looked at the gun still pressed firmly to his crewmember's scalp, growing more concerned about Jake's laboured breathing with the new knowledge that it was likely there was an unknown substance in his system that could be suppressing his ability to.

Glancing at her, then at his men briefly, he turned his focus to Bepo, exchanging silent eye contact with him for a moment before handing his nodachi over to him. "You know what to do, take care of the sub."

"…Aye aye, Captain."

"C-Captain!"

"You can't-!"

Looking at his upset crew, Law silenced them with a stern look. "You know what to do. Take Jake back to the sub-" He turned to Dean. "-let Kotta know to work on the assumption that he has been drugged and that the needle was likely to be _filthy_." He spared Nefari an annoyed side-glance at the latter though the hunter did nothing but widen his lazy, confident grin.

"Aye aye, Captain." Dean affirmed sadly.

Gazing back over at the hunters beyond Nefari as she heard the clinking of metal, Nayla watched as the bald one they spoke to earlier brought over some heavy-looking, Seastone cuffs, feeling a horrible sensation of helplessness settle into the pit of her stomach as Law began walking over to him, unarmed and hands visible.

Stopping halfway, he looked pointedly down at Jake and moved no further forward until the lead hunter moved the gun from his head and stepped away from him.

"Cuffs first." Nefari spoke up, halting Penguin and Shachi in their place when they moved forward to retrieve their injured crewmate, prompting them to look at their captain for approval and obediently remaining where they were when he nodded in reassurance.

Holding his wrists out as the hunter with the cuffs approached him, Law waited patiently as they were snapped shut over them, making no visible show of any discomfort the Seastone may have been causing him.

"Pleasure doing business with ya Hearts, ya'll have a nice evening now." Nefari offered them a half-hearted salute as he rest his rifle to his shoulder and turned to leave. "Let's go boys."

Following their leader's suit, they began walking away, guns now trained on Law to stop the crew from making any rash moves. Though they showed no desire to, instead rushing to Jake and turning him onto his side as Dean immediately began checking his condition.

Looking back up, Nayla saw Law watching them with concern before he lifted his gaze to hers, a shared moment of eye contact between them before he turned away. Although she'd grown to respect him in her own way on many levels, she could only now fully understand the swell of pride, devotion and intense respect his crew felt for him as she experienced it first-hand, watching as he was led inside the manor and out of sight.

* * *

Climbing down the creaky, wooden stairs carefully, Nayla looked around the basement, squinting in the darkness as her eyes struggled to adjust to the moonlight lit room.

There hadn't been a lightswitch upon entering, along the wall on her way down or at the bottom of the stairs. Rolling her eyes as she spotted the old fashioned, unlit candelabras carelessly knocked over on a wooden table in the nearest corner of the room, surrounded by a sloppy scattering of matches – burnt and unburnt, she guessed whoever the last owner of the manor had been hadn't bothered to get electrical wiring and fixtures thread through the old, stone walls and ceiling of the cellar.

Stopping at the foot of the stairs as she heard the clinking of metallic chains and saw movement in the darkness against the wall below the ground level, barred window, Nayla looked over towards the sound, spotting the man she'd come to see.

There was no makeshift cell down here, as she'd expected to find from what little she remembered of how Nefari's group functioned in their temporary bases, but they had installed wrist and ankle restraints to the wall, embedded deeply into the thick, grey stones that he had been shackled to behind him.

Wondering what had happened to his hat but then spotting it on the floor to the side; she looked him over as he stood more upright at her arrival from his more comfortable slump. Though she knew that there was no way to get comfortable or rest when being forced to stand arms and legs apart. It had been a few of hours since he'd been taken, his arms were probably beginning to ache and he was probably beginning to tire from standing.

Making her way towards him, she dragged her gaze over his exposed, moving muscles. His shirt had been partially torn open across the front, its buttoned ends hanging precariously off of his tattooed chest.

Glancing up at his overly tussled hair and the small bruise beneath his left cheekbone, she confirmed, with a surprising amount of upset, that he had been roughed up after being led away from them earlier…The thick strip of silver duct tape over his mouth may have been her answer as to why.

Sighing slightly at that, she came to a stop in front of him, still needing to tilt her head up to face him despite him still being partially leant against the wall behind him.

Returning her steady gaze, Law watched the involuntary smile that spread on her lips. Though he was surprised to find that it wasn't malicious, gloating, or triumphant, she wasn't taking any pleasure in his predicament at all. She just appeared happy to see him, that and her sense of relief was plain to see on her face.

Knowing what she was there for and knowing that _she_ knew that he understood why she was there made a small, reluctant smile of his own take to his lips beneath their binding tape as he observed her quietly. Her blades were dangling from her hip and if he were a betting man, he'd place a high one on her having her suitcase outside somewhere, packed and ready to leave. She was there to say goodbye.

Exchanging an amicable silence as they took each other in, Law found himself nearly closing his eyes and breathing a sigh of content as she reached a hand up and gently stroked the side of his face.

"Jake is fine, he's doing well. Kotta and Dean are taking good care of him." Smiling wider at his relaxing features and posture as she told him what she guessed he'd want to hear the most right now, Nayla watched some of his tension release, enjoying the feel of his widening smile beneath her palm.

Letting him take that in, she gazed over his moonlit features in quiet admiration, wondering if he'd been worrying nonstop about how the man was doing since they'd left.

"You couldn't keep that smart mouth of yours shut, even if your life depended on it, literally." She chided quietly, running a thumb over the small bruise beneath his left eye as she lift her other hand to gently peel the tape from his mouth, raising her brows as she saw the split in his lip from what she guessed had been another hit to the face.

Waiting until she had removed it completely from him to speak, Law watched her gaze grow concerned and cold as she scrunched the tape up, absentmindedly tucking it into her pocket as she slid her down thumb to examine his damaged lip. "He didn't seem to be able to keep his shut either. He's quite fixated on you Nayla-ya, wondering why you would choose to work with my crew and not his own...He seems very bitter about you turning down his offer to join him."

Glancing up at his thinly veiled insinuation that the man had been insulting her avidly behind her back, she wondered briefly by his tone if Law had eventually said something on her behalf which had resulted in the hits he'd taken...That or he'd wound Nefari up by giving him that trademark, cocky, fearless little smirk of his and snidely rubbed her 'choice' to work with him over the hunter in his face to irritate him on purpose. That sounded more likely.

Scoffing softly in amusement at how easily she could envision that scenario playing out, she lowered her fingers to the coarse hairs of his goatee, kissing his injured lip softly. "There's only _one_ reason he ever wanted me to 'work with him' in the first place. Aside from me not liking how he does things and having to split a bounty a dozen ways, that was at the top of my list of reasons not to even consider it...Though, when he _is_ feeling big, bad and brave enough to beat on his incapacitated targets, he usually does a lot worse than this. He must be terrified of you, even in Seastone." Laughing slightly, she tugged the split of his lip gently between her own, running her tongue over the break in his skin slowly.

Exhaling audibly as he felt a small ebb of arousal at the action, his eyes fluttered shut as she sucked the damaged part of his lip affectionately. "Have you found a ship to take you off the island yet?"

"Mhmm." Clenching his restrained hands as he felt her hum her affirmative around his flesh, he watched her pull away, licking her lips at the slight metallic taste of his injury. "It'll be leaving soon, I'll be long off the island before your boys arrive and get you out of here."

It didn't surprise her that Nefari hadn't noticed Law had said 'you know what to do' to his crew, twice. If she'd learned anything about Law over the time she'd spent with him, then it was that he was a careful planner. The crew had immediately begun discussing the contingency plan that he'd put into place for them if something like this were to happen on their way back to the sub.

They'd wasted no time in calmly returning, getting Jake seen too and systematically planning the retrieval of their captain with Bepo, Penguin and Shachi spearheading the meeting. They had been taught to first find out when the enemy planned to hand him over to authorities, decide whether they were more likely to succeed in retrieving him during that transfer or during his captivity and then decide the best way to ensure no one was around him when they did so that they didn't have a repeat threatened-hostage situation.

Only too happy to help, Nayla had chimed in with what she still remembered of how Nefari's bounty hunters operated and had hopefully given them enough solid information for them to have made as safe a plan of action as possible. The crew would be arriving within the next half an hour, a little after midnight when the majority of hunters who weren't securing the perimeter of their hideout were well and truly relaxed and drunk in their preemptive celebration of their newest 'big catch'...If they were still as stupid, irresponsible and underestimating as she remembered them to be.

"How long until it leaves?"

Smiling she rest her lips to his, tasting the devious upturn to the corner of his mouth. "You didn't really think I'd be stupid enough to just casually tell you my time of departure, did you?"

Chuckling, he tilted his head pressing their lips together, sliding his tongue into her mouth and meeting hers in a slow, heated entwine as she leant against him, placing her hands to the bare part of his chest. Pulling away when she moaned quietly, not wanting to hear another in his current restraint, he rest his forehead to hers, gazing at her and mirroring her amusement.

"Worth a try." He conceded, enjoying her floral scent and committing it to memory as part of him wondered if this really would be the last time he saw her. Glancing down at the edges of his ruined shirt as she fiddled with them, he felt the bump of the hilts of her twin swords to his thigh. "I take it your broke my safe." He said dryly, causing her to purse her lips together in suppressed laughter.

" _No_ …was gonna but finally found the code you left behind for your crew in case something happened to you."

"You mean Bepo unwittingly lead you to it in my desk draw when he went through the instructions I left behind for them in case of an emergency." He corrected, smirking against her lips.

"…Maybe." She admitted, giggling at his amused gaze so close to hers as she ran her fingers idly over his chest. "Don't be mad at him, he did exactly what you taught him to do in case you were gone."

"I know he did, he just trusted you too much." He murmured, enjoying the feel of the gentle scrape of her nails on his skin.

It was true too, despite Law's repeated warnings, the poor bear hadn't even thought twice about rummaging through his captain's desk right in front of her. Highlighting exactly where to look for the most important and personal information Law had written down. Leaving to relay the information he'd retrieved to the crew, Bepo had left her plenty of time to pack her things and play trial and error with the numerous series of numbers written on those papers. It had taken her more than a few attempts but she'd finally found the right code to the safe and hadn't needed to resort to breaking it with the full crew on board. It seemed to be an important date or a birthday, though the year wasn't correct to have been his own, she'd guessed it was perhaps Bepo's or someone else close to him on the crew.

"What did you do to the guards at the top of the staircase?"

"Killed them of course, why?" She asked, looking up from her fingers on his torso in mild surprise, deciding his top was unfortunately ruined beyond repair.

"I figured you might have simply knocked them out."

"After what they did to Jake? The hell I would…Besides, making sure that there was no one around you when your boys break in was the part of the plan they left to me." She said, giving in to her temptation to taste the split in his lip once more, sucking and licking it gently.

"Hmm, they still trust you to be a part of it even after they found out you know the ringleader of these hunters?" He asked quietly, finding humour in how taken his men had become with her, as she pecked sweetly along his lower lip.

"Mhmm, a couple of them were sceptical but the rest of them stuck up for me. Believe it or not, even Ichirou stuck up for me too."

Chuckling at that, he kissed her as her hands slid beneath the fabric of his open shirt to his sides, fingers gliding over his waist and gliding lower to the hem of his jeans as he took her invitation to slip his tongue between her parting lips.

Moaning softly when he plunged deeply inside of her without hesitation, she sank into the increasing passion of his kiss, removing her hands to place them on either side of his face, threading her fingers through his hair to the back of his head and looping her arms around his neck as she pressed against him firmly. The way his tongue moved over hers, the deep, slow and methodical exploration of her mouth made her feel as though he were relishing in the feel of her, as if he were accepting the possible finality of this meeting and that made her heart feel unexpectedly heavy.

She'd often felt sadness at realising she'd miss his crew when she left…but she'd grown so fond of _him_ too. His infuriating smirk, his snide comments, his sarcastic wit...Pulling away from him with a shaky exhale as she felt increasingly strong waves of arousal hit her, she looked up him, feeling the need to catch the breath that seemed to have suddenly left her…She was going to miss those beautiful eyes. The way they shone with intelligence, the way he looked at her as though he were able to visually dissect her, her every thought and feeling on display for his analytical perusal. That piercing, binding, paralysing, stunning gaze…She'd even come to enjoy the shine of sadism his eyes held, that dangerous glint of madness that had so thoroughly terrified her the first time she'd seen it…just because it was a part of him.

"Nayla…uncuff me." That as well, she'd miss that. The way he seemed to read her thoughts and move in on her moments of weakness. A skilled, smart and manipulative predator, every bit as dangerous as she had ever given him credit for.

Returning his steady gaze, she lowered her hands back down to his chest as she released him, idly running her fingers down the tattooed lines of his collarbones as she smiled. "No, you won't let me leave if I do." She murmured quietly, nuzzling his neck and inhaling him deeply before kissing his skin.

"Why do you want to leave so much?" His voice an octave lower as he felt her tongue on his flesh. Law had spent more time contemplating the answer to that question than he'd have liked to. There were a couple of obvious reasons, sure...but they'd moved past that. They got on better now, he didn't treat her badly…too badly…she had a place to stay and had made fast, firm friends with the majority of his crew.

"You mean aside from not even knowing what I'm helping you work towards and if it's something I want to be a part of?" She reminded, pulling her teeth away from teasing his skin as she contemplated returning the favour of that hickey and reaching a hand up to comb back the wild locks encroaching on his forehead affectionately. "...Because I like you, I like your crew…I want to remember you just like this."

Furrowing his brows as he tried to make sense of that, his thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he felt her fingers unbuttoning the few, lower shirt buttons that had managed to stay intact, her lips sealing over his before he could speak.

Gliding a hand beneath the fabric covering each of his shoulders, she slid his shirt off of them slightly, fully exposing his chest as she teased his tongue, sucking it gently as she pulled away and gazed down at his bare muscles, admiring his extensive tattoos as they rippled over them with his breathing.

"...What are you doing, Nayla?"

Biting her lip, she smiled deviously as she ran the tips of her fingers down his abs, delighting in the way they tensed under her ticklish, light touch before looking back up at him.

"Seeing as this is the last chance I'm going to get, I'm gonna do something I've wanted to do for a looong time."

Raising a brow at the practically impish grin on her face, he parted his lips to ask what that was but stopped short as he watched her lower her face to his stomach and glance up at him mischievously as she placed her lips to the very tip of the black heart inked over his muscles.

Resting her hands to either side of his slender waist, she took pleasure in feeling his breathing stutter beneath her lips and palms as she kissed him, trailing her tongue along the lines of his tattoo, agonisingly slowly, playfully tracing the tip over the flicks of ink that stemmed from the main outline of his crew's namesake as she went along.

Doing his best not to swallow, Law watched her slyly lick her way up his chest, trying not to follow the trail of her hot, wet appendage over his skin as the sight began erupting erotic desires in him, but found it difficult to look away.

Giggling a little at the low growl of warning she got when she playfully grazed over his nipple with her teeth she slipped her fingers below the waistband of his jeans on either side, licking her way up every line to his collar bone one by one and swirling her tongue over the curled top of that side of his tattooed heart before beginning her teasing trail anew from its tip, working her way back up the other side.

Hovering her lips over his real heart before taking a mouthful of his tight, toned flesh and sucking hard, she relished in the small gasp it caused from him and the frustrated grit of his teeth at the sound she'd managed to elicit from him.

It had become obvious to her from their previous encounters and from the set jaw line of his face right now that he hated not being in control...Her on the other hand…Seeing a man as powerful and as beautiful a beast like Trafalgar Law held captive, at her mercy and beneath her fingertips, stirred very dark and dirty desires.

Having control over _him_ – a man who by all accounts should be able to overpower her under normal circumstances, making _him_ moan against his will and making _him_ gasp involuntarily under her touch, to tease and torture and pleasure _him_ for a change - the thought alone widened her smile against his skin as her tongue finished its venture of every line on his chest.

Kissing the emblem of his Jolly Roger, she then licked a trail over his collarbone and up to his neck, humming in satisfaction as she kissed her way up his flesh and slid her hands around his waist, under her shirt to his bare lower back.

"Mmm, I've thought about that for ages." She purred against his skin, wrapping her arms around him as she licked his ear lobe, thoroughly enjoying her chance to taste him unhindered.

Feeling him lean the side of his face to hers, she playfully tugged on one of his piercings as she teasingly slid her fingertips beneath the waistband of the back of his jeans.

"I told you not to play with me, Nayla." The husky tone of his voice as he breathed those words into her ear were enough to send a shiver down her spine, the harsh tug of her own ear lobe with his teeth sent another.

Tilting her head aside, she closed her eyes as she felt him suck and bite her neck, his heavy breathing running over her skin. Biting her lip, she slid her hands beneath his boxers threateningly. "Remind me why."

Surprised to hear how breathy her own voice had gotten, she received a harsh bite directly over her recently healed hickey in firm reminder of exactly how she'd lost this game before.

Feeling a moan in the back of her throat at the feel of his teeth as he sucked her flesh, she smothered it down by concentrating on sucking his ear lobe, pulling his piercings into her mouth and nibbling the flesh in between them as she slid a hand down further, taking a firm hold of his bare cheek - earning another harsh suck to her neck. Squeezing his toned ass earned her another bite and digging her nails in experimentally earned her a low growl and a harsh increase in the pressure of it, forcing her to release her mouthful as she cried out.

Closing his eyes tightly at the sound, the proximity of it to his ear and at how strongly he wanted to hear that again when buried deeply inside of her, Law groaned in frustration as an unbearable rush of lust hit his loins. Lapping her tender flesh soothingly, he trailed up her neck, tracing the shell of her ear and nibbling her own piercings on his way to the top ones.

Lifting her other hand to his cheek, she rest her head against his, enjoying the gentle feel of his tongue on her skin and the way his jaw moved beneath her fingers as she removed her hand from his ass, instead sliding it between their bodies and over the hardened bulge that had been pressing against her. Rubbing him firmly through the denim, she felt his solid muscles tense against her chest, the strong, steady pounding of his heartbeat through it increase and his breath shudder against her ear.

Kissing his neck as he nuzzled against hers, she cupped his cheek affectionately, trying to memorise the feel of his soft sideburns against her fingertips as he sighed and subconsciously pressed himself harder against her palm. Smiling at that, she removed her hand from his face, pulling away as she used it to grip the top of his fly instead, pausing and making eye contact with him before undoing the button. Lust, frustration and uncertainty in his steel irises. Understandably torn between being angry, encouraging her and preserving his pride. He'd probably never admit it but she could only imagine how direly he wanted - needed this release.

Though he remained silent, his admirable attempt at a neutral expression wavered when she slowly unzipped his jeans, gliding her fingertips over him through his boxers as she did. Planting a gentle kiss to his lips as she slid her hand into his open pants, she revelled in the small moan that left him as she rubbed against him in the same way she'd done through his denim. The heat of his skin and the aching throbs of his erection now easily felt.

Taking advantage of his rare lapse in coherent thought, she slid her tongue between his parted lips, savouring the ability to explore his mouth and humming in satisfaction when gripping his shaft caused another moan to leave him. Pulling her hand up to his tip, she stopped there and circled it with her thumb, smiling wider at the moisture that met her through the fabric and the sound of his binding chains as he reflexively strained against them. As if feeling her pleased smile had triggered him, he growled lowly in his frustration, pushing her tongue aggressively back into her own mouth as she playfully massaged her fingers tips around his head.

Content to allow him that level of control and thoroughly enjoying his forceful, dominant kiss, she stopped tormenting him and tucked her fingers beneath the waistband of his dark boxers, feeling his coarse curls beneath her fingers and glancing down as she slowly pushed the fabric away.

Raising a brow as he came into view she hadn't realised she had stopped kissing him to stare until she head the low chuckle beside her ear. Turning to look back at Law, she pursed her lips in amusement at his smirk and at the devilishly pleased glint to his gaze.

"You're the only man I know that can be chained helpless to a wall and still look _this_ smug and annoying. No wonder they punched you in the face." She muttered, kissing him as he chuckled again.

Gliding her fingertips up and down his thick, hot length she used her other hand to gently untuck him completely, cupping and rubbing over him with her thumb, earning a deep, throaty groan from him as she kissed his neck, the deep, masculine sound easily palpable through her contacting lips.

Watching her own hand with him as she smeared the moisture collected at his tip down his shaft, took a firm grip and began pumping him, she affectionately lapped at his skin, kissing and sucking the crook of his neck as his eyes closed and he sighed in content, resting his head to hers as she began pleasuring him.

Closing her own eyes too, she relished in the feel of the thick, full erection he had for her, in the feel of his arousal for her slicking their contacting flesh, listening intently to his every breath and gentle groan at her touch as she kissed his skin, recording every last intimate moment with him.

Glancing down at the translucent pearl, gathering at his tip again, she pulled away, licking her lips as she began leaning down.

"Nayla."

Feeling a strong throb of desire at the breathy, aroused tone of his voice and the way her name sounded falling from his lips in it, she pulled her eyes back up to his, her heart skipping a beat at the frighteningly dark edge of lust to his gaze. The threatening undertone to the husky words he uttered next made it skip another three. "…Remove these cuffs."

Licking her lips again as they seemed to suddenly go dry under his demanding stare, she stood upright, keeping her hand where it was though she stilled its motion as she contemplated the seriousness of his warning."…And if I don't?"

"You are going to regret it."

"...I'm pretty sure I won't." She murmured cheekily.

" _I_ will make you regret it." Biting her lip, she watched him clench his jaw when she pressed her thumb to his weeping slit, applying a gentle, teasing rotation that spread the fluid over the silky soft skin of his head. "…Thoroughly." He added, stifling his response to the action.

"How? You're never gonna see me again."

"I will and when…" Trailing off as she began pumping him again, the additional moistness of his precum allowing even more fluid motion to her hand on his shaft as she moved, he exhaled audibly and reopened his eyes to take in her amused expression. "…and when I do Nayla, you're not going to like what I do to you."

Her heart fluttered again as she took in the seriousness in his glare and the deep rumble of his very sincere threat. "...Then I had better make this worth my while for when you do then, hadn't I?" She whispered against his lips.

"…Uncuff me." He whispered back, the mixture of the barest edge of a plea and the overwhelming, audible promise of how thoroughly he'd fuck her if she did in his gravelly tone made her feel dangerously weak at the knees.

"…No." Kissing him before he could argue again, she released him and reached into her pocket, pulling out and unballing the wad of duct tape. Hearing the stretch of it as she pulled it taught, he broke their kiss, looking down at it then back up at her sly, though slightly apologetic smile.

"Nayla…" Her smile veered more to the sly end of the scale at his menacing tone and narrowed eyes as she pressed the adhesive strip to the side of his mouth. "I'm warning you, you do that and I'mmph..."

Smoothing the tape gently across his lips with her thumb as she gripped his chin, she smiled at the anger in his gaze, honestly feeling a chill run down her spine at the intensity behind his silent, but very pissed off stare.

"Threats ruin the mood." She purred against his sealed lips, planting a gentle peck over them through the tape, his brows rising before furrowing in his annoyance as she gently pat it down securely, taking care to avoid the damaged part of his lip and the hairs of his goatee.

Truth be told, she had to silence him. If he demanded she release him just one more time…she might actually be stupid enough to do it…That and there was no small amount of satisfaction, arousal and amusement in muting him.

Giggling at his expression, she brought her moist hand to her face and into his view, seeming to break his irritation as he focused his gaze onto it. Moving her fingers to her lips, she tasted him, humming in satisfaction as she sucked them clean, one by one, licking her palm free of his sticky, translucent arousal.

Taking pleasure in the look on his face that clearly said he was still trying to hold onto his anger with her and _not_ enjoy this one bit, she leant down to his chest, kissing and sucking a slow, burning path over his taught muscles, circling his belly button playfully, trailing her tongue down the fine snail trail of his lower stomach and looking back up at him as she kissed the bare, heated flesh of his base, revelling in his lustful gaze as he watched her, unable to move, speak or take control.

Planting her lips to the precum on his skin, coating them, then licking them clean, she placed her hands on his thighs as she knelt on the floor in front of him. The cold stone seeping into her flesh unregistered and outweighed by the heat she felt from her own arousal.

Gripping gently, she begun licking and lapping his flesh clean of his arousal, in small, gently teasing strokes, making sure he could see himself on her tongue before it returned to her mouth and that he could feel her hums and see her swallows as she tasted him.

Avoiding the part of him that ached the most for her touch, she tauntingly sucked the sides of his shaft, twirling her tongue over the rock hard flesh in her mouth and feeling his heavy throbbing, purposely breathing over his moistened flesh as she moved to suck new spots in the same way.

Finally approaching his glistening tip, she enjoyed the sight of his abdominal muscles beginning to move more rapidly as his breathing quickened. Circling his head with her tongue, she took a hold of him, stroking gently up and down as he oozed his desire for her involuntarily.

Mercifully kissing it, she opened her mouth slightly, tightened her grip on his base and pumped him up to his tip in one long, firm stroke, eliciting a free flow of precum and a heavy groan from him as he watched her lick him clean.

Moaning in satisfaction herself as she heard his pleasure, she pushed her open lips down over his head as she looked up at him, his gaze and the increased racing of his pulse beyond arousing as she twirled her tongue around him, taking only the first inch of him into her mouth.

Building pace with her hand, she began stroking him in opposition to the way she began sucking him. Her lips pushing down to meet her hand that was on its way up, then parting - each time they met, she took more and more of him inside her mouth, curling her tongue around him and sucking his tip more firmly as her lips retreated over it.

Slowing down a little as she began to take the majority of him in, she removed her hand, looking back up at him as she began sucking fully to find his eyes heavily lidded as he watched her. His tattooed chest heaving, his breaths coming out in pressured exhales through his nose, nosily gliding over the tape under it, his smooth skin shimmering in the moonlight that flooded in from the small window above them and the bars securing it casting attractive shadows over the ones already cast by the deep ridges and grooves of his chiselled muscles…Nayla couldn't help but find him so utterly gorgeous in that moment as she looked up at him intently, drinking in his desire and soaking in his lust-drunk gaze.

Humming around him she opened as widely as she could and pushed him inside her mouth as deeply as she could manage, working her way slowly to the base of his impressive length. Watching his eyes scrunch shut and his head tilt back as he felt his tip hit the back of her throat, he groaned gutturally - what she was sure would have been an uttered obscenity if he hadn't been gagged.

Feeling him fight the urge to move his hips forward to push himself inside of her further, she pressed her hands to his thighs, moaning on his thick erection as she sucked firmly, bobbing her head up and down as near to his full length as she could manage, growing more and more comfortable with taking him in with each descent.

Lavishing him inside her mouth with her wet appendage, she enjoyed the sensation of how fully he filled her mouth, the taste of his flesh, his heat, his thick, heavy pulsations against every part of her inner cheeks, roof of her mouth and tongue.

Taking him back in fully, she nuzzled her nose to the coarse black curls of his lower abdomen, a shudder of arousal hitting her as she heard his moan and the clinks of the metal shackles binding his arms as he strained against them out of reflex, trying to reach her.

She wondered what he'd do if he could. Would he rest his hands to her shoulders, face, back of her head or her hair? Maybe he'd pull her to her feet and have her against the wall…maybe he'd push her down to her back and take her on the floor…There was an incredibly strong temptation to break his shackles and find out which.

His increasing, laboured groans and the look in his eyes as he opened them and gazed at her once more made it clear that he was struggling to maintain some semblance of self-control, his climax was beginning to build and he was starting to come undone…and it was far hotter than she had ever imagined it would be. Seeing Law beginning to lose himself under _her_ touch was such an incredible turn on.

She wanted to internalise this moment as much as possible, remember it every time she saw his smug smirk printed in the paper – the way he looked right now. Bare-chested, shackled, lips sealed, dishevelled clothing and hair. How powerless such an ordinarily powerful man had become, how heavily she had made him breathe, how rapid she had made his pulse, how hard she had made him, how much precum he had oozed for her, how it had tasted, how much he wanted her in that moment, how much he had squirmed and how much he'd had to restrain himself from thrusting into her mouth…and it still wasn't enough, she wanted – _craved_ , seeing the infamous, sadistic, cruel pirate - the Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law truly lost in his pleasure, groaning and cumming for her.

Moaning around him at the thought, she slid a hand over his thigh, cupping him as she began speeding up on his shaft. Massaging him gently, she sucked his full length – tip to base, gripping his flesh firmly with the rim of her sealed lips, sucking her cheeks shallow to glide their inner sides over him, swirling her tongue around his pounding erection and stroking the flat of it over his tip each time she reached it, tasting his fresh drops of arousal.

She could feel his thigh tensing beneath her palm, his balls tightening - cradled in her other, the intensity and pace of the throbbing in her mouth increasing. She could see his fists clenching in her peripheral vision, his shackles clinking with the movement and his breathing coming in stuttered struggles as he progressively failed in stifling his groans as she pulled him closer and closer to the edge.

In that moment she regretted silencing him, she wanted to hear his moans of pleasure echo loudly off of the stone walls and wondered now what he would have said if he could. Would he have persisted in threatening her into releasing him? Did he talk dirty? Would he have said her name as he climaxed?

Watching the fight in his gaze not to succumb to her so readily, she released her grip on him in favour of reaching for the zip of her hoodie, slowly pulling it down as she continued sucking him.

Unzipping it all the way, she peeled the fabric open, down over her shoulders, giving him a full view of her cleavage and squeezing her chest together further as she placed her hands back on his thighs looking up at him as she picked up her pace. The deep moan that left him as he openly leered at the view was music to her ears.

It was such a wonderfully confused erotic act. It was difficult to tell who was truly in control. She was on her knees on the cold stone floor, one-sidedly pleasuring him but he was the one restrained, squirming and unable to do or say what he wanted.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she felt his hips thrust forward involuntarily as he began truly reaching his climax. Gazing at his rigid abs at work as he thrust again, she gripped his base, pulling her lips back a bit and sucking his first few inches more rapidly as she stroked him, humming around his throbbing flesh as his whole body stiffened and tensed.

Receiving the first spurt of his orgasm as he groaned heavily, she sealed her lips tightly around his tip, swirling her tongue over it as she stroked him, matching his hazed gaze as she watched him cum for her. The intensity and intimacy of his eye contact causing a flush of arousal so strong that she'd be sure to remember it. Sighing in content over his pulsating cock, she swallowed him as he came deep inside her mouth, experiencing a phenomenal level of content in feeling and tasting him cum for her. In feeling him fill her mouth and in the way his hot, creamy juices slid down her throat.

Feeling the pressure and frequency of the jets inside her mouth gradually reduce then stop as his groans grow quieter, she watched as he closed his eyes and rest his head back against the wall. Closing her eyes as well, she blissfully began lapping him clean, avoiding his sensitive head as he came down from his high. The soft smacks of her tongue and lips on his tender, throbbing flesh and his laboured breathing filling the dark room.

Looking back up at him as she felt him begin to soften in her mouth, she realised that she'd already long lapped up and swallowed the last traces of his release as she watched those beautiful black lines dance across his rippling muscles. Sighing heavily as she reluctantly acknowledged she'd been indulging herself too long with him, she decided she probably didn't have long left until the crew were due to arrive and that she had better leave quickly.

Kissing his tip as he opened his eyes and looked back down at her, his gaze still slightly clouded in his afterglow, she began tucking him gently back into his boxers, pulling the fabric up as she stood. "You know, you were right…"

Averting her eyes from his questioning look, she watched her hands as she pulled the open ends of his jeans together, zipping up his fly carefully. "Overall? Being with you, with the Heart Pirates for a little while…It wasn't an unpleasant experience." She admitted, buttoning up his jeans as she looked back up at him. "I actually kinda enjoyed myself, it was fun…Especially this part."

Reaching a hand up to affectionately cup his cheek, she nuzzled her nose to his, smiling wider when he rest his forehead to hers, matching her gaze tiredly. "Thank you for everything. I hope you achieve whatever it is you're setting out to do and that you take better care of yourself….Give my love to the crew, please." She didn't want to feel that pang of guilt over leaving without so much as a goodbye to them again.

Not wanting this to seem as though it were as heavy a goodbye as it suddenly felt, she bit her lip as a devious thought entered her mind. "You know…I _do_ regret one thing about this." Grinning at his weary deadpan at his obvious lack of ability to answer, she leant her lips to his ear, purposely pressing the bare skin of her chest to his. "That they didn't tie you down into a chair." She purred softly, nipping his ear lobe playfully before pulling back in time to see his furrowed brows rise as he processed what she'd implied.

Giggling at his shocked expression, Nayla kissed him softly over the duct tape where his lips lay beneath as she zipped up her hoodie, turned and made her way back to the staircase across the room.

Starting her climb up, she looked back at him one last time, wondering if he were still in shock of her filthy insinuation, whether he looked rightfully angry with her for taking full advantage of his incapacitation or whether he might even look a little sad as he watched her departure. What she saw however, was none of the above.

Nearly faltering in her steps in her own surprise, she took in his narrowed eyes, their practically demonic shine and the small smirk that she _knew_ he was wearing beneath that duct tape. Feeling a sudden, though short-lived wave of anxiety wash over her, she shook it off, huffing in amusement at how rapidly his piercing, grey gaze had caused her panic.

By the look on his face she could tell that Law was absolutely livid and could only imagine what he was contemplating doing to her and how many tiny pieces he was envisioning her in at that moment.

Smiling at the twisted glint in his eyes that had a history of sending some of the strongest shudders down her spine that she had ever experienced, Nayla shook her head as she resumed her ascent. Right now, he looked every part an exotically beautiful, caged, dangerous and agitated beast that was biding its time for its swift and merciless revenge.

"…I might actually miss you a little, Law." She offered quietly, returning his smirk as she climbed up the stairs and out of sight.


	53. Eat your Heart out

Making her way through the dark streets quietly, Nayla looked back at the old manor up on its grand hill as she heard a thunderous crash ring out into the night sky. The lights of the upper floors rapidly flicked on in succession and yelled orders rang out, though she couldn't tell if it were the startled hunters or the pirates giving them, they were far too indistinct and muffled by the distance put between herself and the building now.

Lowering her shocked brows, she smiled, laughing quietly at the uproar the Hearts were causing - which they had every right to. They were _beyond_ pissed off and riled up with all that had happened tonight, to their friend _and_ to their captain.

They were actually planning on storming the manor with their weapons tonight, not because they felt the hunters were an actual threat worth carrying them for but more because they were in the mood to be vindictively brutal in their battle with them. She would have loved to have stayed to watch the crew hand out the merciless beatings the other men deserved but she couldn't afford that luxury, she needed to put as much distance between her and them as possible, as quickly as possible, and get out of sight before they found and released their captain.

Picking up her pace, Nayla pulled the fabric of her hoodie sleeve down over her arm, tilting her heavy suitcase onto its side and using her ability to lift it by its handle instead, enabling her to move faster and more silently now that the wheels were no longer noisily rolling and grinding against the concrete of the sidewalk.

She had stayed too long. Far too long. It had been her intention to uphold her part of the plan to make it safe for the crew to barge in there full throttle without needing to worry about guards near Law holding weapons to him and be back outside _long_ before they even arrived. Had she really spent that long saying goodbye to him? Sighing and rolling her eyes at that, she inwardly cursed her weakness…or libido…whichever one was responsible for the lingering taste of him on her lips.

'Oh come on, you regret nothing. – I should have been _a lot_ further away than this by now. – It was _sooo_ worth it though! Mmm, the look on his face. – I'm still in sight of the manor and it's _your_ fault. You and your stupid, filthy ideas. – Ugh, the way he moaned. – Yes yes, I'm sure you'll be haunting me with the echo of it for a while and at the most inappropriate times you can manage. – Reminding you. Reminding you of a treasured and enjoyable memory. – I'd hardly call it 'treasured,' geez. Overkill. – It is though…I'm sure it'll be a fond memory of his too. I bet someday when he's less mad about this and sitting at that desk of his, hat off, fist to his chin, ankles crossed, swinging back and forth in his chair the way that he does when he's thinking about something that you'll cross his mind sometime. That he'll remember tonight and probably break out into that sinisterly amused smirk of his or chuckle that deep, smooth chuckle of his…'

Biting her lip, she pushed down the small ache she felt in her chest as the vivid image of Law smiling at his desk crossed her mind - far too easy to conjure after all the times she had seen him there. Nayla was sure she'd probably smile and laugh quietly to herself about tonight whenever she thought of him in future too. It had been an unintentional but enjoyable parting gift, for both of them. Something secret, sordid and dirty that only they knew about, that they could share private enjoyment in when recalling each other.

Huffing in amusement at that she glanced the upcoming street names as she re-entered the more populated part of the portside town. She'd lied to Law; she hadn't actually made any arrangements to board another boat already. Between hurriedly packing, getting her suitcase off the sub when everyone was busy discussing how to storm the hunters' base and then going off to do her part, she'd simply not had the time to.

Not that she would have if she could have. It was better to allow Law to _believe_ she had already left the island and then stay on it, giving him no reason to look for here there and to let him focus his attention on the docks – on which ships had left tonight and where they were headed.

Her real intention was to go as deep inland as possible, find a place to stay and lay low tonight and until the Heart Pirates' Log Pose set and they left. Then she could breathe easy and take her time finding her way off Kounai in a direction that suited her.

As soon as she found a room to settle in tonight, she'd call Marty and call off the job she was supposed to be leaving for at dawn. Fortunately (sort of), wars went on long enough that her deciding to cancel this job and forcing Joker to spend a day or two finding someone to replace her wouldn't really upset his plan – or him, much overall…hopefully…Marty would probably be annoyed though…Then again, Marty was annoyed with her often enough that it hardly even mattered anymore.

Closing her eyes and sighing heavily at the thought, she opened them as she turned the corner…dropped her suitcase and allowed her ability to flow through her legs as she started running as fast as she could manage with it, practically feeling the blood drain from her face as she realised in that split second after reopening her eyes, what that brief flicker of blue discolouration had been.

Running headlong into something rock hard as it appeared, Nayla nearly fell backwards from the abrupt impact but was held on her feet by the hand that clasped tightly around her wrist.

There was no way. There was just _no_ way he could possibly have caught up to her this fast. Panting rapidly, trying not to process the meaning of the dark threat printed across the back of his fingers, she hesitantly raised her eyes to Law's as he towered over her silently, his expression entirely neutral and his voice frighteningly level. "…You never did have very good luck at avoiding me, Nayla."

"Captain!"

"Where'd ya go?!"

Gulping as he ignored the crewmembers yelling after him and stared at her with an unreadable gaze, she couldn't have felt more relieved when she heard their footsteps coming around the corner. Not taking her eyes off of Law until she felt them close behind her, she dared pull her gaze from his to glance at them. More out of discomfort of his silent intensity and unreadable thoughts than due to actual interest in their arrival.

"Geez, why'd you run off so sud-…Lil lady?" Coming to a slowed trot as he approached them, Jeff panted a little from having run after his captain all the way from the manor on foot. "What cha doing here?

Penguin and Shachi, also feeling the brunt of their lack of ability to teleport over large areas instantaneously, came to a breathless stop beside him, looking between the discarded suitcase, their captain and her.

"Where were you going, Nayla-chan?" Penguin asked in genuine curiosity, resting his hands to his hips as he caught his breath.

Somehow feeling a little safer and reassured by their appearance, Nayla opened her parched mouth to speak only to be cut off by Law.

"Nowhere." Turning to look at him warily as he released his iron grip, she took a couple of cautious steps back from him. "Pick up your suitcase. Get back to the sub. Unpack your things. You are not to leave my quarters, until I return to them. We need to have a little talk."

Not trusting herself to speak, she finally nodded in understanding, turning around numbly to reclaim her abandoned belongings and unable to shake the horrible sense of foreboding at his eerily calm demeanour and the ominous command to stay in his room until he got there.

* * *

"Oh, Captain. Welcome back."

"Thanks." Shutting the infirmary door behind him, Law made his way over to the bed Kotta was adjusting the IV fluid stand of, looking over the man sleeping soundly in it. "How is he doing?"

"Good, Captain. Wound looked a lot nastier than it was, just a scratch really – you know how scalp wounds are." He nodded, refusing to acknowledge the reminder of how bloodied Nayla had looked when she had first been brought aboard. "And well, Jake was covered with a tetanus booster when he joined, I've already given him prophylaxis for any blood borne diseases and we'll do the standard blood tests for him to check for any infections. Dean personally roughed up one of the hunters to ask if the needle was clean, guy said yes but…"

Sighing as Kotta trailed off and shrugged, he hoped that for his head chef's sake that the needle wasn't a reused one and _was_ clean. Although, knowing how angry and impressively frightening Dean could get when he was truly upset, there was a good chance the hunter was telling the truth…and that he probably peed his pants in the process.

Setting his weapon down to the floor, Law allowed it to lean against the side of the Jake's bed, perusing the man's peaceful features for any sign of discomfort. "What was he drugged with?"

"Bit of a mix actually, more on the tranquilizer side, though it wasn't a serious dose. Just enough to make the big guy sluggish and manageable. All stable now." He reassured, resting an affectionate hand to the man's shoulder.

Humming in acknowledgement, Law removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair tiredly.

"…Need to see to yourself, Captain?" The redhead asked quietly, resting his hands to the side of his crewmate's bed as he looked at the dark mark beneath Law's eye and his split lip with concern.

"No, just a bruise." He dismissed, combing back his locks as he sighed.

"…What are you gonna do to Nayla?"

Pausing his fingers halfway through their sweep, he looked at the other medic with a raised brow, unsurprised that word had already spread to even Kotta here alone in the infirmary of Nayla's attempted escape but surprised that the man would care enough to ask about her. Also surprised to hear him use her name as he had been bitterly referring to her as anything but whenever she was discussed around him.

"Is it any of your business, Kotta?"

"Well no, of course not Captain…" Quietly staring the man out he eventually cleared his throat and reluctantly voiced his thought. "I was just gonna suggest maybe not being too hard on her." Lowering his hand from his hair in shock, Law felt his other brow rise to parallel its predecessor. "I-I mean…Well…she was worried about Jake, really worried…Couldn't have those loud louts in here to see him - you know how they get, but she insisted on keeping him company bedside after we cleaned him up a bit. Stayed with him 'til he drifted off, whilst the others were discussing the plan…What?" He grumpily asked in response to Law's small, spreading grin, fidgeting uncomfortably under his captain's knowing stare.

"Nothing." He chuckled, replacing his hat and reaching for his nodachi. "Your _endearing_ concern for her has been noted, but I'll be punishing Nayla-ya as I see fit."

"Aye aye, Captain."

"Captain?" Looking down at the chef as he stirred, Law rest his weapon to his shoulder. "…You're back, I'm so glad." He croaked out, closing his eyes again as he affirmed Law's presence. "I'm sor-"

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine Captain, fine…What did Nayla-chan do wrong?"

Feeling a sigh build up in the back of his throat, Law refrained, not wanting the injured man to sense his annoyance. The crew had been voicing their concern for what he intended to do to the woman since they got back, which he had generally expected from them. However, he hadn't expected to hear it echoed quite this unanimously, even from members that didn't like her and even from members that were _supposed_ to be unconscious until morning.

"It's none of your conce-" Glancing skyward as the main deck erupted into loud cheers, Law released that sigh.

"…What are those noisy idiots doing?" Jake mumbled, turning to glance at Kotta as he rolled his eyes.

"Celebrating a job well done, Captain's return and your safety…despite it being about two in the damn morning." He grumbled in response.

Snorting weakly in amusement, Jake closed his eyes again. "Dummies, celebrating without the two main guests of honour."

"They said they'd celebrate again when you were back on your feet and when Captain was in the mood too. You want me to tell the dopes to keep it down or take it ashore?"

"Nah, I'm so out of it, I'll sleep right through. Let them have their fun." He chuckled quietly, smiling.

"Get some rest. I'll come see you in the morning." Law instructed, turning to leave.

"Aye aye, Captain…Thank you."

Glancing over his shoulder at the man briefly as he began drifting off, Law turned his focus back to the door as he reached it. "Keep regular observations overnight, I'll take over in the morning."

"Aye aye, Captain." Kotta replied, watching as his captain left the infirmary and shut the door softly behind him.

* * *

Zipping up her duffel bag having checked she had packed everything she needed for boarding the ship to Pugna at dawn for the third time, Nayla set her weapons back atop it, refraining from wringing her hands nervously.

She hadn't had the chance to call off her job, she was still due to depart early in the morning – which she was actually thankful for now, considering it would give her a valid reason to leave and Law some time to cool off, if he didn't kill her before she had the chance to.

Chewing her lip anxiously, she trailed her eyes over the closed drawer she had hurriedly stuffed her previously unpacked things back into; reluctantly admitting to herself she'd rather not piss off the pirate any further by disobeying his orders.

Wondering how long he'd kept her waiting in his quarters for him, she took a deep attempt-at-soothing breath, closing her eyes and running her fingers through her hair, trying to reassure herself that yes, he was mad, but she was sure he wouldn't do anything to harm her - he'd said so himself… _pretty_ sure…at least nothing to _really_ harm her…maybe.

Assuming he'd be back once he was done making sure everything was ok with the crew, the vessel and Jake, she'd been listening intently to the infirmary door across the hallway outside. It had opened and closed several times but between Kotta and the other crewmembers checking on their fallen comrade she'd worn weary of all the tension-building false alarms she'd heard so far.

Though hearing the cheerful, muffled voices of the jubilant crew still on a high from their successful and satisfying one-sided ass kicking and the safe return of both their crewmate and captain, Nayla had been sorely tempted to open the door as she'd heard them pass by. Eager to see a smiling face and hear some words of reassurance to calm her rattled nerves but didn't dare crack the door open.

Between unpacking, waiting nervously, getting her things ready for her next job, pacing the room, deciding to try to relax with a shower, changing into her nightwear then changing back when she realised she had no hope of relaxing enough to get any rest before morning, she must have been waiting for Law's return well over an hour by now.

'What is taking him so long? Is he just purposely drawing this out to make me a nervous wreck or-' Raising her eyes ceiling-ward as she heard another loud roar of cheers and laughter, she figured the crew had given another celebratory toast up on deck.

Curiosity temporarily ebbing her nervousness, Nayla walked through into Law's living area, making her way behind his desk to the porthole, wondering if she could see what was going on on the main deck by the reflection in the sea below or maybe catch a glance of the festivities by looking upwards at the railing.

It sounded as though a few of the crewmembers had taken the beautiful instruments she had seen on display in the rec room with them, she wondered who was playing and admired the upbeat, distinctly sea-chantey-influenced melody starting up – though it was barely audible over the pirates themselves. There was definitely booze up there, the numerous happy clinks of glasses and bottles were easily heard over all the raucous.

Squinting as she leant as close against the cold glass as she could without pressing her face to it, she looked up at the barest of edges of the railing, glimpsing some white boilersuits leant casually against it. Just as she were trying to decide if she could tell who they belonged to and lamenting the fact she couldn't join them in celebrating their happy occasion Nayla whipped her head back around as she heard the door to the quarters open.

Striding in, Law's gaze locked onto hers almost immediately. Pausing for only a brief moment, he closed the door silently behind him before making a beeline towards her. Only then, when she realised how difficult it was to see his expression in the darkness, did she realise that she'd been so absorbed by her intense anxiety that she hadn't even turned on the lights, despite how long she'd been waiting in his room.

Gulping as he stepped into the stream of moonlight flooding in from the porthole beside her, eyes ablaze and frown in place, she stepped away from it, removing the fingertips she hadn't noticed she'd pressed to the glass. Helping herself to his personal work space and leaving marks on his window, probably wouldn't help his mood any.

Swiftly rounding his desk, nodachi in hand and glare unwavering, Nayla felt her heart leap into her throat as she instinctively backed away from him, slipping past his desk chair and pushing it between them protectively. Seeing him halt his advance at the action, gaze falling to object she was futilely using as a barrier between them for her safety, she took the short reprieve to try to talk him down. "Um, hi, Law…About earlier, I-"

Using his free hand, he roughly shoved the chair aside, the back of it that she had been clutching onto for dear life ripped from her grasp as she watched it clatter noisily to its side on the carpet and him step over it, making his way towards her.

Reaching out and grabbing her top before she could retreat any further back, he yanked her to him, staring down at her from his height advantage. Watching her flit between his eyes, nervously trying to read him and breathing heavily in her apprehension, he let her wallow in the gut-wrenching unease she deserved a moment longer. The silence broken only by the racket his crew were making above them before dropping the tip of his nodachi to the floor with a heavy thud, loud enough to make her flinch at the noise.

He'd honestly killed people for less. He'd really, truly, honestly killed people for a lot less than she had ever said or ever done to him. What made her so special? Why did he show those other people no mercy and allow her to get away with anything that she did? Because she was useful to him? Because she was pretty?

Biting the inside of his cheek, his grip tightened on her clothing in irritation at that. There was nothing more frustrating than being unable to understand, reason or justify your own actions to _yourself._ Worse yet, knowing that you already knew the answers for your actions but refusing to acknowledge them. Acknowledging them meant having to admit you were as fallible as the people you had inwardly mocked for falling into the same pitfalls you now found yourself in, and he wasn't. He was better than that – smarter than that. Whatever soft spot of his that this woman had found and was currently nestling in, wouldn't help her now.

Despite having had more than enough time to reach a decision as to how he intended to punish her by now, he hadn't been able to. It wasn't often that Law felt at a loss as to what to say or do to someone and it was even less often that he experienced such polar opposites of feelings towards the same person. With Nayla, a lot of the time he couldn't decide whether he wanted to wring her neck or leave another love bite on it, whether he should throw her overboard or onto his bed, whether he'd rather hear her cry out in pain or in pleasure. Seriously needing to contemplate whether he wanted to kill or fuck a woman more was beyond him, those two options shouldn't coexist as answers to the same question…but more and more often these days, the latter was becoming the response. He didn't _really_ want to wrap his hands around that delicate little neck of hers, nor did he want to throw her overboard to the nonexistent mercy of the Grand Line and he certainly never wanted to hear her in pain…pain _and_ pleasure however…

Indecision becoming apparent on his face as he looked at her, his eyes darted from hers to her lips, his hand loosening its grip on her hoodie as he slid it around to the back of her head instead, his other releasing his nodachi to allow it to slump against the wall behind his desk.

Leaning in closer but not giving in to his growing temptation to kiss her, he tightened his fingers around the handful of hair they had thread through, trying to hold onto the fury he felt, the embarrassment of his inability to do anything but succumb to the pleasure she had given him earlier and the humiliation of his helplessness that she had forced him to endure.

Inwardly, his next words sounded more like a plea to his own ears. He was honestly hoping that she would say something, anything that would dissipate his rage, that would tip the scales in her favour - where he wanted them. He wanted a valid excuse to forgive her and to justify still liking her – wanting her, despite his better judgement.

…

"Give me one good reason not to kill you."

Blinking up at him uncertainly, unable to place whether the gravelly tone to his voice was leaning more towards anger or lust, she licked her dry lips - his now so close to hers that her tongue barely grazed them as she did. "…The blow job was good?"

Honestly unsure whether she were being serious or if it were just her poor sense of humour acting up again, Law's brows rose slowly to the brim of his hat as he looked at her incredulously. Either way, her bluntness had honestly thrown him a curve ball.

Shrugging in his hold as he blinked at her silently in shock, he ran his tongue over his teeth before finally sighing heavily. "…You have no idea how lucky you are that it was." He growled lowly in defeat against her lips before taking them in a searing kiss, wrapping his other arm around her waist and pressing her body against his.

Surprised but soon falling into the charged, heated kiss and the flush of arousal that washed over her as she felt his tongue on hers, Nayla melted into him as he tilted her head and delved deeply into her mouth. Reaching her hands up to his chest, she gripped the edges of his torn shirt tightly, suddenly unable to think beyond the burning desire he had instantaneously ignited in her with his touch.

Feeling her tug him closer, Law tightened his hold, crushing her small frame to his own as their tongues clashed passionately and feeling a groan at the back of his throat as her hands ran over the bare skin of his chest that she had so thoroughly indulged herself in tasting at her leisure earlier. The nerve of her to so brazenly enjoy his flesh to her heart's content, to taste _everything_ he had to offer without any reciprocation…That wouldn't stand.

Growling in annoyance at the thought and finally settling on just how he would punish her for her behaviour that night, he broke their kiss just briefly enough to push her roughly onto his desk, eating her surprised gasp with another as he pressed her body down to its surface with his own and kissed her more roughly in his anger.

Moaning loudly at the heightened arousal he caused with his sudden aggression, the feel of his weight on top of her and the way he parted her thighs by pushing his slender hips between them, Nayla closed her eyes as she felt Law's hands pull her skirt up, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as she felt the growing bulge of his jeans press hard against her through her exposed panties.

His lips left hers, instead leaving a trail of blazing kisses along her jaw as he rest his hands to her hips and pushed himself against her, sucking the flesh of her neck firmly and causing her to gasp at the heavy throb of desire it caused.

Fluttering her eyes open, she lift a hand to remove his hat, setting it onto the desk beside them as he lapped her skin, knowing that he was working over the same spot he had bitten and sucked earlier that night, the same spot he had proven his point on before.

Sighing in content at the relieving friction of his firm erection grinding forcefully into her, she ran her fingers through his hair, tightening her hold around him with her other arm and meeting the rough grind of his crotch to hers readily.

Raking his teeth teasingly over her skin, he kissed the midline of her neck, before licking and sucking the flesh there, feeling the reverberation of her moan strongly against his lips as she tilted her head back to rest against the desk fully, giving him more access. Feeling his teeth grasping and his goatee grazing the most vulnerable part of her throat, she couldn't help but feel like prey beneath a predator, the parallel – a reminder of how dangerous a man Law really was, falling on deaf and trusting ears as she exposed herself more to him. Too consumed by her prolonged want for him, too eager to let him finally have his way with her and those feelings only amplifying when she felt him begin to remove her panties.

Looking past his wild, black locks at her thighs on either side of him, she watched the fabric of her underwear being pulled down them, loving how his hands looked and felt sliding over her bare skin. Reaching as far as the material would allow, Law reluctantly released the flesh in his mouth as she grudgingly released her grip around his neck and allowed his hair to slip from her fingers as he pulled away.

Breathing rapidly in anticipation, she propped herself up a little on her elbows as he stood to full height, her panties pulled taught over each of her legs and his body halting their removal. The open lust in his gaze as he stepped back sent a painfully strong rush of desire through her as he slid the scant fabric down her parted legs slowly, purposely gliding his hands over her skin, all the way down the sides of her thighs, knees and shins, sliding them over her feet and flinging her panties to his floor carelessly as he held her eye contact.

Smirking as she bit her lip and smiled playfully up at him, he grasped her ankles, raising one as he leant down and planted a gentle kiss to its inner side. Squirming, she had to fight back an honest squeal as he tickled his lips against the inner side of her calf, brushing them against her skin, kissing and licking his way up her leg teasingly as he slid his other hand up to the back of her other calf, slowly parting her legs to stand between them again.

Trailing long, lingering kisses up her toned legs, he curled his arms around the backs of each of them, placing her knees over his shoulders as he knelt to the floor in front of the desk. Resting his hands onto her hips, he gently lapped his way up the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, reaching the crease where it met her body and running his tongue along the length of it, making her gasp when he sucked some of the sensitive flesh into his mouth gently. Humming quietly at the gentle, pleasurable sensation, Nayla fought the temptation to run her fingers through his hair, to cradle his head between her thighs as she felt his hot breath teasingly run over the moisture rapidly accumulating on her lower lips.

Relieved when he lifted his face and hoping she was about to feel his tongue where she needed it the most, she was sorely – and purposely, disappointed when he instead moved to kiss the skin of her other inner thigh. As if reading her mild frustration, Law smiled against her flesh, drawing lazy patterns over it with his tongue; nipping and sucking his way slowly back to her core.

Biting her lip in anticipation as he took his time lavishing the fold of her skin at the top that leg too, she bit harder to stop the moan that threatened to leave her when he finally contacted her throbbing outer lips with the very tip of his tongue, tracing one side of the bare flesh from bottom to top and stopping short of her clit, before doing the same on the other side.

He sucked her outer lips gently, exhaling audibly against her wet, sensitive skin as he began sampling her taste. Pushing his tongue between her outer and inner lips, he ran his tongue top to bottom, circling the fleshy curtains of her entrance but never entering, bringing the tip of his travelling appendage to the very edges of her most sensitive spot but never touching it. Sucking and tasting her soft, supple flesh as he watched her face.

Feeling her growing need for him to touch her bud, to breech her entrance, to fill her, to fuck her, Nayla fidgeted beneath him as his tongue approached her clit again. Chuckling against her, Law held her hips more firmly, halting her movement and her attempts to direct his moving tongue and his mouth where she wanted it.

" _Law!_ " Unable to believe how whiny and needy she sounded, she pouted sourly at him as she felt his grin widen against both of the inner thighs he had tucked his face snugly between.

"Yes, Nayla?"

Trying to ignore the way his lips felt speaking against hers and the way he resumed sucking on them as he awaited her response, she huffed at the devious glint in his eyes as he gazed at her. Obviously enjoying her torment.

"Stop-" Sitting up slightly with a gasp as she felt his lips brush against her clit, she reflexively rest a hand to his head as the unexpected jolt of pleasure hit her.

"You want me to stop?" He purred against it, beginning to pull away only to have her tighten the grip of her thighs around his face and around the fistful of his hair.

"Don't you dare." She hissed out breathily, glaring down at him.

Chuckling, he kissed her soothingly, the vibration of his laughter feeling all to pleasant as she closed her eyes and squirmed beneath his touch as he dragged the entire, long length of his tongue over her clit before speaking again.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. I still need to punish you. Though, you're in no position to be giving me orders, Nayla. You never have been." Opening her eyes as he began standing, she watched him reach into his pocket. "Especially not after what you did to me tonight."

She couldn't help but gulp at the serious undertone to his husky voice as his gaze burned into her from above, feeling all too vulnerable on her back as he towered over her. "In fact-" He abruptly tugged the zipper of her hoodie down fully in one motion, opening it completely. "-I don't see why you're talking at all."

Glancing back up at him from her exposed chest, she barely had time to contemplate the meaning of the sinisterly uttered latter before she felt his lips on hers, the bare skin of his chest peering out from his ruined shirt contacting hers, the heat of their skin meeting and the smallest traces of her own taste on his tongue causing her to moan deeply into his mouth.

Furrowing her brows when he abruptly ended their kiss, her question as to why was answered when he swiftly pressed his hand to her mouth, her eyes widening as she felt the thick, adhesive strip adhere to her skin.

Grinning sinisterly at her realisation, Law caught the hands that she reflexively raised to her face to remove it with his own ones, pressing them to her hips as he kissed her over the tape, a satisfied chuckle leaving him at the sight of her narrowed eyes.

He slid his body down over hers, the hard muscles of his chest dragging over her breasts and stomach as he lowered himself to resume his slow and agonising retribution. Nayla wondered if he'd had this in mind for her from the start, she couldn't imagine any other reason for him to have tucked that piece of duct tape into his pocket after being freed instead of discarding it to the floor…the same one he'd had his over his own mouth…She'd have licked her lips at the thought of them occupying where his had been if she could have.

Breathing heavily as she watched him in shock, Nayla reluctantly conceded that she probably deserved having to endure what she'd done to _him_ tonight. Restrained, muted and at his mercy. This was definitely karma for thinking she could get away with doing something like that to him so easily and never have to answer to it.

Trailing his tongue along the length of her slit, Law circled her throbbing bud with it teasingly as he reached it, slowly shrinking the circumference until it finally stroked over her fully, making her moan in relief as she felt sweet, sharp tingles of pleasure begin to course through her body. Swirling his hot, wet appendage over her in the opposite direction, her began switching back and forth, his lips meeting her hooded flesh as he lowered his face further down to her.

Sucking her clit into his mouth completely, he watched her eyes shut as she rest her head back to the desk, a deep, longing moan leaving her through the tape over her mouth. He sucked it in alternating pressure, varying between firm and gentle, his tongue still running over its surface as he began building a rhythm.

Focusing on the incredible feeling of his mouth on her, she felt his grip on her wrists tighten as she tried raising a hand. How badly she wanted to run her fingers through his hair and take a handful as he pleasured her – though she realised he had probably felt the same way earlier and that it was exactly the point of him holding her still in the first place.

Sliding their joined hands together slightly, over her hips and more onto the tops of her thighs, he used his thumbs to push back the slicked flesh of her hood, provoking a squeal from her that she was glad had been smothered by the tape over her mouth as he licked over her fully exposed and exquisitely sensitive clit.

Pausing and looking up at her with an amused smirk on his face at the sound, she narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance and clenched her jaw firmly as he began dragging the entire length of his tongue, base to tip in one, long, upward lick over the entirety of her unbearably bare bundle of nerves - unwilling to give him another embarrassingly uncontrollable and girly squeal if she could help it.

Squirming under the agonisingly intense and pleasurable sensation as he repeated the action, she felt him tighten his arms around her thighs more securely to hold her still, watching her closely as she fought between the reflexive desire to clamp her thighs shut around him to halt the over-stimulation and spread them wider to welcome more.

Slowly sucking her exposed bud into his mouth had her pressing her head back to the wood beneath her, scrunching her eyes shut with a choked gasp as he resumed his rhythmic oral on her, holding her hips still, holding her thighs apart and holding her hands to herself.

Falling helplessly into the pace his mouth set on her, she moaned as the electric shocks of pleasure wracked through her and he began building up her climax with every hot, wet suck and stroke of his tongue.

She grew unable to hear the gentle rush of the waves whirling past the hub of the vessel and the noise of the crew on the deck above them echoing loudly into the night sky past the fierce pounding of her own heart, the blood rushing through her ears, her laboured breaths, her strained moans and the quiet, wet smacks of Law's lips on her coming from between her legs.

She could no longer feel the soft sways of the sub as it rest on the calm, shoreline sea beneath them, nor the harsh, cold, wooden surface of his desk – now heavily heated by her body. All she could feel was the warmth of her flush of arousal painting her cheeks, the tight, taught muscles of the man holding her firmly in his grasp and the intense, focused pleasure he was giving her - his thick, black locks ticking the skin of her legs, the soft hair of his sideburns and his metal piercings brushing against her inner thighs as he moved his jaw, his lips sealed to the rim of her exposed clit, the firm sucks he gave it and the lavishing, soaking wet strokes of his tongue across it.

The world around her was rapidly dissolving as her orgasm built, all she could concentrate on was the incredible sensation of his mouth on her pussy. As if sensing her descent into a desire-driven delirium, Law increased the pressure and fervour of his mouth, pressing his face more firmly to her and sucking harder and faster.

Moaning loudly as her climax suddenly accelerated towards her, she weakly opened her eyes to watch him, struggling to breathe heavily enough through her nostrils when she wanted so badly to pant – something else he had probably had to suffer at her hands earlier.

Unable to fully stop her hips from squirming in his grasp, she met his fierce sucks with her body, grinding up to his face, growing more and more desperate for the friction as she felt herself reach the brink of her orgasm. How badly she wanted him to suck even harder, even faster – how badly she wished she could speak to tell him so. How much she wanted him inside of her, wanted to tell him to fuck her, to just feel him inside of her at all – his tongue, his fingers, anything would do. She wanted him to fill her so badly.

Groaning as her walls started contracting, she met his eye contact. The intensity and dark lust in his beautiful grey eyes as he watched her beginning to cum hard for him, as if able to intuitively understand exactly what she was thinking of at that moment, pushed her well and truly into her orgasm.

Moaning uncontrollably as the waves of pleasure wracked through her, her whole body tensed, her thighs pressed firmly against his face as her hips moved against her will to meet his lips as he sucked strongly, tongue lashing out to lap along her soaking slit to her bud in rapid strokes.

The intensity of her climax still growing, she could no longer hold her eyes open against the incredible shivers of pleasure shooting down her spine, closing her eyes she tossed her head back, moaning helplessly, at his mercy as he prolonged her orgasm, using his thumbs to rub her between his sucks and licks.

Drowning in the tortuous bliss, she inwardly begged him to penetrate her. Over and over again. That single, solitary and primitive desire occupying the only part of her mind that seemed to be capable of thought in that moment. She couldn't believe how hard she was cumming without him ever touching the inside of her nor how much more that made her want him to.

Finally feeling the frequency and strength of the contractions of her orgasm beginning to slow and weaken, she relaxed the back she hadn't realised she had arched to the desk, relaxed the neck she hadn't realised she'd extended to a more comfortable, neutral position and relaxed the intense strain of her thighs against Law's arm muscles as she rest her hips back down to the surface below her as well.

Blearily opening her eyes as the room around them came back into existence, she focused on the ceiling above them as she struggled to pant beneath the tape, occasional jolts of pleasure coursing through her as Law soothingly licked her over sensitised clit, the moisture of the sound letting her know just how wet she had gotten for him, the rapidly approaching sensation of exhaustion letting her know just how long and how forcefully he had just made her cum.

Whimpering as he moved one of his thumbs to rub in circular motions over her throbbing clit, Law moved his mouth further south to lick over her slit, the audible exhale and small, deep moan she felt against her lips causing a shudder as she listened to the wet smacks of her juices meeting his venturing tongue.

He circled her entrance, around her outer lips, lapping the moisture from her skin before moving his tongue further in, stroking the circumference of her inner lips, before his tip began breeching her. Still in a heady bliss and tensing as his thumb stimulated jolts of aftershock pleasure through her sensitive bud, she watched as he slid inside, slowly disappearing deeper as he swept pleasurably over her inner walls on his way in.

Seeming to grow impatient with his own pace of teasing, he opened his mouth fully, his lips meeting hers as he tilted his head and suddenly pushed his tongue inside of her as far as it could reach. Moaning loudly as he kissed her, stroking her insides as he would have done with her own mouth, she watched his eyes close as he delved into her eagerly, able to hear his quiet hum of satisfaction as he tasted her so fully and able to feel the motion of his throat against her inner thighs as he swallowed her juices, increasing the pace of the thumb he was still rubbing over her clit.

Her hips bucked against her will as she felt his tongue curl inside of her, teasing her throbbing inner walls and brushing against her most sensitive spot. Growling deep in his throat at her response, he released her other hand in favour of sliding a finger in alongside his tongue, zeroing in on and stimulating the spot that had made her grind against him involuntarily in pleasure.

The feel of something harder penetrating her, the sight of his long digit sliding in so easily and the predatorial scrutiny of his dark gaze as he watched her face – knowing that he had just found her sweetest spot and rubbing over it mercilessly, forced another loud moan from her.

Immediately gripping the desk beneath her with her freed hand, she tried in vain to anchor herself to reality as her post-climactic haze suddenly lifted, replaced by the rapid build of a new one. Beginning to thrust his finger, he mirrored the action with his tongue, gliding both in and out of her together in a new, slow rhythm as he took turns in attacking his new found favourite spot with heavy strokes or curled tips of either, still rubbing increasingly firmer circles over her unforgotten bud.

Clenching her hands as she absorbed the incredible sensations of his triple onslaught and the new sensation of his hot, wet, soft tongue running across her inner walls alongside his hard, slender finger, she fought the urge to grab his hair, parting her legs more for him now that he had released one thigh in favour of using his hand.

Revelling in the subconscious request her body made for more penetration, Law removed his thumb from her clit, gliding his tongue up to replace it as he slid a second finger deeply inside of her. Gasping at the heat of his mouth back on her bud and the firmer feeling of two of his digits filling her, she couldn't help but immediately reach for his hair, grasping a handful as she gazed down at him between her legs through heavily lidded eyes.

Stubbornly keeping at least one of her hands restrained, he inwardly griped at the unfairness of her being able to place a hand to the back of his head when he hadn't been able to do the same earlier. Feeling her fingers tighten around his locks as he sucked her clit back into his mouth, he pumped his fingers into her faster, drawing a gasp as he curled them to press and rub his fingertips to her apparent G-spot.

Starting to meet his push in with her hips as her pleasure began to build back up into mind-numbing realms, she writhed beneath him, craving more, losing herself to his steel gaze as he played with her. It felt so good but it made her want him so much more in so many ways. She wanted him further inside of her than his digits could reach, wanted a part of him that was harder and thicker than his fingers to fill her - she was craving his cock so badly. How incredible his long, thick, hard, hot, throbbing flesh would feel buried to the hilt inside of her right then.

Just the thought of the restrained erection she knew he had in his jeans for her made her hunger for it, want to release it, taste the precum she knew must be soaking his tip right now. As good as he was making her feel, she was craving him on another level. How badly she wanted him to stand, unzip his pants and fuck her right there on his desk, to feel his hips thrusting deeply into her between her thighs and to hear his unconstrained groans as he came inside of her. The fresh memory of how his forceful, hot spurts of cum in her mouth had felt made her ache to feel the same on her inner walls. The anticipation of the sensation made her moan again, the thought of him fucking and cumming inside of her soon amplifying and driving the pleasure she felt beneath his tongue and fingers.

The look he gave her as he heard the needy, pleading tone of her voice – the one that begged him to fill her soon, was as feral as the small growl that left his lips as he stood, reaching his free hand to rip one side of the tape from her mouth as his fingers fucked her furiously, his thumb taking the place of his tongue on her clit.

Screaming a little at the abrupt sensation of the adhesive being partially pulled from her skin and the increased force and pace of his penetration, she barely had time to process his actions before his lips crashed to hers. Snaking his free hand beneath her head on the desk, he tilted it back, devouring every fevered gasp and whimper as he thrust her closer to her climax, pushing her legs open more widely with his hips as he rest his body on top of her, relishing in the feel of the chest she had taunted him with earlier on his.

Wrapping her freed arms around his shoulders, she held onto him tightly, gripping his hardened muscles and the hair at the back of his own head as he broke their kiss and gazed at her, resting his forehead to hers as he watched her lose herself to him again, unable to vocalise anything other than strained pants and moans as they both listened to the moist, smacking sounds of his hand reached down between them inside her dripping wet womanhood.

He watched her eyes beginning to flutter shut, her lashes tickling his own as she began to near her orgasm. Her back beginning to arch – pressing her bare stomach against his more and more, her legs beginning to clamp shut on his hips in reflex as the over-stimulation became too much to bear, her nails beginning to dig into his back and her slick walls beginning to tighten around his fingers as he thrust them inside her, dragging their full length in and out as his thumb rubbed against her sensitive nub with every pump.

Feeling her hips buck to meet him, she struggled to stay anchored there with him as she felt the tension of her pre-climax reach its pinnacle. She'd never cum this hard, twice, during what she'd have considered foreplay for the main event. If he were this capable with just his hands and mouth, she couldn't wait to feel him inside of her. Gasping as she approached the brink of another orgasm, she matched his eye contact as she herself starting to tighten completely around his fingers. "Law…"

How she was looking at him then, her obvious inability to even string together coherent thoughts and sentances in her state and the way she had just whimpered his name - the way it sounded coming from her when her voice was so audibly soaked in sex, made his crotch throb painfully in his own arousal. How her body responded to his own, the haze of lust cast over her blue eyes as she gazed at him, her plump, soft lips parted for him, her absolute desire for him written all over her face and all the cues her body gave him as to how much she wanted him inside of her was an unbearably strong turn on. He'd thought about this moment more times than he'd ever admit to - even to himself, he'd waited so long to see this look on her face, for him.

Burning every feature of it and every sound that slipped past her lips to memory, he upped his speed and force, pushing her fully over the edge she was teetering on as he thrust into her harder. Ramming inside of her contracted walls deeply enough to press the web between his finger and thumb roughly against her clit with every entry caused her to cry out loudly as her involuntary, muscular ripples of orgasm began clamping down over his flesh in palpable waves.

Moaning at the unbelievable force of them – the strength of the orgasm he gave her, she closed her eyes as she rode out the contractions of her climax on his fingers, able to feel his grey eyes watching her intently as she became utterly undone in front of him, beneath him, because of him. Knowing he was watching her cum, mewling and writhing on his fingers uncontrollably, somehow only increased the intensity of the pleasure she felt in that moment.

Watching her orgasm with him inside of her suddenly made his jeans feel so unbearably tight, the heavy desire in his groin that he wanted to sate pulsating painfully against the inside of his pants. Fighting the urge to kiss her – wanting to enjoy the hard earned sounds he had fantasised hearing from her for so long, he instead kissed her neck, closing his eyes and drinking in the sensation of bringing her to orgasm, the taste of the fine sheen of sweat on her skin and the broken whimpers and gasps as her climax ripped through her in powerful waves that he could all too readily feel. A groan settled in the back of his throat as he imagined how much better they'd feel wrapped tightly around his shaft, buried fully inside of her as she came, the thought making him suck her flesh harder as he drove into her relentlessly.

Feeling his lips on her throat, she tilted her head back further for him, inviting every sensation he had to offer her to accompany the spine tingling climax she was experiencing, tightening the hold on his hair painfully.

Growling lowly against her skin at the arousing feel of it, he licked and sucked her neck more fiercely in retaliation, his denim-clad thighs brushing against the inside of her own as his hips thrust involuntarily against the back of his hand between their bodies, eliciting a loud, breathy moan from her at the action that sent a shiver of arousal through him. It took all that was left of his willpower to force his hips to still.

As she finally began to come down from her prolonged and intense high, she released some of the pressure on her grip, belatedly realising how tightly she had been holding onto him and opening her eyes drowsily as her climax finally started to subside.

Feeling Law's fingers slow down, she watched him pull back, gazing at her hungrily as she panted, her mouth feeling dry with her efforts and her throat feeling hoarse from her gasps and moans. Hearing the noise above them seeming to come back into existence, she was thankful the crew were so noisy and that she'd had tape across her lips for as long as she did. She couldn't believe how noisy she had been and hoped that no one in the infirmary across the hall could have heard her over all the drunken noise coming from above.

Refocusing tiredly onto the gorgeous shine of his steel eyes, she hummed in satisfaction, running her fingers through his hair as he withdrew his to her entrance, gently trailing them over her swollen lips in soft, soothing strokes.

That had been incredible; she'd never really experienced orgasms as intense as those without sex and rarely at all with fingers alone. Although her need for release and orgasm had been more than satisfied, she somehow didn't feel like her appetite for him had been sated – it wouldn't be until she felt him truly inside of her.

Just as she was beginning to wonder how long they had been lost in each other's silent gaze, she felt Law remove his hand from her completely and watched as he lifted it to his face. Sucking a finger clean, his eyes took on a playful edge as he tauntingly mimicked her earlier action, though he seemed to be taking personal enjoyment in her taste and the expression on her face as he did.

Licking her dry lips with a small, teasing smile of her own, she lifted her head slightly to steal the second from him before he could place it to his lips, sucking the full length of his finger into her mouth, twirling her tongue around it in the same manner she had done on his cock earlier and watching the mischievous glint of his gaze turn lustful again at the reminder. Even darker as he watched her pull back and lick his skin slowly, teasing him, coaxing him into taking her.

Pulling his hand away, he kissed her hard, her taste mingling between their tongues as he pushed his inside of her mouth. Feeling her arms wrap around his shoulders and her legs wrap around him once more, knowing her bare, wet pussy was pressing against his crotch, he groaned quietly into their kiss, his shaft beginning to pulse painfully again in its excitement at her invitation.

Feeling her desperation for him climbing as the passion of their kiss did and as the rough fabric covering his erection rubbed against her heated entrance, she tenderly sucked the split in his lip as she slid a hand down between them. Eager to grip his warm, throbbing flesh again, dying to pull him from his pants, to feel him fuck her ruthlessly against the hard wood beneath them and to fill her completely with his thick, hot cum.

Pulling back when she felt his hand halt her own from reaching down to his jeans, she looked up at him questioningly, wondering why he had stopped her…Then belatedly piecing together what her punishment had been with growing dread and shock as she watched the start of a small smirk tilt the corner of his mouth. "…Law…ple-"

Pressing the loose end of the tape back down to her lips, he halted the word his resolve couldn't handle hearing right now. Not when she was lying on her back on his desk, bare from the waist down, legs spread, pussy soaked, chest exposed and heaving, cheeks flushed, with a lust-drunk haze in her eyes. The sultry silk of her voice in arousal and the way she spoke like she was desperate for him, the way his name sounded coming from her when her voice was like that…if she asked him to take her right now – worse, if she pleaded for it, begged him for it…he wouldn't be able to stop himself. He _had_ to stop that word leaving her lips.

Running his thumb over the tape as he held her chin gently, soaking in the needy, lustful gaze she gave him, he pressed his lips over hers, just as she had done to him earlier that night and planted a brief parting kiss. "This wouldn't be much of a punishment if I gave you what you wanted, Nayla."

Standing upright, he removed the comforting warmth and pressure of his body from hers, making her immediately miss it as she watched him slide out from between her legs and followed him with her gaze as he silently walked through the archway into his bedroom.

Her shock waning and disappointment setting in, she rest her head back to the desk, her rapidly increasing post-climactic exhaustion catching up to her as she blinked tiredly in resignation at the now unobstructed view of the porthole in the wall behind his desk. Needing to squint slightly as the bright moonlight filtered in, now unhindered by the man's obscuring presence.

Listening to Law's footsteps as he entered his bathroom and closed the door softly behind him, she sighed heavily, realising that he had just left her in exactly the same state she had left him in earlier. Dying for more and unable to get it. He had exacted his revenge perfectly - she was craving him like no other right now, despite the orgasms that had coursed through every one of her nerve endings so thoroughly and left none of her senses untouched or unscathed.

It was as if she had been given an incredibly teasing taster of what he was capable of, of how good he could make her feel if he chose to grace her with his sexual prowess…and playing with him earlier had been a preview of just how satisfying and arousing it would be to make him cum for her too.

Closing her eyes with a quiet groan, she peeled the tape gently from her lips, scrunching the thick plastic in her palm as she rest her arm over her eyes, shielding herself from the bright glow of the night sky as reality slowly ebbed its way back into existence and the painful realisation that she had nearly begged, _begged_ Law to take her dawned on her.

She had never done that before. She'd never _had_ to do that before. It had always been the opposite up until now, if anything. Of all the men she'd ever encountered, she'd never been so driven to wanting one as badly as this.

Since when had she craved someone to this extent? Truly utterly craved a man in the most primal, vulgar, sexual way she could possibly crave a man. _Law_ of all people. A pirate. A violent, murderous, sadistic, self-conceited, arrogant bastard that had harassed her, stalked her, assaulted her, imprisoned her, annoyed and teased her at every _possible_ turn…that had shared his own living comforts with her…that made her laugh and smile…offered her means to improve her skills and her knowledge…had medically treated her more times than she could remember, for even the littlest of things…who had held her when she was sick and saved her life…admittedly twice…

Swallowing thickly at the confused mixture of post-orgasmic endorphins, tiredness, lust, frustration, annoyance and the warm, fuzzy feeling she felt in her chest growing at a worryingly rapid rate each time she thought of the man, she rubbed her thighs together in a futile attempt to soothe the ache he had left her with. The lack of his presence between them and the cool air of the room reminding her of her lack of undergarments and excessively moist skin.

Cracking one eye open as she rest her head to the side, she spotted hers and Law's Den Den Mushi sat quietly beside each other on the edge of his desk – hers peering at her through the partially opened lids of one of its small eyes.

Returning its blank stare silently, she seemed to feel her arousal cool off, her tension melt away and the time of night and her lack of sleep catch up to her all at once.

"…Don't judge me." She sighed tiredly, lifting Law's hat from the surface beside her and plopping it over its face gently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a potentially epic and tasteful time skip scene several weeks or months in the future with Nayla wistfully recalling her days on the Heart Pirate's sub, missing them and wondering what they were up to only to return/run into them by chance/have Law successfully track her down in there somewhere (it was probably how she thought her escape would play out in her mind)…but nope, she couldn't even get far away enough to get out of sight of the manor.


	54. Heart-to-heart

Resting his forehead to the cold, soothing tiling with a heavy sigh, Law grudgingly watched the consequence of the double-edged punishment he had inflicted on Nayla wash down the drain under the warm stream of his shower.

Walking away had been more difficult than he'd anticipated. _A lot_ more difficult. He had made his point loud and clear though – he would _not_ tolerate the shit she pulled tonight lying down and had definitely come out on top this time…Right?

Groaning quietly in frustration, he closed his eyes, questioning his actions now that he had a clear head – the anger and sexual desire he had felt now out of his system. '…That annoying, little woman,' even when he was sure he had won an exchange with her, he felt like he'd lost.

These games were tiring. Every time he was certain he or she had stopped playing them and were finally addressing each other as mature adults that knew what they wanted, another seemed to start. Ones that neither of them could ever seem to back down from - due to pride on his part and outright mischievousness on hers.

His inability to allow her to believe she had gotten off light with what she did had compelled his need to get even, and her inability to keep her hands to herself had been what had started this last game to begin with…Well, maybe she _could_ have kept them to herself, she simply chose not to because she thought that she was going to get away with it.

Scoffing a little as he recalled that naughty, little bite of her lips when she had sealed his own with tape, he reluctantly broke out into a quiet chuckle at her sheer audacity. She had looked every part a disobedient, little child that knew they were about to do the wrong thing, smiled, and did it anyway.

Lazily running a hand through his hair as he stood upright, he pushed aside Nayla's bottle of body wash from his shower shelf – _still_ obstructing his own, though he'd honestly given up on telling her his preferences of how to place her personal items within his quarters. The trivial nature of the issue (no matter how annoying) and the automatic response of 'wouldn't be there if you hadn't kidnapped me in the first place' wasn't worth the energy.

Taking a handful of his own gel, he half-heartedly wondered if she had hastily unpacked her item here after coming back or if she had never bothered to pack it up with her to begin with as he began washing up. The hunters hadn't been very ceremonious in his handling; he'd contacted the filthy floors more times than he'd like to recall and the cold dampness of the fieldstone wall of the cellar soaking into his back made him more than sure that the old, unmaintained stones were probably growing a fine layer of moist mildew or other assorted unpleasantries.

Nose turning up at the thought, he hesitated momentarily as he spotted the very faintest of red smudges on the most private of parts. Blinking in surprise before furrowing his brows in annoyance, he made sure to clean off every trace of that woman, he didn't need any reminders…of how good that had felt…how annoyingly good that had felt…how she'd looked up at him…how she'd looked in general with him deep in her mouth, on her knees, her chest on display, her hands on him – those long, red nails against his flesh, that incredible thing she'd done with her tongu-

Gritting his teeth in irritation, he abruptly turned off the shower, pulled the curtain back sharply and practically ripped his towel from the nearby rack – thankful for the absence of lewd underwear on it. Frowning at the gleaming metal of the rail, as if it had been responsible for that latter thought, he pat the soft, dry fabric to his face, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. It had been an extremely long day, a lot had happened. His tiredness and the fact he was still recovering from the post-viral fatigue of his flu, wasn't helping him keep his thoughts where he wanted them to stay.

…It would be so easy. It would just be _so_ easy to walk back into his room and have her. She was probably curled up on his sofa right now – or more likely, in his bed. She'd probably still be willing – then again, maybe she'd be feeling vindictive enough now to reject him out of spite…No, the look on her face when he'd stopped her from undoing his pants. The level of need that had been in her voice, on her face…she'd probably have sex with him…Though it would defeat the point of what he had just done…but god did she look good like that on his desk, he wouldn't be able to shake that image of her from his mind for a long time. The one of her splayed out on the wood, wrapped around his fingers, moaning, saying his name, cumming for him…It might take even longer to shake the image of her on her knees swallowing him as if he had been the most delicious thing she had ever tasted…

Muffling his frustrated groan with the towel to his face before removing it, he pat his body dry as he forced his thoughts to halt altogether if they wouldn't comply with staying put on anything that wouldn't make him need another 'shower.' Carefully stepping out of the tub, he made his way over to the mirror above his sink as he wrapped the towel around his waist, doing a double take of the glass as he belatedly noticed the writing on it.

Narrowing his eyes and wafting some of the steam in the room aside with a hand, he read the message written in the all too familiar soft, red, wax of her lipstick silently:

_"I know you'll miss me._

_xxx"_

Her parting message. The 'i' dotted with a small heart, and just like the one she had left for Penguin and Shachi in their gifts, this one was also completed by an obnoxious, bright red lipstick print placed in the bottom corner of his mirror – and he was almost certain that although she had managed to reach a hand higher to write, that the bottom corner was practically the _only_ place someone as short as her could have managed to kiss the glass.

It'd seem she had been so consumed in the anxiety he had stirred in her that she hadn't seen or remembered to wipe her cosmetic vandalism away before he had returned to his quarters. _He_ had been so consumed by the thoughts his interaction with her and his dire need to 'shower' to have noticed it on his way in.

Growing used to the feeling of the corner of his mouth tugging up against his will when it came to her, Law chuckled a little at the words obscuring his reflection on the steamed glass as he reached for the pack of makeup remover wipes Nayla had left on the side of his bathroom counter. Yes, another item of hers that had gradually weaselled its way amongst his own belongings.

Tugging one out, he wadded it up and wiped her intended farewell-taunt from his mirror with a small grin. The condensed droplets on its surface aiding the stubborn substance's removal somewhat, though his hand hesitated in its approach to the imprint of her lips.

Deciding he'd rather leave it there, for now, he tossed the wipe into the waste basket beneath the sink before turning away to pull on his hastily shed clothing, her written words reiterating in his mind. 'No, it seems like I won't have to.'

* * *

Making his way back into his bedroom, Law noticed the quieter-sounding din his crew were making up above, inwardly making an estimate of how many of them had already drunk themselves stupid and were laid out on the deck.

Rolling his eyes at that with a slight – though fond sigh, he rubbed his hair drier with the towel he had draped around his neck, unable to help but notice a distinct lack of pain-in-his-ass woman on his bed or sofa as he made his way over to the wardrobe. Raising a brow at that, he opened one of the doors and reached inside for another light shirt, his ruined one having remained discarded on his bathroom floor, and wondered if she had perhaps decided to join the crew instead of sleep before she was due to leave for work.

Faltering in his movement as he began closing the door, he stared blankly at his hung clothing as another possibility arose in his thoughts. '…She wouldn't.' Slamming the wardrobe shut and turning on his heel at the thought of her _possibly_ having the nerve to make _another_ run for it, Law halted as his eyes fell onto her figure through the archway.

She was exactly where he had left her; lying on his desk, Nayla hadn't moved an inch since he'd gone for his shower. Noticing the arm she had rest across her eyes, he felt a small lump of concern nestle uncomfortably in his throat as he cautiously approached, the thought of her being genuinely upset about what he had done belatedly crossing his mind.

Entering his living quarters quietly, he looked her over worriedly. A wadded ball of grey in the palm of the hand she had draped over her face - her lips now free from the confines he'd put them in. Her hair was still cascading over the edge of his desk - nearly touching the floor with its length. Her top was still undone, though she had pulled down her skirt - her other hand gripping its hem and she had bent her knees - her petite feet resting on the opposite side of the desk's surface. Other than that, she was exactly as he'd left her…and completely motionless. Silent, despite his approach.

Had he gone too far? Had she really just lay there and sulked all this time?...Had she cried? Swallowing painfully over that growing lump in his throat, he came to stop at the edge nearest to her head, only now noticing her deep, rhythmic breathing in disbelief…and immediately scoffing aloud at his own idiocy for worrying as he realised she had simply fallen asleep there.

Relaxing the tightened grip on his new shirt and running his other hand over his face in both relief _and_ frustration, he sighed loudly as he looked at her. Honestly at a loss for words.

"Nayla."

Rolling his eyes at the predictable lack of response as she continued to snooze soundly, he didn't bother trying to call her name again, instead watching her sleeping form for a moment. She must have been utterly exhausted to have fallen asleep so instantly in such a peculiar position after he had left. Between the extreme level of stress he had caused her, the long day and the fatigue _she_ must have still been suffering from her flu as well maybe it was understandable that when she had finally relaxed she had fallen asleep almost immediately...That, or...

A decidedly deserved smug smirk made its way onto his lips as he leant down and rest his lips to her ear, his physical contact causing her to stir slightly. "Did I really make you cum _that_ hard, Nayla?"

Kissing her cheek, his grin grew as he felt it tense beneath his lips as she clenched her jaw at his honeyed tone and irk-provoking words. Pulling back, he placed an elbow to the desk on either side of her head, leaning over her comfortably as he watched her remove her arm from her eyes to glare up at him.

" _You_ are not one to talk, Law." She reminded, not finding his poking fun at her nearly as enjoyable as he did.

" _I_ wasn't the one crying out that loudly in pleasure." He cockily rebutted.

"Because _you_ couldn't!" Growing steadily more annoyed at his silence and at the look on his face that told her he was conceding this as _his_ victory no matter what she said, she narrowed her eyes at his upside down visage. "Bite m-Law!."

Chuckling around the fleshy part of her cheek he had taken her invitation to nibble, he held onto it gently, returning her perturbed eye contact with his own, highly entertained gaze.

"…You haff somph fffucking nervph, you know that?"

Releasing it, he planted a playful kiss to it instead as he chuckled again. "Coming from you? After what _you_ did today?" He asked, settling back comfortably on his elbows as he looked down at her.

"…That mouth of yours looks a lot better with duct tape over it." She murmured in annoyance of his upside down, unfairly attractive grin.

"I could say the same of yours." 'Though I'd be lying,' he thought inwardly, giving in to his temptation to press his lips to the plush flesh of hers at their mention.

Returning the kiss, she sighed at how easily she did as he pulled away looking all too pleased with himself. "So…I take it you forgive me for earlier now?" She grumbled, unwillingly enjoying the pleasantly unhindered, fresh scent of his body wash radiating from the bare skin of his chest.

"No, but near enough."

"…Ask _me_ if I forgive you for this."

"Why, when I already know the answer is 'no?'" He chuckled, standing up and gazing down at her from full height.

"You're damn right its no." Grudgingly acknowledging she deserved his retaliation didn't make her feel any better about it.

Grin widening at her open, bitter frustration, he reached his free hand up to run the end of his towel over his damp hair haphazardly. "I'd say we're even now…Though perhaps when you get back from the war in Pugna in three weeks time, you could try behaving yourself long enough for us to-" He paused for a split second, looking up before looking back at her as he settled on a suitable phrasing. "…'get along' more easily."

"You say that as if I'm even gonna be _interested_ in you three weeks from now." She scoffed, watching him pull the towel from around his neck and set it beside her on his desk, absolutely ignoring the sight of him topless in jeans…Absolutely _doing her best_ to ignore the sight of him topless in jeans. "And _'behave'_ myself? Don't talk to me like I'm a child and that _you're_ my reward for 'good behaviour' OR as if _you_ are worth waiting for! Who said I'm not gonna have sex with someone else over the next three weeks?"

Blinking at her in amusement as she folded her arms at the end of her tirade – looking absolutely no percent authoritative or intimidating in any way still lying on his desk looking at him upside down, he pulled the sleeves of his clean shirt on over his arms. "No one said you wouldn't, I just know that you won't."

"You don't _know_ anything – do you think I'm gonna be so busy pining over you that I'm not gonna want anyone else or something? Smug ass."

"Your 'agent' apparently lines your jobs up back-to-back quite often. It's a natural conclusion to draw that you probably don't engage in sex when away for work if someone like _you_ somehow manages to go three months without it."

Opening her mouth then shutting it, brows knitting gradually tighter as she stared up at him in rapidly growing irritation, Nayla honestly couldn't decide where to start. "One, do _not_ make assumptions about what I do and don't do when working a job."

Buttoning up his shirt, Law took in the telling fluster on her face and inward gratification at seeming to hit the nail on the head with that slightly reaching (and _maybe_ hopeful) hunch.

"Two, don't think that if I run into a really nice, hot guy that I am _not_ going to do him because of you."

Having seen how seriously she took her jobs first-hand, coupled with her long abstinence and repeated travelling, it really did lead him to believe she frequently found herself putting business before pleasure and didn't often have time to get to know those she met.

"Three, you think you're _sooo_ damn clever. Well you're not. Stop thinking it." Scoffing down at her as she raised an index finger at him, he finished pulling his shirt closed, letting his hands rest at his sides. "And four, what the _hell_ do you mean 'someone like you,' – what are you implying you side-talking, snide little bas-?"

"I meant someone as attractive as you. Someone who can quite easily get any man that they want, whenever they want, with or without your shameless bouts of manipulation…bar the obvious exception." He added, motioning to himself and giving her a look that made her take serious contemplation to the proximity of his manhood to her fist right then. "And someone who obviously-" As if reading her thoughts as her gaze drifted to his crotch, he leant down, resting a hand over her crossed arms securely and hovered his face inches from her own. "-has a _very_ healthy sexual appetite."

"…Did you actually mean any of that or are you just trying to smooth over the fact you just implied I'm easy?" She murmured, refusing to allow the flattering fact he thought she was attractive or seductive enough to have whoever she wanted sink in as her gaze distractedly flit to his nearby lips.

"You decide." He chuckled leaning over her to retrieve his hat and raising a brow at the snail that appeared from beneath it.

"…Maybe it's nothing to do with work, maybe – like you said, I'm just always very busy and don't find time. Or I'm just really fussy when it comes to partners and went three months without." She quietly, half-heartedly, belatedly defended, watching him inspect the inside of the white fur in his hands before pulling it on.

"No one is _that_ fussy, Nayla-ya." He replied, enjoying the sulky pout that took to her lips.

Frowning slightly as the thought of the blonde woman he had nearly been 'not so fussy' about the previous week briefly popped into her mind, she look away in annoyance. "Yeah well, just because _you're_ a pig with gross, dirty, low-down standards that'll pick up any flimsy little skank that…" Trailing off as it rapidly dawned on her that _she_ now fit into the category of 'his standards' she pursed her lips together tightly, daring to look back up at him and clenching her jaw in annoyance as an entertained grin at her realisation began spreading across his face.

…

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"…Shut up anyway."

Deciding to spare her, he chuckled as he made his way around the desk, finding some satisfaction in the way she immediately crossed her legs and sat up to watch his movements, all too wary of them. "I can't help but notice that you haven't once asked about how your dear friend Nefari-ya is doing."

Furrowing her brows in confusion at him, unsure of where he was going with this new line of conversation, she watched him retrieve the nodachi he'd allowed to rest against the wall. "Well, that would be because he's not my friend. Dead?"

"Very." He curtly replied, a dark, vindictive glint to his gaze as he rest his weapon to its rightful place against his shoulder and carefully stepped over the legs of his overturned chair to stand in front of her, perched on the edge of his desk.

"…Was it painful?" She asked, already getting her answer as the smile on his face grew increasingly more sinister as he leant closer to her.

"Excruciating." He purred lowly in satisfaction.

There was something to be said about finding a man even _more_ appealing in a situation like that. Why him leaning over her in clear enjoyment of his last malicious, ruthless and cruel murder, casually discussing it in that silken tone of his was a turn on, she couldn't even begin to fathom. She definitely had more than one screw loose. "Breaking out, beating the crap out of Nefari _and_ still managing to catch up to me. Weren't you busy."

"The crew had done most of the work already actually...Will you possibly being connected to his death be problematic for your relationship with your agent?"

Recalling Nefari openly asking how Marty was doing in front of everyone, she finally caught onto Law's train of thought now. He was wondering if her being around when one of Marty's former employees had been killed would feedback to him and impact her negatively in some way.

"Oh, no. Not at all. His mercenary group found work through Marty in the past but he quit working for him a couple of years ago. Marty would probably be only too happy to hear he'd been killed."

Raising his brows at that, Law rest his free hand to the desk beside her thigh, more than a little surprised to hear how callously the man discarded someone that worked for him previously. Sure, he'd heard his exchanges with Nayla but he got the distinct impression that their back and forth was _mostly_ in jest. Perhaps he had been wrong. "Once you no longer work for your agent, you mean nothing to him?"

A little taken aback by how quickly Law's smile had faded at that prospect, Nayla found his gradually more obvious shows of concern for her increasingly disconcerting. They seemed to aggravate the unwanted flutter in her chest that appeared to be announcing its presence more and more loudly with each display.

Frustrated by the incredibly unlike her temptation to shy away from his eye contact like a flustered teenager, she stubbornly maintained it. "No no, Marty's nothing like that. I could leave him whenever I wanted with no repercussions and well wishes. Nefari left him on bad terms. It was fine with him that Nefari decided it was time to take his group and go into easier, safer work like bounty hunting, it was just the fact he'd tried to recruit and lure away other people that worked for Marty to join him – like me for example."

Features relaxing, he hummed in understanding as he absentmindedly glanced down at the hand on the desk beside his own as he remembered a question that had come up in his mind earlier. "Do you cross paths with other people that work for him often?"

It had occurred to him that Nefari obviously knew her unmasked face, despite her doing her best to cover it when working as a mercenary to avoid the possibility of being recognised and attacked when unable to use her ability…It had made him wonder how many others out there knew her on sight and if it could potentially prove problematic to her, him or his crew.

"No, it's very rare actually. I'm usually more than enough at a war job or vice versa. Marty hardly ever has any reason to send more than one person, or group, to the same job at the same time."

"For someone so careful about concealing as much of your face as possible when doing formal mercenary work, I'm surprised you allowed such an insignificant, little worm to see it. Considering he wasn't even a 'friend' of yours."

Smiling a little at the slither of bitterness that slipped into his attempted neutral tone, she looked down at the desk at his nearby hand. "Sometimes it's inevitable when you have to work with someone closely for an _agonisingly_ prolonged period of time. In three weeks, it wasn't always possible to be completely alone to eat or drink, had to remove my mask around them occassionally…" Running her fingertips over his tattooed knuckles idly gave her a strangely pleasant sensation of privilege, just because she knew he would allow her to, without any repercussion from him. "It didn't matter though. They saw what I could do when I fought so they were never keen on the thought of picking a direct fight with me and they never had any idea about me sometimes being unable to use my ability. Even Marty doesn't know about that…You're one of the very few people that do."

Looking up from their hands as she gazed back at him, he felt tempted to ask how many there were…but refused to give in to the compulsion to know how many others had earned the same privilege from her, to measure how 'special' he was to her in relation to others. It was a desire he shouldn't have felt, he shouldn't want to validate whether or not he truly held an intimate standing with her by comparison.

Not trusting himself to reply to that, he instead nodded, reassured somewhat that her vulnerabilities were covered as he pulled away. "Your ship to Pugna should be boarding soon. Grab your things and meet me on deck when you're ready."

Tilting her head slightly at his change of demeanour, she inwardly wondered what he was thinking of as she turned to watch him make his way towards the door. "Right."

"Don't forget your Den Den." He reminded, looking back at her as he pulled it open and pointedly glanced down at a spot on the ground beside his desk. "…Or your panties."

Watching Nayla's concerned expression melt into an annoyed frown as she looked away from him to reach for the heavy paperweight on the stack of papers beside her, Law chuckled at her instantaneously ignited, violent temper as he made a swift exit from the room.

Halting her raised arm in its near-throw as he pulled the door shut behind him in the nick of time, she huffed in annoyance at his quiet laughter coming from the other side of it as he made his way down the hall.

Listening to the sound gradually fade away, she felt her features reluctantly relax and a sigh that betrayed her growing fondness of him leave her as she lowered the heavy item back down to its rightful place beside her. "…I swear I've never met a doctor so bad for my health before."

* * *

Nearing the open main entrance of the sub, Nayla approached it cautiously, eyeing the suspiciously empty deck despite the noise and music from the crew she could still hear partying coming from somewhere. Stepping outside quietly, she looked around, seeing a couple of snoozing pirates leant against the railing at the farthest end, towards the front of the ship, but no one else.

Noticing the fair breeze coming in from offshore, cool and refreshing against the background warmth of the summer island's climate, she looked over at the small, portside town. This island didn't boast as many night-time streetlights as Ashibumi and Kattou did, the stars hovering above the rooftops of the darkened buildings were much brighter here, twinkling beautifully against their deep blue-black backdrop.

Pulled from her silent appreciation of the beautiful night sky by a loud snort, Nayla turned to the sleeping men up ahead, smiling a little as one shifted more comfortably in his sleep. The half-empty bottle in his lax grip tilting precariously and spilling a few drops of its contents onto the wooden boards.

Honestly, she was thankful the deck wasn't filled with the crew as it seemed to have been earlier. She had been dreading having to face awkward questions or conversation about her earlier attempt to leave or the 'punishment' she had received for it from their captain…She hadn't been confident she could have kept a straight face when asked about it in front of Law and had envisioned having to make an admirable attempt to lie convincingly whilst he smirked smugly at her the whole time from behind their backs.

Speaking of said captain, Nayla scanned for him, finally spotting him around the corner of the main entrance wall, resting his folded forearms on the railing, his weapon leant against it beside him, looking at the pier down below.

Walking over, she peered down curiously to see what it was he was watching, immediately laughing as she saw the crew had befriended other sailors and the night shift longshoremen of the harbour and were drunkenly singing with them, gathered around several open barrel kegs. Laughing harder when Law directed his unimpressed expression her way as she came to a stop beside him, slipping the strap of her bag from her shoulder and setting it down to the deck between them. "I see the crew have made some new friends."

"So it would seem." He sighed out, wondering how regular sailors and dockworkers had had the bravery to mix so easily with what was _supposed_ to be his vicious, fearsome and infamous pirate crew. Likely due to the high spirits of his men tonight and their kind-hearted, generous invitation for others to join in their jubilation.

"Wow…They sure do have a natural talent for drinking themselves into a stupor, don't they." She mused, leaning over the railing further as she spotted the aggregation of more passed out crewmembers atop some of the large cargo crates stacked below, happy grins on their flushed faces.

"If 'talent' is the right word for it." He murmured.

Looking back at him, at his quiet tone and lack of further input, she found him gazing at her quietly, seemingly in deep thought. Shuffling slightly in her sudden insecurity as to what he may be thinking of her, especially after their evening, she looked away to relieve her discomfort under his piercing, unwavering stare, wondering when the last time was that she felt his gaze see through her so thoroughly.

"What pretence are you boarding the ship to Pugna on?" He finally asked as he looked away, assuming that she'd at least glanced the information given to her about her mercenary job by now.

"Missionary."

Whipping his head back to her in surprise, he pointedly looked her up and down, gaze lingering on the short hem of her skirt and her sheathed weapons before settling back onto her face. "…You're joking."

Laughing a little, relieved by the lifted, unexplained tension and his reaction, she turned to face him. "Nope, I'm on my way to do 'charitable work and preach the good word of the lord to those seeking refuge in Pugna'...I'll uh, dress more conservatively once I get to the boat though, it's just kinda hot on this island to do it now."

"And the weapons?"

"It won't be seen as unusual, not in this day and age. Wars and the 'Golden Age of Piracy' and such, girl's gotta defend herself. Besides, I told you about those packing priests that nearly kicked my ass. The church is a lot tougher and less benevolent than it'd have you believe." She smiled.

Scoffing at the thought of a bunch of brutish old men in clerical robes trying to exorcise her or whatever it was they did to her, Law turned his gaze out to the sea - across the opposite side of the deck. "And when is your ship due to depart?"

"About another hour or so, it's at the end of this harbour. They should be busy finishing loading the aid being sent about now."

Furrowing her brows at his off behaviour when he picked up his weapon and started to walk over towards the other side of the ship without offering a reply, she called after him. "I left the information about my last job, Nicky, on your desk for you. Like I said, I dunno if it'll be of much help for what you want it for but..." She shrugged, trailing off as he glanced back at her. Settling his weapon to his shoulder, he silently beckoned her to follow him with his free hand.

Glancing down at the crew behind her briefly when she realised he was luring her out of possible earshot and sight from them – despite them not noticing her arrival to begin with, she hesitated a moment before moving, leaving her bag where it was as she trailed behind him as he crossed the deck. Setting his weapon down again gently against the railing overlooking the sea as he reached it, he rest his elbows atop it as she neared him, ignoring her questioning gaze for now in favour of carefully piecing together his thoughts.

Sighing to herself, knowing he would say whatever was on his mind when he was good and ready, she leant her own elbow onto the railing beside his, resting her chin to her palm as she followed his gaze out over the sea.

'He's probably gonna propose. – …That was almost funny. – Then, I dunno, what do _you_ think he wants to talk to you about? – Probably wants to clarify some things after our…sexcapades, I guess. – Pfft, like what? – I dunno, don't take it the wrong way, this doesn't make us a couple, et cetra? – Not convinced. – Maybe he's gonna give me a serious scolding, tell me to never do what I did to him again. – Now THAT was almost funny. – …What was? - A guy, telling a girl to _never_ give them a blowjob ever again? I guarantee you'd sooner see Law prance around in a pretty, pink tutu dancing to Swan Lake.'

Failing to suppress the scoff that left her, she bit her lips and side-glanced at Law as he turned to her with a raised brow, taking in her poorly restrained snicker silently for a moment before speaking. "Do I even want to know?"

Shaking her head in response, not trusting her lips to part without laughter leaving them, she watched him sigh and shake his own as he looked out at the open sea again.

'Honestly, you do nothing but get me in trouble. – Tell me you _didn't_ enjoy that mental image. - …Anyway, judging by how serious he is right now, I probably really _will_ get a scolding for today so, I'd appreciate it if you stopped all the stupid thoughts for now. – Scolding huh, hopefully he'll bend you over the railing – Lalalala, can't hear you, what a lovely view, lalala. – and give you a hard spanking to go with it. – LALALA, oh the sea looks SO pretty at night, LALALA.'

Drowning out the disturbed thoughts, Nayla firmly focused on the water in front of them instead, initially to get her mind onto anything else but quickly realising that it actually _was_ a beautiful view. The moonlight was casting a dazzling, linear streak across the water's surface. A bright, pale radiance that she had already admired Law under several times tonight. The stars were reflected in petite, white, dotted arrays across the surrounding ocean that seemingly came and went with each delicate swirl of the black waves that distorted their image.

Tuning out the background noise of the crew on the harbour behind them, she appreciated for the first time since coming outside, the gentle, rhythmic slosh of the shimmering water as it lapped against the side of the hull, bringing her attention to the soft sway of the deck beneath her as the sub glided effortlessly over them in its dock. Though she had struggled with balance a few times initially here and there over the last couple of weeks – much to the crew's amusement, it'd seem that she had finally developed a fair set of sea legs in her time aboard the sub. She had barely noticed the movement of it at all.

Watching the soft swells of translucent darkness beneath them she took a deep soothing breathe, growing more and more accustomed to the fresh, salty smell of the ocean…that she seemed to have begun associating with the man standing beside her.

Fighting the temptation to glance at him, she instead looked over at the edges of the cove of the island the marina had been built in. Nayla had been excited to see the lush, summer greenery Kounai had to offer, the prospect of venturing into it with Jake and the others to look for fresh fruits and for fun had been a tempting one but she sadly knew she'd have been away for work by the daytime…and he was injured and recuperating now anyway…

The vibrant, inviting greens of the treetops were now dyed dark by the dense night, though each and every luscious leaf reflected the pale grey illumination offered by the near-full moon, mimicking the sea's shimmer as the branches swayed with pleasant-sounding rustles in the soothing breeze…The colour grey seemed to have become most strongly associated in her mind to the man standing next to her, which she found a little odd. If she'd had to guess which colour her mind would have eventually, irreversibly linked to him, she'd have gone for yellow…but it was grey that stuck so firmly in her mind instead.

Which was ironic really. The man practically came with a warning label. A bright, hazard-yellow warning label. Though the typical skull and crossbones had been replaced by a Jolly Roger that was suspiciously reminiscent of a diagrammatic representation of a virus. No doubt a clever design play on his dual occupation and ill intent. It wasn't often that men who were clearly nothing but trouble were graciously generous enough to literally come with a warning.

Side-glancing at him subtly, she tried to remember if she had met another person with such a rare iris hue…If she _had,_ then they certainly hadn't made much of an impression on her. Law, however, had made such an impact with his gaze from the first moment she had seen him that he was the only one she could recall to have met with them. It should have been yellow but grey was the colour that reminded her of him most.

Finding herself taken with the way the moonlight seemed to give the colour of his eyes an ethereal glow, she traced it across his features, the sheen highlighting the smoothness of his skin, painting his warm complexion paler. Watching the shimmer reflected from the rippling waves below them dance across his face and the way it made the metal adorning his ears shine brightly, she wondered if the sea was always this gorgeous at night and why she had never noticed it before.

Eyes falling to his lips, she felt the sudden urge to taste them again. Soft, warm…the thought of where they had been and what they had done and tasted tonight springing to mind…

"How much of your story did you leave out?"

Surprised to find the subject of her current fixation moving, she looked back up at his eyes as he glanced at her, making her realise she had gotten so thoroughly lost in her silent admiration of him. Remembering that she had actually been waiting all this time to see what he had brought her to this side of the ship to talk about, she cleared her throat quietly and shook her head free of her previous thoughts. "Hmm?"

"The one you told to the crew. How much of it was true?" Clarifying where _his_ mind was at, he turned a little to look at her.

"Oh." She huffed, in amusement and relief, not expecting that to have been what he had wanted to discuss. "Didn't figure it all out effortlessly within five seconds of hearing me talk, Sherlock? That's a first for you."

"You flatter me." He said dryly, the corner of his mouth lifting a little when she rest her chin to her palm again and smiled at him. "You must really think I _am_ a genius to be giving me that much credit."

"Pretty close, though I wouldn't be _too_ flattered by it. They say there's a link between genius and insanity."

"They also say that geniuses only sound insane to stupid people."

Snorting quietly in amusement of his annoyingly quick wit, she looked back out at the view, doing a poor job of concealing her widening smile with her hand. "Ass."

Chuckling, he leant his side to the railing more comfortably as he crossed his ankles. "So, what did you leave out?" Humming unsurely, she avoided his gaze, thankful that this was all he had wanted to talk about but not keen on his choice of topic all the same. "…I'm not asking because I want to relieve my boredom or simply sate my curiosity."

Looking back at him, she took in his sincere gaze, impressed that he had remembered why she had denied talking to him about herself the last time he had asked. "…Then what are you asking for?"

"Is it so strange to genuinely just want to know more about you by now?"

Blinking in surprise at his openness and at the flush of flattery she felt at his honest interest in her, she was stunned for a moment, not expecting his reply in the slightest. Considering how often she flit from place to place and how little time she spent getting to know the hundreds of faces she passed by and worked with, it had been such a long time since someone had asked about her out of anything other than a fleeting curiosity or falsity. Most often, she was asked out of fake interest by men trying to win her over…It had been a really long time since anyone had simply wanted to know for the sake of knowing or because they…maybe cared…a little?

"It's…not really…" Experiencing that unfamiliar sensation of shyness and uncertainty creep up on her again under his steady gaze, she couldn't help but feel a little awkward at the one-sided vulnerability she was suddenly feeling. "…How about we make this fair?"

"Fair?"

"Yeah, why should you get to know more about me when I hardly know anything about you?"

"…You want to know about me?" He asked, raising a fine brow.

"Is it so strange to want to know more about you by now?" She mimicked, causing him to chuckle a little at her throwback.

Nayla had wondered about him plenty. She had thought about him a lot over the time she had spent aboard the sub…or well, even before that. She had thought of him daily during the two weeks on Amazon Lily too…Maybe she'd been thinking of him even longer than _that_...Had she ever really stopped internally wondering about Law since the day she had first seen him? Since the time she had begun questioning who he was and what his story could be on that first day when she had sat in that small bar on Sabaody with Zoro?

Though, her thoughts leant more towards his personal history these days. Especially after their exchanges and what little snippets of information he had revealed about himself over the last two weeks. She wondered what his family life had been like – especially about who he had learnt medicine from at such a young age and what had happened to them. She wondered how someone who was obviously so bright and talented became a pirate in the first place but hadn't asked – lest it stroke his ego that she wanted to know or make him think that she cared more than she did.

It had been tempting to casually bring up her questions about him with the crew but she hadn't dared try it. Only relentless teasing about her supposed relationship with their captain would have ensued if she'd shown any sincere personal interest in Law to them.

"…You already know my story."

Tilting her head a little in her confusion, she furrowed her brows slightly. "I do?"

Pausing for a moment as his response rest on the tip of his tongue, Law looked at her expectant face, the point of turning back in plain sight; of saying 'never mind,' of lying rather than tell her something that he had told to very few people, or of deciding it wasn't worth hearing her story enough to share his own in exchange…It didn't feel wrong though, to tell her. It didn't feel strained or coerced…she did already know it all anyway, she was just simply unaware of it.

"I'm from Flevance."

Knitting her brows together more tightly and feeling her lips press together to form the 'But' of her reflexive response to his seemingly outlandish statement, Nayla halted it at the complete honesty in his gaze and at the expression he wore that said he expected her not to believe him. Rethinking the immediate doubt or scepticism that sprung to the forefront of her mind at the impossibility, she instead try to piece together a plausible explanation rather than question him stupidly – though hundreds of questions were firing off in her mind.

'If I were around nine at the time of the Flevance tragedy…that'd mean Law was around ten…the same age he told me he became a pirate so…the same age he lost his family? To Amber Led Syndrome?...To the government wipe out?'

"I don't understand how _you're_ still alive…Were you somehow never affected by the poisoning? Did you escape Flevance? Are there any others? Your Devil Fruit, is that how you survived?"

A tiny bit impressed at how quickly her thoughts had leapt to possible reasons for him to be standing there, he smiled a little. She _could_ be smart when she tried. "Yeah, I escaped. Thankfully I got the Devil Fruit in time to cure myself…Only myself." Letting that heavy after tone linger as she mulled over the meaning behind his words - how he had not been able to save anyone else, Law watched her expression sober as she processed what he imagined must have been an overwhelming amount of thoughts and questions.

"…How did a ten year old get a hold of – or even know about the exact Devil Fruit you needed to cure yourself?"

It wasn't the next thing he had expected her to ask, looking at him innocently, unaware that she had just prodded around the most tender part of his background. "…A man that I am forever indebted to gave up _everything_ to ensure that I got it."

Reading the emphasis on 'everything' and the flicker of emotion on Law's face as he carefully chose his words, she absorbed the unspoken information that whoever it had been had already died, likely in the process. Deciding that she didn't want to reopen too many sore, old wounds, she curbed her urge to ask more about it.

...

"Hmm…Then he must have been a really wonderful guy."

The simplicity of the softly spoken statement and the small, genuine smile she gave him that relayed she wouldn't ask any further seemed to lighten the dull, constricting pain of anticipation Law felt in his chest at the thought of needing to dwell on and discuss him. "Yeah, he was."

...

Letting the quiet between them linger, Law's gaze drifted to the fine strands of her hair as they wavered in the warm wind past her face. More and more often, he found himself appreciating the fine features of it and more and more often he realised that he enjoyed seeing her smile.

"You asked me once if my goal was just some petty vengeance." The unexpected mention of her purpose there had her perk up, eager to hear what he had to say. "That man…spent his life dedicated to achieving something, then sacrificed it all to save mine. I want to complete his goal in his stead."

In that moment as she took in the sincerity of his tone and his unguarded gaze, Nayla realised that aside from the small tidbit he'd revealed about his parents, that this may have been the most intimate, honest and personal thing he had ever said to her in all the time they had known one another.

That, and the fact that she now had a better understanding of why she was there made her feel as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders; she could finally lay her concern about her role to rest. Not that she had ever _really_ doubted Law was using her without good reason, but considering she knew nothing of him other than he was a dangerous pirate at the time he had approached her...Knowing that there was a genuine, heartfelt reason behind her being there put her mind at ease. Whatever guy she was helping Law to take down by working for Joker couldn't be a nice one, if someone as kind as the man that had saved him had dedicated his life to taking them down.

The warm, fuzzy sensation in her chest seemed to swell at the trust Law had shown in sharing something close to his heart with her and the knowledge that he was going to this extent to do something selfless for someone he had cared so deeply for only made it grow tenfold. It felt nice, that small connection of trust and authentic intimacy that had just opened up between them, it made her break out into a wide grin. "You're such an idiot."

His brows rose to the brim of his hat as he blinked at her in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Don't you think that had you just _said_ that in the first place, that I would have just agreed to helping you? Geez, for someone so smart, you really are an idiot." She explained, laughing a little at the slightly exacerbated expression that took to his face.

"As if I'd simply tell-" He reached out and pinched her cheek as her growing smile at his aggravation irked him. "-or feel the _need_ to tell, a complete stranger my reasons for pursuing my goal." He huffed at her giggle, tugging her flesh gently.

"Hmm, I guess…" She conceded half-heartedly, reaching a hand up and resting her fingers over his as they released her and lay flat to her skin. "So...I'm not a stranger to you anymore, huh?"

"...Hardly." A smirk beginning to take to his lips as he glanced at hers at her suggestively purred reminder.

Laughing quietly as he pulled his hand away, Nayla couldn't help but feel unreasonably elated. Sharing his company like this, learning something real about him, seeing his first genuine shows of his true thoughts and emotions made her feel so happy. Special too, she knew it wasn't often that he did and that he probably didn't do it with many people. It made her wonder what had made him decide she was worth sharing this with, though she wouldn't question it if it made her feel this content.

"I answered some of _your_ questions, Nayla." Brought back down to Earth by his velvety voice, she watched his smirk grow. "Let's make this 'fair' now, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interestingly enough there is a little bit of recent evidence around that links higher IQs to higher rates of mental illnesses and the paraphrased quote was one of Einstein's, something along the lines of: "The thing about smart people is they sound crazy to dumb people."


	55. Dr Heartbreaker

Nayla had nearly forgotten what had started their more intimate conversation to begin with, but taking into account the honesty he had shown her, it seemed only fair to return the level of trust. Considering how nice it had made her feel to have been given it, she wondered if he valued hers as much as she apparently valued his - enough to feel the same pleasant level of emotional reward for earning it.

"Well, you'd need to ask something more specific. My story is a bit of a long and miserable one…Though it's not really that big a deal I guess…I mean it hardly compares to being the sole survivor of a lethal poisoning and government-sanctioned genocide…" She trailed off guiltily, suddenly feeling as though her own problems were beyond petty by comparison to what the man beside her had been through. The thought of what he must have suffered, seen and experienced in his young lifetime settled an uncomfortable ache in her chest and she hadn't even really had the chance to truly dwell on the hardships he must have been through, yet…she dreaded being left alone later to.

Grinning slightly at her apparent shame to even talk about her past now, Law leant more closely to her. "I'm sure it was plenty miserable in its own right."

Huffing in amusement, she nudged his side playfully as he chuckled. "Alright, fair is fair. What did you wanna know?"

Smirk widening in his victory, Law sifted through the connections he'd made, the conclusions he'd come to and the questions that had arisen in his mind when he had heard her speaking in the rec room earlier that evening...Or well, yesterday evening, now that it would soon be dawn.

"Hmm, most of what you said rang true enough…Though I am curious, you told the crew your mother became sick and you told _me_ that you have a family history of mental illness on her side. I presume that was what she ill with?"

"Figures, first thing you ask is something medical." She smiled, rolling her eyes a little. "Yeah, she became mentally unwell, her and her sisters. My grandparents on that side were murdered four years ago, they didn't take it well."

Though he seemed to be unsurprised by the severe note her story had started off on, she was sad to see the playful edge to his smile waver as his brows furrowed in thought for a moment. "Behaviour during bereavement hardly warrants being described as 'psychotic breaks,' Nayla."

"Their grief reaction was so abnormal and extreme though. I tried looking up what kind of grief they went through but could never find a term that seemed to fit all their symptoms. They were absolutely nuts, turning to the bottle, to sedatives, the 'good book,' seeing hallucinations of their parents, night terrors. One aunt died of an overdose a few months afterwards and my other committed suicide shortly after. My mother lost her entire family in a few months, it was too much for her to take."

"You're right…that is too severe of a reaction to loss, even if it was murder." He said thoughtfully, eyeing her as though he were gauging her mental fortitude.

"Don't look at me like that, I worry enough that I'm prone to madness like they were." She scolded, unimpressed with his dissecting stare as he seemed to contemplate her head. "I think they reacted so badly because…Well, we were the ones that found them. We went to visit, the door was open…there was a lot of blood…It's was so traumatic for them - I mean it knocked me hard as well to see my grandparents like that but for them, I just can't even imagine how much harder it must have been for them to see their _parents_ like that, ya know?"

Humming in understanding, Law averted his gaze momentarily as the haunting image of his own flashed through his mind. "…I do."

Seeing the remains of a violent and unexpected death of a loved one…'traumatic' was a word that did that experience no justice. Everything about that moment, carved itself so irrevocably, so deeply into his mind. The image was still as vivid as it had been on first sight fourteen years ago, all the fine details, what they had been wearing, the state of that room, the sounds outside, the smell of blood and medical supplies, how they had still been warm, how the puddles beneath them had stopped growing. A three-dimensional, harrowing Polaroid of that instant had ingrained itself into all six of his senses permanently…though he was a little surprised to find that she had one too, it was something that they unfortunately had in common.

"You do?"

Nodding but not feeling the need to add anything further he watched the shock on her features melt into solemn understanding before speaking again. "So, your father couldn't cope with her behaviour and left."

"Pretty much, yeah. Their marriage had been rocky at the time anyway…It was cold of him but I guess I can understand not wanting to spend months or even years dedicated to helping someone you don't love anymore."

"…But he cut all ties to you as well."

"…Yeah. Took his income, left the household and left me to look after her and pay all the bills by myself. Was with another woman within a few weeks, got remarried, moved in with her and her son."

She'd said it flippantly but Law could see the recall of the hurt and distress she'd felt at the time as she mentioned it. He'd been fortunate enough to have had a pleasant family life; in the short ten years he'd been able to enjoy it. His parents had been happy together and doting, it wasn't easy to imagine one of his own simply walking away without a care, leaving him to mourn multiple family losses in solitude when he needed their support the most, destroying his future and plunging him into an insurmountable financial crisis or imagine the heartache their betrayal would have caused him. It was easier to understand why she disliked the man with an apparent passion.

"Sometimes I still wonder what I did wrong." She added, stopping his inner contemplation of what she must have been feeling at the time.

The small underlying tone of vulnerability in her quiet voice surprised him, it wasn't something that he had ever heard from her before, she was not a timid person by nature, far from it. Sure he had intimidated her a little at first, intentionally and unintentionally, but pushed too far - with that temper of hers and she had always fought back, she was anything _but_ timid.

"I mean…he knew I was still grieving, that I was all alone to look after mom, that I had just started college. He knew what would happen after he left – where the debt would fall. He knew that I needed help, love and support more than I had ever needed it in my life…and he left anyway. If he loved me, why would he have ever done that to me? No one that _really_ loved you, would do something like that…so sometimes, I wonder if I did something wrong…"

Looking at her as she watched the waves silently, Law found her unexpected display of true insecurity struck an uncomfortable and upsetting cord with him. What with her usually bubbly, teasing personality, it was easy to forget that beneath her daily, sometimes irk-provoking, façade was a woman with genuine thoughts and feelings, one that had as many uncertainties and weaknesses as the next person. Though this was the first time he had ever really seen it.

"Nothing, Nayla. Isn't that obvious?"

"Is it though? Maybe I was a horrible daughter or something, because if I were so amazing to be around and so easy to love then he wouldn't have _wanted_ to leave me behind, right? I mean he moved on and began loving and raising that new wife's little boy so easily, so maybe it really was just me..."

"It was obviously _his_ flaw, not yours." He replied firmly, a little concerned by the subtle appearance of her obviously chronic questioning of her self worth. It was apparent she must have spent a great deal of her time over the past few years – and probably many restless nights, inwardly dissecting herself and her actions to see if she could come up with an explanation - any explanation for why her father had abandoned her.

"…Well…" She trailed off uncertainly, taking in the unexpected conviction of his reassurance as he looked at her levelly. Realising she'd been brooding about her father a little too long she shook it off, running a hand through her hair as the breeze ruffled through it again. "Anyway...It's not really a big deal. I mean, it sucks but a lot of people have dysfunctional families and deadbeat dads and have to deal with this kinda stuff…and worse, so I should just suck it up and be thankful, I guess."

To Law, it was obvious she'd had to tell herself that often, to normalise and minimise what had happened into something she could more easily handle. Choosing to leave her transparently-thin coping mechanism untouched - that he was sure even _she_ didn't really buy, he hummed in thought as he decided on what to ask next.

"Didn't you have any other family or friends to help you look after things at home?" He asked, recalling she mentioned being an only child.

"Uh no, not really. I never knew my father's side of the family, some feud going on between him and them that I never really understood and, well, my mother's side got virtually wiped out and my friends had all gone off to college…A few reached out here and there but eventually we grew apart and that stopped. I guess it was no fun being bummed out by talking to me in the midst of all their exciting new lives, all that partying and studying to do. _Their_ biggest concern was what to wear that weekend, mine was if I had enough cereal and tinned vegetables left to last me until next week. It suddenly felt like I couldn't relate to anyone I knew anymore."

That was an all too familiar feeling for him as well. Although her situation had been entirely different to his, an overwhelming sensation of isolation often came with terrible hardships. All at once, it felt as though no one else around you could possibly understand how you felt, what you'd seen and what you'd gone through. They never would. No truer than for the sole survivor of a people and place that no longer existed.

"So, you came back home to look after your mother and get a job." Noticing her posture stiffen subtly, Law was more certain that he was now approaching a nerve. "That must have been difficult. A young woman with that many sudden expenses, failing to get a job and in desperate need of money…"

It was obvious to her that he already knew, or at least had a good idea. "It was…" She answered cautiously.

"You said you finally managed to get two menial jobs, for both day and night. If you worked that many hours, how did you find time to look after your ill mother and pet?" He asked, steering clear of the occupational question he wanted to ask, for now.

"…I had to commit her in the end. I couldn't leave her alone at home that long. She was neglecting her needs and was a danger to herself…My dog just sat at home alone all day after she left. Even crazy company is better than none, right? Poor little, old sweetheart must have been so lonely those days."

"An institution... _Those_ bills most have been more phenomenal than her medical ones." He thought aloud, rubbing the goatee on his chin as he looked over distractedly for a moment at a particularly loud round of cheers coming from the pier.

"Yeah no kidding. If I stayed home to look after her, I couldn't work to pay for her. If I worked to pay for her, I couldn't stay home to look after her. There was no winning." She sighed heavily.

The defeat in her voice made him glance back, catching the obvious guilt on her face. "What was it that you found work as?"

Predictably taken off guard by his small conversational diversion, he watched her unshielded expression carefully. "…Of all the things you could ask, you wanna hear about my dull cashier and overnight shelve-stocking jobs?" She laughed slightly, hoping in vain to detour his interest from this line of questioning.

"You must have realised very early on that those two minimum wage jobs wouldn't cut it, Nayla."

Biting her lip, she allowed her forced smile to drop as she looked away guiltily at his slightly reprimanding and knowing tone. It seemed unfair to deny him an honest answer after how much _he_ had said that night. "Yeah, I did…I found another night job, as a waitress at a strip club." Glancing at him, realising that she cared what he might think of her, she was relieved to find his expression hadn't changed at all. Probably because he'd already expected to hear something along these lines already.

"It didn't matter that I had no experience because…well …"

"A barely legal, very attractive young teenager with a large chest." He supplemented bluntly.

"… _He_ didn't quite put it like that." She chided, giving him a look as she noticed the small upturn of the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, I'm sure _he_ didn't." Law chuckled.

Tutting at his dirty snicker, Nayla couldn't help but smile a little too. "So, you figured I must have worked in a strip club or something after talking to Connor in the one we visited the other week?"

She knew Law had looked at her oddly after her slip up in talking too knowingly about the dancers. The crew may have bought the assumption she allowed them to make, about how she must frequent clubs too often to have noticed the difference between talented or untalented, happy or unhappy strippers, but Law apparently hadn't.

"Yeah. There aren't many avenues for young women in need of fast money, some sort of job within the sex industry is the usual. Though, I had expected you to have been a dancer, not a waitress." He chuckled again, stopping short when her smile faltered.

"I…did become one…eventually." She admitted quietly, returning his gaze as his expression sobered. "Just sometimes though – not a lot. Just when things got really tight that month or a big medical bill came through or something." She quickly added on. "The pay was much better…"

Watching her look away at the rustling trees of the cove as she trailed off, Law took a deep silent breath, letting the gravity of how dire her situation had been for her to have ended up forced into that occupation sink in.

"…It wasn't all bad though, most of the girls there were so nice and kind, even more so when they eventually found out about what was going on in my personal life."

Smiling a bit at the silver lining of her circumstances that she had found comfort in, he couldn't help but tease her a little to lighten the mood. "I'm sure you had plenty in common with them. Did you all braid each other's hair backstage and bash your fathers?"

"Hey what's with that stereotype?!" She exclaimed, snapping her eyes back to his and slapping his nearby arm with the back of her hand as he began chuckling at her outburst. " _No_. Not every stripper has 'daddy issues,' as you like to call them."

"And not every pirate has a peg leg, eye patch, hook for a hand and pet parrot." He shot back knowingly, a glint of amusement in his gaze.

"Oh, you heard about that, huh?" A completely unashamed grin breaking out on her face.

"Yes. I hear you've been entertaining the crew with terrible, apparently 'racist,' punny pirate jokes that you've picked up recently."

"Hey they aren't _all_ terrible…." She defended, deciding to prove her point and share one as she leant in closely to him. "…Hmm, you should know the answer to this one."

"I can't wait." He replied dryly with a smile of his own, enjoying her proximity.

"What is a horny pirate's worst nightmare?"

He almost laughed at her implication that _he_ was a 'horny pirate' that ought to know, and her playfully devious expression as she gazed up at him expectantly. 'A half-dressed, annoying, little cocktease aboard his ship?' "I don't know, Nayla. What _is_ a horny pirate's worst nightmare?" He humoured.

"A sunken chest with no booty."

"…Absolutely awful." He deadpanned.

"Aww come on, that smile says otherwise. You have to admit it was just a _liiittle_ bit funny." She laughed, earning a small chuckle from him.

"No, but I _will_ admit to unfair use of the negative stereotype surrounding strippers. I'm sure you found plenty of other things you had in common with them." He conceded, subtly steering the conversation back to where he wanted it, now that she was smiling again.

"Yeah, which was strange really because I don't usually get on with women as much as I get on with men, but they all loved animals, that was a big thing we had in common. I brought in my sick, little dog with me once so that they could meet him, they cooed _all_ over him back stage, patting him, cuddling him and keeping him company. His tail never stopped wagging there." She remembered fondly.

Having noticed her highly entertaining, hastily aborted attempts to pat, cuddle and fawn over his first mate, Law had concluded, long before he'd heard about her feeding the stray cat on Ashibumi that she was an avid animal lover.

"He'd gotten thick cataracts and pretty deaf in his old age so being left at home all day whilst I worked and mom was institutionalised was the same as leaving him alone in a silent, dark box for hours, struggling to find his way to the bathroom or even to his own food bowl…The girls argued with the manager until he agreed to let me bring him with me to work each day and he _loved_ it."

"The dog or the manager?" He joked, resting his cheek to his fist as he leant over the railing more comfortably, admiring the bright glow of her smile in the moonlight as she talked about her beloved pet.

"Both." She laughed. "The manager took longer to come around but soon enough I was catching him sneaking pats, treats and cuddles with him. He was a little star, the girls even shared some of their excess tips to put towards cataract surgery for him, to give him back his sight for whatever time he had left. I could never have thanked them enough for that…though he didn't live long enough for me to be able to save up the full amount for it."

"Hmm, you _did_ mention both he and your mother died…" Trailing off, he second guessed asking how, remembering that she had kindly spared him any further questioning about Cora-san despite how curious he knew she must have been about him.

"...It's fine." Nayla reassured, drawing the obvious conclusion of what he wanted to ask next. "I couldn't afford the monthly bills for a decent institute to look after my mother, I had to give her over to one that…didn't have the best reputation for cleanliness and care. I got a call one day to let me know she had passed away. A combination of an ongoing chest infection she couldn't seem to shake and a mix up with her meds…"

Finding himself almost wishing she'd refused to offer him the reply he'd wanted, Law's gaze dropped from the fading smile on her face, following hers to the long, red nail she was absentmindedly grazing the wood of his railing with.

"…I never knew funerals cost so much…Almost pointless really, considering I was the only one there, but I felt that she at least deserved that from me, seeing as I failed to look after her…But that was nearly all the money I had managed to put aside for my dog's operation and school – I mean, it hadn't been enough for college anyway, my twelve months was nearly up by then."

"I'm sure you were doing the best you could and that she probably knew that." He offered, knowing already that his reassurance would ring hollow but feeling unable to not offer any.

"I don't think so. We never did get on very well, she outright began hating me when I stuck her in that place. I messed up…I should have just sucked it up, became a dancer fulltime, made more money, moved her into a better place – or even hired a nurse or carer to come look after at home…She probably died because of my selfishness to keep what little pride I had left intact, as if it had meant anything by then…"

"And I presume your dog died of old age." He concluded, wanting to move on swiftly from the obvious, soul-crushing guilt she felt when dwelling on her mother too long.

"…Actually no, he didn't…I mean he had the cataracts, deafness and mild kidney failure but nothing else. God, the medication he needed for that was _unbelievably_ expensive. Nearly as bad as mom's monthly institution fee and _that_ at least included meals, bills and meds, geez." She sighed out, rubbing a hand to her forehead as she recalled it.

Looking over at Law at the extended silence that followed, she lowered her hand, realising she hadn't answered how her dog _had_ died and that he was leaving that question hovering at her discretion as to whether she wanted to tell him or not.

"He um…he got killed, actually." Watching Law's brows rise, clearly not expecting that answer as she shuffled uncomfortably at the memory. "After my mother died I was forced into time off work to grieve - though I didn't want it, I wanted the money more. Being at home all day gave me too much time alone with my thoughts. I don't know what got into me…All I could keep thinking was 'What did I do to deserve all this? How did this happen to me? Wasn't I supposed to have been at college working towards being a doctor? How did I end up some dirty, penniless, worthless stripper instead? Where do I go from here?' I just wallowed in self-pity and tears for days and then when those dried up, it just turned into anger…Does that make sense?"

Her turning to him with the indirect question of whether he understood what she had felt at the time caught him off guard momentarily. Though after a moment's thought, he saw no harm in confiding his empathy for her emotional state, it _was_ something he had experienced as well. "It does…I went through something similar as a child, not long after leaving Flevance. It's easier to live with anger than sadness."

Smiling at him before continuing, Nayla found reassurance in knowing he understood how volatile emotions could be during crises without viewing her as crazy…or crazier than he already thought she might be. "I started to realise that none of this would have ever happened in the first place if my grandparents hadn't been killed and began focusing my anger on the robber that had done it. It wasn't fair, how one man's impulsive, selfish decision destroyed that many lives. My grandparents, my mom, my aunts, mine? Even my dog's? Just like that? On a whim?"

"I suppose he wasn't ever caught." Law thought aloud, wondering where she was going with this tangent.

"Actually he was, the same day in fact. He was the same age as us, high as a kite when he broke in, didn't show a lick of remorse at the trial and got sentenced to twenty-five years…There was a death penalty he should have gotten, instead he was going to be in jail for a sentence that he would halve with good behaviour and appeals and be out in time to be able to live the rest of his life."

Noticing her subtle change to past tense when referring to the man, Law listened more intently wondering what was about to change it.

"That prick. Getting more meals a day in him than I was. Sleeping soundly at night on a full stomach in his heated cell. Not having to worry about paying for a roof over his head or how to pay his bills that month. You know people who are in for twenty-five to life get a cell with a TV? A _TV,_ Law. What the fuck? I mean I had to sell ours to keep the electricity on, I had to sell _everything_ to keep _everything_ on _,_ geez. Guy ruin's my life and sits around eating hot meals and watching TV shows on _my_ fucking dime because I'm forced to pay tax on my _stripper_ income to support that asshole in jail? Justice my fucking ass."

Law watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath as she seemed to realise her temper was rapidly escalating the more she spoke about him.

"…In my grief and frustration…I made the stupidest mistake I have _ever_ made in my life…I found out which gangs had members inside the same prison, approached one and gave them all the money I had left to have one of their inmate members kill him."

Eyes widening at the unexpectedly dark thing she had done, Law returned her steady gaze, complete sincerity in it and in her tone. "Are you serious, Nayla? Do you have any idea how dangerous it was for a girl like you to just go waltzing into a gang's den by yourself?" He could only imagine what kind of bad neighboured in a dark slum she'd had to have ventured into and the rough men that she would have been at the mercy of. The worst possible scenario could easily have played out for her, approaching them all alone at the tender age of nineteen.

"Do you think I cared at that point?"

Lowering his brows, he conceded how she must have felt at the time to have behaved so recklessly. "…Did they fulfil their end of the deal?"

"Actually, the inmate didn't manage to kill him. The murderer fought back and apparently beat the crap out of the gangster until he admitted _why_ he was attacking him and _who_ for." Ignoring the look of shock on Law's face as he immediately pieced together where this was going, she smiled sadly at him. "My luck I picked the wussiest gang to approach and they assigned the wussiest inmate they had to do my dirty work, right? Even more my luck that there was a jailbreak about a week after, that the murderer was one of the inmates that managed to escape and that he managed to find out where I lived…I woke up to find him in my bedroom that night."

The tension Law suddenly felt in his chest as he looked at her surprised him in its intensity. The thought of what the man may have done to her…he felt equally torn between wanting and not wanting to hear what had happened to her next.

"He didn't get very far." Nayla said softly, reading the intense discomfort in his concerned gaze, somehow grateful that he cared enough to have felt that way.

Releasing the breath he hadn't realised he'd held, Law felt relief – for himself and for her, the anxiety in his chest easing. "You managed to stop him?"

Scoffing slightly in bitter amusement, she rest her forearms on the railing, leaning her weight onto it though making sure to keep her side still comfortably pressed against Law's. "This was before I had an ability or even trained. I had the upper body strength of a wet noodle on months of malnutrition. I stood no chance…It was my dog."

Realising the long tangent that followed after asking how he had died looped back to this side story she had offered, Law connected the dots on how her beloved pet had met his untimely end before she said it.

"Fourteen and a half years old, blind, deaf, failing kidneys, tiny little breed too and somehow he still managed to understand I was in trouble on the bed beside him and he bit that man as hard as he could wherever he could. My fluffy little hero." She laughed fondly, turning to him. "Did you ever have a pet as a child?"

"Not that I can recall. If we ever did, then it was at a time I would have been too young to remember." Law replied, mirroring her posture as he rest the fist propping his cheek up to the wood instead.

"Hmm, that's a shame, having one is a truly magical bond. I had that dog since I was a little kid, he saw me through elementary school, high school, _all_ my ups and downs growing up. He was there for me when I got bullied, he was there for me when my first boyfriend broke my heart, he was there every time I ever got sick, he was there when I got my college acceptance letter, when my grandparents died, my family fell apart, my mom went nuts, my dad fucked off, my friends didn't want to know anymore…Everyday, no matter how bad things got, he made me smile with his companionship. So many people - supposed friends and family, came and went but he was always there, the only consistent thing in my life that helped me keep it together…"

Glancing at her as her voice gradually became softer as she talked, Law found the increasing sorrow in it more and more difficult to listen too.

"The most sincere and unconditional love I've ever received, was from my dog. That's kinda sad, isn't it?" She asked quietly, meeting his eyes with her own.

"…What happened to him?" Law finally asked gently, braving the threshold of what he knew would be a horrendous memory for her to recall.

"Out of everything I'd gone through up to that point, nothing compared to watching helplessly as he got…f-flung to the floor and…stamp-" Choking on the word, unable to say it without breaking down, she took a deep breath and bypassed it, knowing she'd said enough for Law to understand what had happened. "The worst part was, he didn't die right away…I can still see him bleeding and seizing on the carpet. When I tried to get off the bed to help him the guy just shoved me back on and left him there like that to die…"

Taking a deep breath to reel in the pain of her most excruciating memory, not wanting to cry like a baby in front of Law – because she could have right then, easily, Nayla pulled herself together and cleared her throat.

"I knew then that there was nothing I could do for him anymore…A dog that old with that kind of head injury…Even if I did somehow manage to get to him, I'd never be able to take him anywhere in time, he'd never be able to survive whatever treatment he needed and I'd just spent the last of my savings - I'd never have been able to afford it anyway...Another selfish fuck up of mine had cost me my last loved one…That moment was it for me, I had to watch him die in slow agony on the floor beside me. Everyone was gone, no one needed me, no one would miss me. I had nothing but eviction and crippling debt to look forward to. There was just no point anymore…"

It had been obvious to him early on that she'd had her own trials to go through but it was sincerely saddening to hear how heartbreaking her experiences had been for her.

For him, he'd had fourteen years to come to terms with all that had happened in his life. For her, this had all only happened four years ago. Her wounds were much more raw than his own; he couldn't blame her for the open display of upset he'd seen.

Just as he was contemplating his overwhelming temptation to reach an arm around her, to offer her comfort, she spared him his indecision by speaking again.

"You asked me once, how someone would get cursed."

Thankful to hear more volume and strength to her voice again he listened intently to the answer to the question he had wanted to ask her next.

"It's a little farfetched…and difficult to explain, especially when you don't quite understand it yourself…" She furrowed her brows in thought for a moment, trying to find an example to compare it to. "You know how when something awful happens in a location, let's say, a murder, in a house, people often say the place has a bad vibe afterwards?"

"Like how people will claim a house is haunted or cursed after something terrible has happened in it?" He asked, curious to see where this was going.

"Yeah, or like how some people say cursed weapons are those that caused a lot of suffering and that eventually the vengeful spirits of those cut down by it are drawn to linger around its blade?" She asked, glancing at the nodachi on his other side, drawing his attention to it as well. "In both cases, something horrible happened within a space or around an object that in turn attracted something malevolent and otherworldly to it. The same can happen to people. Something awful happens to them and in turn, it attracts something malevolent to them."

"It's a religious concept I've heard of before…Those that fall into true despair, disbelief and vulnerability attract and are tempted by demons. Most faiths have that concept in one form or another, a fable to encourage followers to save faith in times of hardship. I've always considered it nonsense." He stated bluntly.

"Hmm, me too." She smiled, always impressed with how articulate and well read he was. "But in that moment when I was on that bed and I'd truly given up, something reached out to me."

Trying his best to return the confidence she'd shown in _his_ outlandish statement of being from Flevance, Law forced an open mind to the idea, though could tell his expression wasn't as neutral as he'd have liked it to be.

"I don't expect you to believe it. Not even I do for the most part…because I don't want to. I don't believe in any of this kind of crap, I can't understand any of it, and honestly? I don't want to…Somehow I feel the less I know, the better because I find it all a bit…well, frightening. Sometimes I feel as though I'm in denial of the whole thing really." She admitted, shying away from his assessing gaze.

"What do you mean by 'something reached out to you?'"

"Someone talked to me but there was no one else in the room…I didn't literally hear anything like words it was almost like having a conversation within my own head. I thought I'd just gone mad but the 'voice' – I guess, for lack of a better way to describe it offered me a way to get revenge, to lend me the strength I needed to do it."

"And you said yes?"

"Actually, my response was that I didn't care." She laughed. "But I think that's what they want to hear, if they know you don't care about living anymore then you're more likely to say 'yes' to an offer of power that's likely to destroy you instantly but if you _can_ endure it, then you'll get a chance to do what you want before rapidly deteriorating and dying afterwards. Either way, at the time, it seemed like a win-win."

Law decided that he couldn't sense any trace of dishonesty in what she'd said or any reason for her to lie to him about how she acquired her peculiar ability. "I can't see why you were so reluctant to just explain how you got it when I asked before."

"You can't see why I wouldn't want to have to admit to being so beaten down by life? To being so helpless, stupid and desperate? I don't like explaining how I got it. It's the very definition of just how weak a person I am."

"You really think so?" Law asked, a brow rising at the clear tone of self-loathing that had slipped into her speech, wondering if she regretted her decision.

"I am, by far, the weakest person you'll _ever_ meet. No 'willpower' at all, I've tried many times to use a Haki-like energy and failed. The fact I even _have_ this ability will always be proof of how truly pathetic I was in that moment. " She confirmed firmly.

"That's one way to look at it…Or it's a testament to all that you've endured and survived. Proof of your strength Nayla, not your weakness." Watching her expression soften, he spoke again before she could linger too long on his words. "So I take it you 'exacted your revenge' on the man and left your home after that. Seems a little hypocritical of you to not want to aid me if _my_ goal was revenge-based."

Finding her voice after being stunned silent by his indirect praise of an aptitude she didn't believe she had, Nayla huffed at the return of his teasing tone and small smirk. "I never said I wouldn't help, just asked if it was."

"And if I told you it was? Would you have done that strangely righteous thing of yours and tried to talk me out of it? Told me from your personal experience of exacting revenge on the man that had wronged you the most that it was a hollow victory that you regret because you realised your were now no less a monster than he was?"

Laughing at that as he leant closer to her, a teasing smile on his lips, Nayla shook her head. "No way, I'm not _that_ righteous. I'd have told you to do it. I enjoyed every moment of mine, my only regret is how quickly he died - despite my best efforts. I took ironic pleasure in using what little medical knowledge I _did_ manage to pick up before he ruined my life to prolong his suffering."

Feeling his brows rise to the brim of his hat as he took in the twisted delight and pride on her face at the thought of…whatever it was she had done to that man, Law found himself wondering just how dark this seemingly kind, innocent-looking woman really was.

It was then he realised how lax his guard had gradually gotten around her. It wasn't long ago he'd been reminded by the fury in her eyes when she'd woken in his brig that she _was_ a killer, a mass one. It was difficult to comprehend the woman in front of him being the same one he'd read about and the same one he'd seen so callously clock a woman out cold in a fit of rage.

"…You have a surprisingly sinister side, Nayla."

"That should _not_ make you grin wider, Law. You really are a psycho, or is that just a turn on for sadists?" She teased, poking a finger gently to his cheek as his smirk continued to grow.

"Perhaps." He said lowly, her good-natured smile faltering at his unexpectedly honeyed tone as he reached up and held the hand she had lifted to his face. Chuckling at her surprise, he lowered their joined hands to rest onto the railing between them.

Looking down as she felt his thumb run over the back of her hand, she wondered if it were meant to feel as consoling as it did or if it were just a meaningless, habitual movement. "…Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

'A lot more,' was the immediate internal response Law had. Initially he'd only had a handful of things he wanted to know, but suddenly it felt as though he'd never be able to ask enough questions and he knew that the ones he _had_ asked had been taxing for her.

"Just one." 'For now,' he promised himself inwardly, glancing back up at her from his hand resting over hers. "How did you go from that night to mercenary – why did you _really_ choose to become one?"

Unsurprised he had picked up on the vaguest part of the story she had told the crew, she wondered if he already had a cleverly thought out conclusion in his head as to why. "Hmm, sounds more like two questions than one."

"Humour me."

Pressing her lips together in amusement, she returned his small, cheeky smile. "It's two so, I get to ask _you_ one more as well."

"Alright." He agreed, chuckling.

"I wasn't lying about things being a bit difficult to remember after that, I don't know if it was just the sudden, uncontrolled flux of my ability or my emotional state or both but I _do_ remember setting fire to the house, leaving it…and taking my little dog with me."

Wondering whether she had destroyed her home to conceal the murder she had committed, her absence or as some sort of distressed mental cleanse, Law realised that even she probably didn't know the answer to that if she was as in as much of a blur as she said she was.

"I walked a lot that night, a really long way, in a direction I'd never taken before. Eventually, I found myself wandering by some woods and I buried him there. Sat on the ground and just cried for hours. I have no idea how long I stayed there, maybe a couple of days…kinda waiting for that near-immediate death I was told about because of the ability. When I realised that it wasn't going to destroy me any time soon, I got up and wandered aimlessly again, gradually getting my head back together…"

Hesitating a little, Nayla glanced back down at her hand, still tucked beneath his, somehow reassured by it that whatever she said, he wasn't going to judge her or think less of her for it. It was amazing how much his opinion had begun to matter to her and how much of what she said, he took with an open mind.

"After the grief and the hollowness, I started to feel angry again…I was just so _angry_ at the world, at everything. 'Why do other people get to be happy? Loved? Looked after? Pursue their dreams? Why do they get to live when people dear to me don't? Why do they get blissful, peaceful lives? Why do all these people get to through life never experiencing an ounce of what I had to? Fuck those people. Fuck _all_ of them. The absolute _fuck_ I care about anyone else for?'"

Those were all questions that sounded recognizable to his own ears. He'd asked himself many of those as a child as well; the result of an all consuming bitterness for those more fortunate than himself and at the unfairness of it all. It's probably common for people who experience great tragedy in life to ask themselves the same things.

"I started to want to hurt others…as many as possible before my ability finally ended up killing me…I didn't stumble across that army camp, I deliberately walked towards it. I still had enough of a conscience to not want to take out my pain on just anyone anywhere…At least soldiers were _willing_ to lay down their lives." She quietly admitted.

Surprised by the unexpected parallel to how he had felt in his darkest days, Law read the obvious shame in her posture of her intentional pursuit of people to kill needlessly. Though truth be told, at least she had tried to seek those willing to die, _he_ hadn't cared. Anyone was good enough to have vented his own anger.

Wondering if she had been wrong in assuming his lack of judgement when he remained silent, she smiled sadly. "Sick, huh?"

"It's…not difficult for me to understand, actually. I experienced a similar state of mind after all that had happened as well."

"Really?" Seeing his nod, Nayla felt relieved that he didn't think she were a complete monster, surprised – though she realised she shouldn't be, that he could relate to how she had felt at that time in her life.

Over her years of working alongside other people with deranged and troubled backgrounds, Nayla had soon quickly realised many of them had experienced similar feelings at one point or another and that for most, it had left them irreversibly changed, scarred and emotionally impaired for life. The difference between those few that did recover and the majority that had become doomed to live their lives as cruel, callous killers with no conscience was the intervention of someone special. Someone loving, caring and kind. Someone who could still see the good in you and that would stubbornly remain by your side through your worst, tolerating your behaviour with patience and giving true support and nurture…someone who for some reason you would never understand, saw value in you. Enough for them to persistently reach out their hand to you until you took it…

If it hadn't been for her saviour, then Nayla was certain she would have continued on her self-destructive path until she had died…If Law had been in the same state as her at some point and had regained the majority of _his_ emotional stability as well...then who had his saviour been? She wondered if it had been the same kind man he'd mentioned earlier.

Unbeknownst to her, Law was simultaneously thinking along the same lines. Wondering who had appeared in her time of need and been there to intervene in her life. If she'd had no one left at the time, it had to have been someone new she had met. A true friend? A lover?...That Pirate Hunter she seemed so fond of?

Furrowing his brows at the discomfort the latter thoughts caused him, he decided that was perhaps one part of her history he didn't particularly have interest in hearing about.

"Sooo, do I get to ask _my_ question now that I answered yours?"

Scoffing at the childish prod that brought him out of his thoughts, he belatedly realised how long he had been resting his hand to hers, though made no attempt to move it just yet. "Yeah, but I'm still not going to tell you who exactly it is I'm targeting for my goal."

"What? Aww come onnn, that's not fair. You didn't say that wasn't included!" Pouting at his growing smirk and how easily he'd read what she'd wanted to know, she pulled her hand away in a huff.

"It's for the best." He chuckled at her reaction, reaching out and grabbing it before she could withdraw it completely.

"For you or for me?" She sulked, not resisting when he tugged her closer to his chest by her hand.

"Both." He said, wrapping his other arm around her waist comfortably as he leant his back against the railing, pulling her to rest against him.

Admittedly losing the ability to stay annoyed with him in his pleasant-feeling hold, she looked up at his devilishly handsome features and small smile, sighing in defeat. "Fine…" She mumbled in dissatisfaction, glancing down at their joined hands as his fingers slid between her own, finding herself wondering about the nature of their relationship again at the casual physical interactions they kept sharing.

"Nayla… there was something else I wanted to discuss with you." Looking up at him at his serious tone, she wondered where the suddenly more solemn expression he wore came from, waiting patiently for him to continue. "Your health. I want to know what _you_ were told about how your ability would affect you."

She was relieved he didn't voice the question that had just been on her mind, though couldn't help but be a little concerned about why he was asking. "I wasn't told much, you already know what I got told the day I got it. I was only approached one other time about it by the uh…'guy' that spoke to me."

"You don't sound all that convinced."

Knowing he was referring to her hesitance to call it a man, she picked her next words carefully. "Well, that's another reason I don't really like talking about this much because I still can't understand what I spoke to, where it came from…or the significance behind what I did to myself."

"Do you really think he was a demon?"

"I don't believe in those." She replied firmly. "I don't know what to call him...When he spoke to me the second time, after a week or so of having the ability, he _looked_ like a man but I knew that he wasn't one…He had a horrible aura to him, like a million walking, talking cursed blades in one. It's hard to explain…it just makes me sound like a lunatic as well." She mumbled, looking past his shoulder at the waves behind him.

"It doesn't help." The corner of his mouth tugged up a little when she shot him a look in response. "Did 'he' tell you at that point how to get better control over your ability?" He asked, recalling her explaining having to need to learn how to use what she called a 'seal' on her lower back.

"Yeah…Said something like he doesn't normally bother with instructions, seeing as most people die either immediately or within a few minutes. But other than that, he gave me no information about it or how it affects me at all. Though he did feel the need to cryptically let me know I was barren as the ability is 'incompatible with life,' which I'm guessing includes new one. I figure he added that on at the end just to get under my skin. Joke's on him though, considering I've never wanted kids anyway. I' haven't seen him again since."

"…Fidelis-ya died almost instantly."

"What did you do?" Head snapping up in alarm at his quiet admission.

"The black substance in your blood, I managed to find a way to extract it from your sample using my Devil Fruit. I was curious to see just how 'incompatible with life' it really was."

Piecing together what he had done, she gaped at him, struggling to find her words. "Y-…You actually injected another person with it?!"

"You just told me outright that you tortured a man to death in grieved delirium and you're going to look so horrified about me doing a little human testing?" He reminded her, amused at the shock on her face and wiping it off as she silently conceded his point. "I didn't even get as far as injecting it into his bloodstream directly. I was simply placing a small amount beneath his skin, to see if there was any reaction to it.

Her curiosity getting the better of her as she recalled the bloodcurdling scream from the man that day, she grew impatient to hear what had happened to him. "…And?"

"A very small amount was absorbed into a nearby peripheral vein before I had even finished the intradermal injection. It was on autopsy that I found the one it had entered and saw the damage it had done to his heart. If I'd realised it had entered his bloodstream at the time, I might have been able to severe his arm." He added on the latter bitterly, most likely lamenting the abrupt end to his tests and _not_ the loss of the pirate's life.

Finding a bit of amusement in the slight sulk on his face and recalling his moodiness that day at breaking his new toy too soon, she laughed quietly. "Geez…I mean I did _say '_ incompatible with life.' Dunno how much clearer than that to make it."

"'Incompatible with life' is an understatement. It _dissolved_ every living cell it came into contact with…How you're able to live with so much of it flowing through you at any one time is beyond me."

"Just 'lucky' I guess." She shrugged, unsure herself what allowed her to live as long as she had done with it.

Sighing, Law finally decided to voice the preliminary conclusion he'd come to about how her ability was affecting her, changing his mind about waiting until after she returned from her first mercenary job with him to give her the results of the examinations and tests he'd done for her…He was fairly sure that sentence used to end with 'for himself' some time ago, when it had really just been his own curiosity driving them. "...From the tests I've done so far…I'm fairly sure that your ability is gradually and irreversibly damaging virtually _all_ of your organs with each extensive use, Nayla."

She wasn't particularly surprised by the news. It was obvious from day one it caused her harm and it was obvious from the way she felt after using it for a long time that it was doing _some_ kind of damage to her. The only thing she hadn't been able to know on her own was how serious it was or whether she healed fully before using it again or whether the damage was mounting up. Apparently, it was the latter.

It hadn't mattered, at first. She didn't particularly care much at the time she got it and had been indifferent to whether she lived or died as there was no one she would be leaving behind…But over the years, life gradually didn't seem as bleak as before.

Working, she'd been awed by the places she'd visited and had shared many fleeting but enjoyable companionships with many interesting people. She'd slowly but surely learned how to smile and laugh again…and it had been at this point that she had begun seeking other jobs through Marty and began contemplating leaving mercenary work altogether. In fact, prior to the war she had been hired for on Joker's behalf, she had even said as much to him.

Deciding to break her thought when it became apparent she wouldn't reply, Law spoke again. "The only way to confirm it is to run the same tests again after you do and compare those results to the ones I have."

"...Alright...Thank you."

Finding himself returning the small smile she gave him, Law watched as the free hand she'd rest to his chest slid around his side to his back as she pressed herself to him in a hug. The warmth and softness of her touch relaying her honest gratitude as she rest her head to his chest comfortably.

Expecting him to shy away in the awkward discomfort he'd displayed the last time she had hugged him, Nayla was pleasantly surprised to feel him pull her in more closely with the arm around her waist, his fingers interlocking with her own more tightly and his chin rest comfortably atop her head.

Closing her eyes when she felt him sigh in content and hold her comfortably, she felt her heart give another aching flutter as she inhaled his enveloping scent deeply.

There was so much pleasure in feeling this much closer to Law. Not just because of the physical intimacies they'd shared but because of this one conversation. This one first, _genuine_ conversation that felt like a sincere turning point for them. It had been years since she'd last talked about herself, to anyone. She imagined it might have been the same for him as well.

She'd learnt so much about him that night, finally taking the time out to get to know something more meaningful about each other had made the world of difference…and for her, it had suddenly blurred that distinct, defensive line she had drawn in her mind of him – of them, being something purely physical.

It would be ridiculous of her to deny feeling something for him. Though she may not be able to justify or understand why, she liked him, a lot more than she should…She knew she would have - eventually, and had felt that early on. It had been one of the main reasons behind her earliest decision to leave the sub as soon as possible.

She was an idiot. She'd gotten attached far too quickly to the completely wrong type of man where there was utterly no hope of a happy outcome. Absolute. Idiot.

...

…Maybe she wasn't…maybe he felt the same…She had denied herself the gratifying luxury of allowing his previous actions and words to give her the false impression that he might care about her. Explaining away every kind thing he'd said and every caring gesture as him simply pursuing his own interests. She hadn't wanted to make any naïve assumption that he may care about her…but now she couldn't find any other explanation for the way he was holding her.

"Will you be coming back?" Caught off guard by the question, Nayla opened her eyes, leaning her head back to look up at him. "…The only thing that had really been tethering you here were the weapons on your hip and you have those back now…Are they really that special?"

Although he'd had enough time with them in his possession to have been impressed by their exceptional craftsmanship he hadn't been able to understand why they had been of so much importance to her.

Naturally all swordsmen or anyone that wielded a weapon long enough, grew accustomed and attached to it. Knowing what your weapon was capable of, its weight, its speed, how to adjust your power, movements and aim when using it, those were all important and possibly life-saving benefits of consistent use of the same weapon which would naturally make any wielder reluctant to lose theirs. Despite all that, despite the beautiful decorative, custom design, despite the peculiar edges, grooves and metals her slender, slightly curved twin blades had…Were they really so important to her as to impair her freedom?

Glancing down at them at their mention, Nayla pulled away from him slightly. "These were specially made for me, a one of kind because they're the only weapon in the world compatible with my ability. I can infuse them with it in the same way you would infuse your sword with Haki."

Raising a brow in interest at that, Law was half-tempted to ask her to show him. He wouldn't have guessed that had been the reason she'd been so reluctant to leave them behind. "And if you lost them?"

"Then I'd have to go back a _very_ long way, pay a _very_ large sum of money, grovel _very_ hard and wait a _very_ long time for a _very_ cranky old crafter to make another set. Every kind of do not want." She muttered.

"Must be a talented one to make a weapon compatible with an ability he had never seen previously."

"Haki and Haki-like powers go by different names in different parts of the world. Ki, Chi, Chakra, Reiatsu. Where I was at the time, martial artists there were able to channel their inner 'spiritual energy' in a way similar to Haki but couldn't transfer it to inanimate objects like weapons. They _did_ find a way to craft weapons that allowed them to do so though. That old man was a trainer there and a weapon forger. He taught me a lot about how to control and use my ability, seeing as I was kinda left high and dry and in the dark about it, and he finally agreed to make me weapons as well."

Law found himself chuckling a little at her fleeting expressions that flit between awe and interest at her discovery of many forms of Haki to annoyance at the mention of the man that had made her blades for her. "I can't tell if this is a fond or bitter memory."

"Both, I guess." She laughed, realising the mild distaste that must have been apparent on her face. "Although he helped me understand how to best use my ability efficiently and made weapons for me, he gave me a really hard time."

"How so?"

Clearing her throat she gave her best imitation of the grumpy, old man, though the similarity she'd achieved would be lost on Law who'd never heard him speak. "Only someone truly weak at heart, in mind, body and soul, would ever accept such a malevolent gift so shamelessly. A true warrior would rely on their own inner strength….Then he'd go on to mock me constantly, calling my ability 'Chi for losers' or 'Chakra for dummies.'" She finished the latter in her own voice, watching his small grin seem to grow.

"That's not funny, Law."

"So by 'hard time,' you mean he just relentlessly mocked you." He clarified, by-passing her annoyance at him and finding the insults she'd had slung at her a little humorous.

"Sound familiar?" She deadpanned at him, making him chuckle.

"Just because he mocked you, doesn't really mean he didn't like you."

The thought of whether Law was still talking about the old man or if he had drawn a parallel to his own behaviour with her crossed her mind briefly. "I think in the end he may have grown to like me, _just_ a little, but overall I don't think he ever _really_ liked or respected me."

"Hmm, you probably think he didn't like you because he didn't fall at your feet at your attractiveness or silly little charms." He teased; focus on the hand he'd rest to her lower back as he felt a small strip of her bare, warm flesh between the hem of her top and waistband of her skirt against his fingers.

"Like you did?"

Eyes snapping back to hers, he matched her devious, challenging expression as she called him out on his growing fondness of her. "Who said I fell for either?"

"Then why are you still holding me?" She pointed out slyly, leaning her face closer to his.

Eyes instinctively half-closing as her lips neared his own, Law pulled her tighter against his chest. "...Do you want me to stop?" He asked quietly, eyes closing for a moment and exhaling audibly as she brushed her lips against the split in his own that she had so tenderly kissed earlier.

"No."

Nearly lost to the honest, gentle whisper against his skin, Law released her hand, placing it to her cheek instead and pausing her approach to kiss him.

Watching her pull back a little and look up at him questioningly, he took that moment to truly appreciate her under the starlight, running his thumb gently over her cheek as he gathered the nerve he needed to ask the question that had suddenly become so difficult to ask.

"You never did answer me, Nayla…Are you coming back?"

"…Yes."

"You tried escaping not more than a couple of hours ago. Why should I believe you?" He found himself suddenly experiencing an unsettling sensation of déjà vu as he wondered if this might be his last time seeing her again.

Hearing the same tone in his voice that had been there when he'd asked her for a single reason not to kill her in his quarters; Nayla furrowed her brows slightly, wondering what it was he wanted to hear. "I…don't think I could say anything that would convince you otherwise right now…" She answered sincerely, finally deciding that her track record outweighed anything she could really offer as reassurance.

Though he remained silent, he didn't seem surprised by her response, the thumb he ran over her cheek didn't falter and his hold didn't break, though the quiet, unguarded intensity in his softened gaze set her heart racing.

Nayla had found herself wondering what it was he was thinking often, questioning how his mind worked and what he was really feeling, but she'd never wanted to know the answer more than right then.

The glittering surface of the ocean behind him, kept trying to draw her attention from him in its beauty, but the sight of it simply didn't compare.

The feel of the sea gently rocking the ship below them couldn't compete against the feel of his arm wrapped securely around her, the firm muscles of his torso, nor the warmth of the hand he was gently cupping her face with – the thumb still stroking lightly against her skin sending pleasant, gentle tingles through her.

The fine sprays of the disrupted waves as they lazily collided with the hull threw stronger scents of the salty smell of the sea onto the cooling breeze that passed them but it wasn't able to contend with the incredible scent of him, overpowering any other in his proximity to her.

The ocean's gently roaring waves couldn't be heard over her own, gradually loudening pulse in her ears, almost matching the strong, steady heartbeat she could feel from him, pressing against her chest.

Watching as the breeze rustled the fine fur of his hat and the longer hairs of his sideburns, she was suddenly reminded of the first time she had boarded his sub. That peculiar moment that seemed to last so much longer than it should have, that locked itself so firmly into her mind that she knew the memory would remain forever. Gazing up at Law like this, in his arms for the first time under one of the most beautiful starlit skies she'd ever seen and the way she felt in that moment was something she knew she'd always remember too.

Finding her eyes roaming his features, she soaked in the smoothness of his skin – his handsomeness completely unmarred by the bruise on the cheekbone beneath his eye, the sideburns that were so him, his strong jaw line, the gruff goatee that had grazed her skin intimately more times than she could count and his lips. The ones he'd so cruelly denied her at first but had come to share with her so often.

Looking back up at his eyes as he closed the gap, she felt him press them to hers. The gentleness of it and his gaze caught her so thoroughly off guard, the eruption of emotion and sensation it brought with it seemed to catch him by surprise as well. Pulling away slightly, for a brief second, they shared the most intimate eye contact she could ever remember sharing with him, uncertainty and confusion that she was sure was reflected in her own gaze as well before he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers again. Just as softly. Evoking just as an intense a flood of sensation and sentiment as before.

Closing her eyes with a gentle, content exhale, she rest her hands to his face as he slid both of his to her lower back. Every one of their kisses up until now had been so raw, so passionate, dominating and lustful. Nothing had been relayed by the action other than his carnal desire for sex…This one was so different. It was so affectionate, so caring, a tenderness that she honestly hadn't thought him capable of. This one spoke far more volumes than any of the others they had shared, it said so much more about what he thought of her and felt for her than any word he hadn't uttered. Though she wasn't sure if it was intentional on his part or if her reciprocation was betraying her inner thoughts and feelings about him as well.

Sliding her hands around him, she rest her arms over his shoulders, looping her hands around the back of his neck as he reached one hand up to thread through her hair, tilting her head as he delved his tongue into her deeply, slowly, meeting hers in leisurely, powerful strokes. The kiss itself and the way he entered her mouth – reminiscent of the way he had pushed inside of her earlier, caused a pleasurable shiver of arousal to run through her, her heart rate increasing.

The relaxed, inviting pace he set and the slow incite of her senses reminded her so much of the kiss she had dreamt of with him, literally. That rare, truly special first kiss – first _real_ kiss, that seemed to make the world and everything in it, around them, stop existing altogether in that moment. A romantic and affectionate physical exchange that she hadn't thought a man like Law could ever share with her. It felt like the kiss they should have shared in the snow that night.

Breaking it gently, Law pulled away, gazing at her quietly as she caught the breath she felt she suddenly lost. It was clearer now, the emotion in his eyes; uncertainty. Affection and uncertainty. He was as confused and overwhelmed by the sudden rush of emotion that had overrun him in that kiss as she was.

It was a little astonishing to see a man usually so calm, collected, self-assured and guarded so obviously unsure of himself. Though it was surprising, she found it endearing. He _was_ human. She felt she needed reminders of that frequently. He _wasn't_ infallible or incapable of feeling genuine things for her or of always being in control of everything he thought, said, did and felt.

The fact that she had seen it, made her feel special as well. She had been privy to so much of him, all in one night. How many people had _ever_ seen this side of him before?

Leaning up, she planted a small kiss to his lips, smiling at him as she pulled away and as his slightly furrowed brows relaxed, the turbulent emotion in his grey eyes seeming to settle somewhat at her silent reassurance.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat altogether as he returned her smile. No edge of his usual cockiness, sarcasm or teasing. Just a small, genuine smile that reminded her of the one she had seen him wear in the photo hung in the galley and that reminded her of how good being the cause of it had felt in her dream…It felt so much better in real life.

Resting his forehead to her own, as she felt his fingertips stroke gently over her scalp at the back of her head, she realised he must have been able to feel the scar she had still healing beneath her hair there. The one that he had treated for her the first day they met. Though she was unsure if it were an idle action or if he had intended any significance by it. Either way, it was incredibly soothing.

Maybe she was wrong, about him, or them in general. Maybe there was something or could be something other than lust between them. Maybe she had unfairly underestimated him, automatically assuming that a rogue, notoriously cruel pirate was unlikely or unable to share or even want a meaningful connection with her. Maybe he wasn't _so_ bad of a guy to fall for after all, it wasn't as if she could seem to help it either way. It just seemed to come naturally, the more time she spent with him.

"You look like you could start purring." He teased quietly.

"If I could I would." She admitted, realising she was leaning comfortably against his hand with a small laugh.

Reluctantly, Nayla began pulling away a little, all too aware of what time it must have been and how long they had been talking to one another. "I need to get going."

Humming in agreement he unwillingly slackened his grip on her, allowing her to slip from his grasp as she took a step back.

Smiling at him before she turned, she began heading over to the other side of the deck where she had left her bag, hearing him pick up the nodachi beside him before following her.

Reaching it, she stooped and lifted it to her shoulder, noticing the crew had moved further along the harbour and that even more of them were down for the night. Huffing in amusement at them, she turned to look at Law as he approached, more of his usual neutral expression in place now.

"I guess I'll see you in three weeks, Law." Tiptoeing, she rest a kiss to his cheek, not expecting a reply from him now that his demeanour was sobering at her departure. Casting one last reassuring smile at him, she turned and began making her way to the gangplank. "I'll contact you when I'm done."

Looking down at the hand he'd captured, she turned her gaze up to his as he pulled her back to him, silently and swiftly kissing her.

Surprised but easily falling into it, she kissed back, something more familiar about this one. The dominant demand of entry, the force of his tongue on hers, the growing energy and passion of this one was far more like the others they had shared up until now.

Feeling his arms around her again, Nayla let her bag drop back down to the deck with an unheard thud as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The rush of unsettled lust for him suddenly making itself known as it grew rapidly.

Inhaling sharply at the unexpected, feel of his hand travelling beneath her skirt, she moaned as he grabbed her cheek, squeezing it firmly. The noise seeming to incite him, he broke their kiss, turning her around and pushing her until her back hit the side wall of the main entrance.

Gasping at her rough contact to it, she barely had time to process it before his lips met her neck, replacing the sensation with something much more pleasurable as he sucked the spot of her healed hickey strongly, almost possessively, her eyes fluttering shut and her breath beginning to come in pants as she felt his teeth on her skin.

Feeling his hand travel back up her body, it ran up the inside of her hoodie without hesitation, over her stomach and straight to her left breast as he took her lips again.

Moaning into his mouth as he pressed himself against her, kneading her fleshy mound, she returned the heated exchange of his tongue, encouraging him eagerly. Even if it were just a rushed quickie against a wall, anything would be better than going entirely without him for three weeks, reliving the fresh memories of the heat of his touch, the taste of him, the feel of him inside of her, the incredible orgasms he'd given her…Internally she decided she would make a serious attempt to kill him if he were just teasing her again.

Tilting her head back against the surface behind her as he resumed kissing her neck, she closed her eyes, focusing on the hand he slipped beneath her bra, her increasing lust beginning to make her feel heady with desire.

Struck by the sudden sensation of breathlessness, she looked up at him as he pulled away from laying the sweet kisses he'd been gracing her neck with. His expression, though not cruel, was unapologetic. Firm and neutral as he slowly withdrew his hand from beneath her top.

Feeling dangerously light-headed, she watched as he picked up the weapon she hadn't noticed he'd set to the wall beside her before abruptly turning and walking towards the open door of the main entrance.

Her knees seemed to weaken suddenly, thought she couldn't tell if it were due to shock or what he'd just done. If Law had spared her one last look before turning the corner to re-enter his ship, then she hadn't seen it. Still too stunned, numb and nauseous to process what had just happened.

He had said something, before walking away, but she hadn't been able to hear it over the deafening pulsation of her missing organ, which she now felt more strongly in her own ears than in her ribcage.

Feeling her legs threaten to give out on her, Nayla leant heavily against the wall, trying to catch her breath as she slid down it to rest on the deck. The painful realisation that Law had stolen her heart with their first real kiss, settling heavily into the hole he had left in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is obviously a reference to the song "Dr. Heartstealer" (thought naming the chapter that outright would probably give away the ending) sung by Law's Japanese voice actor so if you've never heard it, I'd definitely recommend go checking that out. He also sung a second song as Law called "Lost in Shinsekai,"which always gets stuck in my head, very soothing sounding though. Both available on YouTube with English translation subs.
> 
> Majority of the chapter is Nayla-related so apologies to those that hate having to trawl through long OC bits in these fics (an inevitable and necessary evil unfortunately) but hopefully to those that wanted to know a little more about her, this chapter didn't disappoint.


	56. Bloody Bête Noire

It didn't surprise him that Nayla hadn't called at the three week mark, Law had anticipated as much. Although he knew she had written the number of his Den Den Mushi down in that notebook of hers she carried around with her, he hadn't expected her to be obedient enough to actually use it after leaving. Even less so now.

Taking care of his usual business and his crew first and foremost, he'd focused the majority of his time since she had left on gathering as many rival hearts as possible to progress his plans, finding as much information about the New World as he could from the few islands they had encountered and training.

Increasing his strength before crossing Paradise's threshold was becoming an increasing priority and he hadn't needed to spell that out for his crew after announcing they wouldn't be hastily following the rest of his 'Generation' head first into those dangerous seas. They had been upping their training hours and seriousness without his prompt now that they knew he was biding his time, and their dedication to becoming stronger was already beginning to pay off. They had their moments but Law was exceptionally proud of them, he had been fortunate to have assembled such a diligent and bright crew…Well, bright when it came to important matters anyway.

Coming to a halt at the small clearing atop the cliff he had travelled to many times already; Law surveyed the valley below from the cover of the tall, barren trees that towered behind him. Their dark, thick shadows concealed him easily from the moonlight's glare, though he doubted his presence would be noticed without them anyway with all the chaos below and the thick smoke that billowed into the air here.

Desolation. Although he had seen this sight nearly every night since he had arrived, it was still the first word that sprung to mind as his eyes scoured the destruction below. Land that had been worn bare through the chronic, continuous battering of countless booted footsteps. Earth that had been heaved, pitted and scorched beyond recognition by an array of gunfire, heavy machinery, flames and explosions.

The sobering sight of the sheer number of fallen men scattered across the field, clearly visible even from his height and distance, made it a truly horrific vision, though it wasn't the only sense that was assaulted.

The smell of overturned soil, rusting metals, spent shells, burnt gunpowder and decay invaded his nose each time he came here.

The screams of pain, anguish and death so frequent amidst the eruptions of gunfire, clash of swords and war cries that they blended in to one another – all equally lost to the uncaring, saturated, auditory roar of an ongoing battle bombarded his ears each time he came here.

Although he had seen the state of Marineford first-hand, the battle that had been occurring there had been acute and short-lived. The one before him now had been raging on for months and could last for years. The desolation depicted here was of a different level entirely. It wasn't reminiscent of the supposed 'Great War' at all…If anything, it reminded him more of what had become of his home.

Pulling his gaze away from the hastily piled bodies of varying stages of decomposition that had seemed to have grown substantially since yesterday evening, Law instead scanned the waves of heads for one in particular.

It didn't take him long to spot her. It never did. It wasn't difficult amidst the sea of thousands of clashing soldiers to find the distinctly empty circumference with only one person in its centre. The men here had learnt to avoid her, they kept their distance and rightfully so.

Very few soldiers were brave enough to directly engage Nayla if they saw her coming; their attempts to halt her advance were often futile and fatal. She was every bit as domineering when on the field as the article he'd read so long ago had claimed her to be.

Though it wasn't obvious from watching her, Law already knew from what she'd said to justify her method of killing as a quick and painless death, that she didn't necessarily _want_ to take down those that tried to oppose her but did so, professionally and without hesitation if they got in her way.

It was probably even less her intent than usual to kill unnecessarily for this job, considering she was not here to aid one side defeat another in direct combat but to destroy all the armoury Joker had sold to the side he was backing so that they would need to re-buy it from him.

The army whose tanks Nayla had been hell-bent on tearing apart since she'd arrived here had begun to station their more formidable soldiers to guard them. He was sure they thought it was a wise move to do so but in fact, all they were doing was foddering their elite needlessly to her.

The loss of their armaments had greatly impaired their advance by reducing their firepower _and_ forcing them to keep their strongest behind in an attempt to protect their remaining artillery. Her interference here had allowed the opposite side to take firm control of this battle and it was slowly but surely becoming a one-sided slaughter.

All in Joker's benefit, of course. The more desperate his clients became to regain control of this conflict, the more they would be willing to pay; an extortionate and well thought out side-effect of the job given to her. Law couldn't help but frown a little at the thought of the man and how he and the people beneath him were always cleverly manipulating things to his favour, always thinking several steps ahead.

A wild bellow of war cries made him focus his attention on their origin – a spurring call of the men given the task of defending their weaponry as they saw Nayla approaching. She was running through and cutting down the menial ranks with ease, rapidly breaking through them and closing in on the army's final line of tanks that had been stationed at the far side of the battlefield. All of that army's remaining heavy hitters were readying themselves to engage her there.

It was too far away to see much of her features, the way her long, dark hair fluttered behind her as she bolted past, up, over and through the soldiers to her target was the only recognisable one from this distance…It felt like it had been such a long time since he'd seen her up close. It had been _four_ weeks since she had left.

Anticipating she wouldn't particularly want to call him after what had happened, Law had arrived at Pugna himself on the day she was supposed to have completed this current contract to pick her up.

Not finding any sign of her at the nearly fully evacuated portside town nearby - the one she would have arrived at initially, he had taken the time to travel the small distance inland to the battle, wondering if she had really already slipped away before he'd arrived _without_ her heart or if she had simply not finished her job yet. Thankfully it had been the latter and his worry had been put to rest as soon as he spotted her in this valley.

Just as he'd been awed by her full combat prowess on the first night, he had found the sight of her in action on the subsequent ones just as an impressive display; she had truly and purposely undersold herself when they had first met. Being underestimated was something she welcomed rather than took offence to and it had probably cost many unsuspecting people their lives to have made the mistake of taking her at face value. Her petite package and content to be so thoroughly underestimated was a potentially terribly deadly advantage.

Observing carefully as it took her no more than a split second to have made the men that had encircled her seemingly spontaneously erupt blood from their sliced necks, Law watched her catch the hilts of her blades neatly in each hand as they rebound from her throw.

Although he had been partially right in assuming the purpose of the curved nature of her weapons had been to aid her preferred method of execution – swift beheading, he hadn't anticipated that their shape allowed them to function as a projectile attack as well. That explained their peculiar weight distribution; it aided their rapid spin when thrown, making them move through the air in a manner that resembled two lethal, circular saws.

It had been a surprise to see that attack for the first time; it appeared to be one of her more devastating and efficient moves. The amplified strength her ability afforded, allowed her to throw each blade in wide, fast, strong arcs that rebounded in a way that allowed near-instant decapitation of the men around her in a full circumference. Depending on how many soldiers had dared to enclose her, he'd seen it kill anywhere up to a five row radius of men in a single strike.

The way their heads lolled off their shoulders simultaneously, the gushes of blood that left the severed stumps they used to rest upon - powerful enough to reach several inches into the night sky and the way their bodies gradually slumped to the ground in tandem…It was truly gruesome-looking and exactly why soldiers kept their distance from her on the field. After seeing that attack just once and watching their comrades beheaded by the dozen in an instant right in front of them, Law didn't blame them.

Nayla standing prominently in the middle of a ring of collapsing, headless soldiers as their blood painted the air around her, holding her dripping blades and her exposed skin most likely splattered in her enemies' violent sprays, she looked every bit the 'bloody black beast' her epithet implied. It was obvious to him now where it had come from, and considering the effort she put in to try to avoid unnecessary kills and deal only painless deaths - why she might resent the insinuation that she behaved like an uncontrolled animal.

The soldiers that _had_ managed to dodge that sweeping attack began to lunge her, enraged and determined. Men double and even triple her size, maybe even her age – warfare veterans, hoisting weapons that probably weighed more than she did.

They would die. He'd seen it plenty of times already. Anyone that simply charged and tried to attack her were pushed back by the overwhelming strength her full ability gave her. If they _weren't_ immediately overpowered and managed to cross blades with her, then she merely increased her ability until she was able to.

It had been fascinating to watch, the few times she had been close enough to the cliff for Law to see how the black lines on her arms and thighs had increased in number and thickened in width when she needed more of it, even a visible aura began to emerge when straining more heavily against the few more formidable warriors she'd come across. Though whether that was an intentional attempt at intimidation on her part or simply an unintended by-product of amplifying her ability past a certain point he wasn't sure…he'd like to think he could ask…

Watching as Nayla cut down the last of the more talented soldiers that had admirably stood in her way in the line of duty, Law scanned the short span of ground ahead of her towards her target. There was nothing and no one more to get between her and the last line of tanks she had been hired to destroy other than the tanks themselves. Firing freely at her now that the last of their comrades in the range around her had perished. Not that she had much difficulty dodging effectively with her increased speed, her pre-emptive pattern of weaving speaking to her experience of facing this kind of assault before. This would be over soon.

Though, it was nagging at the back of his mind that Nayla had told him she could only really use her ability for a few weeks at a time and here she was, still using it four weeks in. Initially he'd thought maybe she had lied about the length of time or that she'd used the term 'few weeks' loosely but Law could recall her agent also discussing her pre-agreed maximum contract length as _three_ weeks, not four…He was starting to grow a little concerned at how much additional strain and damage it would cause her body to go over her maximum by this much longer, though she still appeared to be perfectly fine.

Resting the side of his head to the hilt of the nodachi on his shoulder, Law adjusted his grip on it more securely as he watched her systematically slice through her third tank, cutting down any additional soldiers that exited them or fell back from the conflict to attempt to stop her.

After their last conversation together, he'd had a lot to think about. One of those things being how, in general, Nayla was more understandable now. Knowing the background that had shaped her into the person she'd become made some of her peculiar personality traits and behaviours make more sense to him.

The obviously over-personal opinions of the strippers they'd seen together, as well as how easily she had built rapport with the dancers and staff at that club – because she'd worked as one before and had common ground with them… It _could_ also explain her incredibly lewd underwear choices, predilection to 'lighter' outfits and flirtatious behaviour as well…Though he had a feeling, given her personality overall, that those three could just as easily have been characteristics she had _before_ that occupation as well.

The apparent enjoyment she got from completing those 'Honey Pot and 'Black Widow' jobs of hers – perhaps her time forced into the degradation she felt of having to use her sex appeal on men for money had given her a sense of pleasure in using it to harm and kill them now instead. He'd initially written off whatever trivial entertainment she got from those jobs as some shallow, childish need for validation of her attractiveness...It may be more likely the enjoyment she got from those jobs was due to some subconscious, gratifying reversal of the powerlessness and objectification she must have felt at the time. Maybe even the fact her father appeared to have been charmed away from his responsibilities to care for her by a new woman had fed into it as well…Though he could just as easily be reading too much into it, maybe Nayla simply enjoyed the power trip of destroying a man with nothing more than a little cleavage and a cheeky wink, as many women might.

The way she frivolously overspent her money on clothing, hotels and restaurants – a consequence of having _so_ much cash now, at a time when she ironically no longer desperately needs it, that she has no clue what to do with it. The way she would rather give it away to those that needed it or had shown her kindness than carry it – spoke to her more compassionate, empathetic and giving nature…Those qualities coupled with her eagerness to lean and academic ability made her potentially good doctor material. It was a shame life had dealt her such an unfortunate hand at such a crucial moment, she would have had a bright career as a medical practitioner if things had gone right for her…Though he supposed he could say the same about himself.

The way Connor's flippant remark about preferring to die with honour during training had triggered her to point out, strongly, that he had people who would miss him – because she had lost everyone dear to her in life. It, amongst other things, had spoken volumes to him of her apparent sense of loneliness, lack of belonging and the fact she felt that if she were to die that she wouldn't be missed. He didn't believe that to be true, and if it were, it was a self-inflicted state. It was _her_ decision to continue to take jobs in rapid succession, travel frequently and never give herself the chance to remain in one place long enough to form any meaningful relationships…Why someone would do that then inwardly lament how alone in the world they were was beyond him. It was the one part of her he truly couldn't understand and hadn't been able to anticipate. If it hadn't been for her restless, uprooted behaviour then he was sure she would have found appeal in his proposition, in befriending his crew, having a place to return home to and consistent work. It should have been miles better than simply doing her usual solo travelling, she should have fallen into amicable agreement in working for and returning to him without issue by now as he'd predicted she would...

That fiery temper of hers though…he couldn't find any real cause or explanation for that. It would seem she had an inherently short fuse, perhaps because she had been a little spoilt in her upbringing or perhaps being a bit on the hot-blooded side simply ran in her family. Thinking of her volatile temperament and of all the times he'd aggravated her to boiling point made Law want to chuckle a little to himself.

Like a puzzle, the pieces that made up Nayla and how she ticked had begun falling into place and the missing ones were easy enough to guess, aside from a strange few that he couldn't seem to make fit.

Of those, the one he was most curious about was the real meaning behind what she had said to him in that cellar. The drive behind why she kept trying to leave despite seeming to quite enjoy life on board with his crew…Wanting to 'remember' him and them as they were, what did that even mean?…Law grudgingly acknowledged he'd missed his opportunity to ask, she probably wouldn't answer that question now, not after what he'd done…

Shifting his weight uncomfortably at the memory and the unpleasant feelings it brought with, he watched Nayla as she sliced through the thick, metal armour of the next tank's gun barrels and control hatches, trying to detour his thoughts to wondering, for the hundredth time, if she were able to do so because she was infusing her blades with her ability or because of the brute strength it granted her.

It was futile though, both trying to keep his mind off of what had happened between them as they parted and trying to tell from this distance which of the two she was using to destroy these heavy machines. He found his mind often stubbornly lingered on the discomfort that came with acknowledging what he'd done to her.

Ignoring the temptation to slip his hand into the pocket where her stolen organ was beating steadily, he gripped his weapon more tightly instead. Not daring to touch her heart whilst she was in battle, in case she felt it, in case the momentary distraction caused her to get injured, or worse…He had always been careful of that, knowing where she was and what she was doing.

Since he'd taken it, he found himself keeping it with him for the most part. Separate to the growing collection of others that he had stored haphazardly in cheap sacks and slung carelessly into a storage box. Hers he treated with more kind regard, stored in his desk drawer beside him during the day, his bedside cabinet's drawer at night…It had been two weeks in when he realised he'd unknowingly mimicked her behaviour, ensuring her most precious organ was nestled securely and warmly amongst an item of clothing in either of his drawers…and he found he wasn't comfortable to leave that part of her behind when venturing ashore on the islands they had visited over the last month. He always kept her in his closest pocket when off the sub.

Although he had enjoyed teasing her about keeping herself to herself during her three, or well, four weeks away, Law hadn't been all that serious about it. It had mostly been in jest and at the time he felt (or at least he _thought_ he felt) relatively indifferent to whether she would or wouldn't. It had only been after the kiss they had shared on deck and after encountering other women during his travels that it had become apparent that just wasn't true.

It still bothered him, the thought of someone else enjoying something he so wanted – although he knew it shouldn't. She wasn't his, as much as the reverse was true. They'd made no promises and were in no way committed to one another…Surprisingly though, he'd found the thought of taking any of the women that had been interested in him over the last month hadn't been nearly as appealing as it should have been.

Aside from knowing already from past experience he wouldn't be able to get Nayla off his mind, even when with another woman, they seemed to have…lost their appeal? Engaging with them suddenly didn't seem as though it'd be a satisfying venture. The only woman he felt could truly scratch that itch was the one that had been taunting him with the unavailability _he_ had placed on her since he'd known her. The one that had almost unknowingly been teasing him with her presence alone and slowly creeping beneath his skin. Only _that_ woman would satisfy him right now. He needed to get his craving for her satisfied…so that the novelty would wear off and he could move on from his seemingly growing infatuation with her.

…Stealing her heart hadn't been planned…If it had been anyone else, Law probably would have removed their heart long ago - if he hadn't chosen to simply get rid of or kill them instead. Doing it had been a stark reminder, to both Nayla and himself, of just who he was.

It hadn't been a premeditated move but yes, the idea of taking hers to keep her under control had crossed his mind, many times. The fact she had made so many sly attempts to slip away had made him contemplate the idea to ensure her return but he had always decided against the action. Forcing her compliance, any more so than bringing her aboard against her will, would probably have only caused her behaviour to be more stubborn and difficult to manage than it already proved to be.

It wasn't like him, to have changed his mind about doing something as drastic as that so rashly. Admittedly, something in that moment had unsettled him in a way he couldn't understand, or refused to.

The lingering sensation of her farewell kiss on his cheek, that beautiful smile on her lips as she walked away…Watching her move towards the gangplank of his ship to leave caused an overwhelming and sudden…anxiety? Ache?...The closest word he could come to to describe what he had felt at that time, if he were honest with himself, was fear. The thought of her not coming back after the emotions she had provoked in him, after stirring his soul so strongly, had frightened him. To be left alone with the feelings she had caused him, to be left to try to understand and sate them by himself when he knew that he wouldn't be able to do it without her, had scared him…

It wasn't something he wanted to admit and it wasn't something he was proud of. To have been so emotionally shaken, immature and naïve in that moment as to act on selfish impulse like that. In that moment, all that had mattered was making sure she came back…Obviously the foresight of wanting her to return on the same good terms she had left him on came later, when he had reflected on his actions that night. Whatever good terms they had come to, he'd undoubtedly damaged but hopefully not beyond repair. Hopefully, she'd understand why he did what he did – that he _couldn't_ trust her to come back.

He wasn't sure if he hoped for or dreaded her reading the emotional turmoil that had made him act the way he did. If she were able to, he'd be thankful that he wouldn't ever need to voice how he had felt in that moment because he was almost certain that he couldn't. If she weren't able to, then he'd be thankful he'd saved face. He wouldn't want to be thought of as soft or weak, even less so by a woman that would take a mile if you gave her an inch.

A lot of what he had been thinking and feeling that night had been unfamiliar, new and unclear for him…What _had_ become crystal clear to him though, was that he had absolutely lost his objectivity with her and long ago.

Letting her get away with her behaviour, her silly jokes, breaking out of his brig, what she had done to Penguin, the chaos she purposely incited amongst his crew for entertainment, the names she had called him, the attitude she had given him, all those wily attempts to wriggle away and he'd never treated her the same way he would have treated someone else who had done all those things…How long ago exactly had his treatment of her become so favourable towards her, so bias?

His personal feelings were beginning to cloud and alter his judgement. They were definitely getting in the way of handling her as she needed to be handled and ensuring she served the purpose he had brought her on board for to begin with. The way he had started feeling about her was a problem. One that he knew he was not realistically going to be able to correct but, acknowledging it was there was the first step.

Saying that she'd come back…with that sweet, genuine look on her face…He had wanted to believe her, he really did, but she was an actress. He's known that since the first day he'd met her, when she had been screaming for help and crying crocodile tears for those marines as she'd been 'abducted' by The Straw Hats outside the auction house...It had amused him to no end at the time – even recalling it and the message she had sent him afterwards made him want to smile a little, but it, and all the other instances he'd seen her acting had taught him not to take her _apparent_ behaviour for granted.

Inwardly, his heart told him she was telling the truth at the time, it wanted to believe she had felt what he had during that kiss, to believe that adoring look in her gaze, the softness in her touch, the serene smile on her face...but it was difficult to listen to and take it seriously when it was doing flips that he was not accustomed to.

It was even more difficult to heed it when the most sensible, logical, reasoned part of his mind laid out the bare facts for him. Nayla had habitually lied to him before, she purposely omitted information from him about herself many times, she had shown _every_ intention of escaping, she had _never_ shown any true intention of staying before that reply, she made a _career_ off of manipulating men…and it had been the latter that had stung the most.

To realistically have to wonder if the acting skills he had so admired were being used on him and he was falling for it, to have to wonder if he were just another man she had so gradually wound around her finger, another meaningless statistic to her, another notch on her excessively long belt of men she had made utter fools of with her charms and pretty face…His heart disagreed, his mind was ringing every alarm bell he had and the unfortunate truth was that even if she did care about him, it didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't manipulate him to suit her needs. Penguin had been a prime example.

Broken from his deep reverie and unseeing stare by a pained cry loud enough to just break the surface of the continuous stream of screams, shots and shells, Law more actively focused on Nayla's particularly violent and brutal take down of one of the more stubborn soldiers that had caused the noise

…At least when he cut people into pieces it wasn't nearly as messy, or as painful. She was far more capable of this level of vicious brutality than he would have given her credit for…and on that unforgiving note, she was probably very angry with him – and rightfully so…Or at least, he _hoped_ she was angry. That would be much easier for him to handle than the shock, hurt and betrayal he'd seen on her face before leaving her on the deck that night.

Swallowing uncomfortably as he recalled it, he inwardly berated himself for the thousandth time since she had left. Wondering if maybe she was right, maybe he _was_ every bit as emotionally awkward as she had teased him to be…Though admittedly, pulling her hair and running away would have been a far less severe way to relay his affection for her than stealing her heart.

Sighing tiredly to himself, he watched as Nayla seemed to finally complete the task she had been hired for, laying a final, destructive slash to the last of Joker's artillery before beginning to make her way rapidly back through the throngs of soldiers towards the edge of the valley.

The soldiers couldn't move out of the way fast enough for her, though they seemed to try to. She was using their heads and shoulders as stepping stones as she saw fit, flipping over and past them effortlessly.

His first night here, he'd enjoyed observing how gracefully she moved; lithe, swift and deadly. Her speed and agility had been obvious assets that had become apparent when watching her spar with the crew but describing it as 'a little better' with her ability had been an understatement. It was amplified at _least_ tenfold when her ability was in use.

Overall having seen her power in action and the ruthlessness she could really display when she wanted to, Law was more certain than ever that she was far more formidable than she had ever let on. It was hard to imagine the woman he had seen here was the same one who had flopped so cutely atop his first mate in a fluffy bear hoodie. That sweet visage didn't begin to reflect the mercenary he'd witnessed in action this week…It wasn't as if he hadn't always known she was capable of this, it was just…different to see it firsthand.

Finally reaching the far outskirts of the battlefield beneath the cliffs he stood on, Law saw Nayla weave her way through the tents and temporary command posts of the soldiers on this side of the conflict, the men parting unsurely as she approached. Though on the surface it seemed as though her actions here reflected her desire to help them win this conflict, they were still rightfully wary of her presence. _They_ hadn't been the ones to hire her after all; she had simply shown up and began decimating their enemy's equipment, likely, without any explanation to them.

Ignoring the recoiling crowd, she grabbed a rag from one of the makeshift benches situated between the rows of tents - where the soldiers ate their menial rations before re-entering the fray, and swiftly wiped her blades clean before re-sheathing them to her hip.

Even without seeing her lips past the mask she wore over the lower half of her face, Law could tell from the reaction of the men around her that she hadn't uttered a word to them before promptly turning and beginning to walk off the battlefield altogether. Towards the trail that led up the gentle slope of the rock face he was perched on, into the thick woods behind him. It would seem she was wasting no time in leaving now that her job was completed.

Eyes turning to what appeared to be a commanding officer as he ran after her, Law watched with interest as the man bravely called out, seeming to either ask where she was going or imploring her to stay. Although they hadn't hired her and were a little wary of her, it was obvious her presence here had been of huge benefit to them. It made sense they may be a little alarmed at her seemingly abrupt decision to leave and what it may mean for the outcome of their battle.

Looking as though she had tired of listening to whatever it was the man was saying, Nayla turned away to resume her retreat from the conflict, only to provoke the man into becoming angry at his rude dismissal - daring to close the gap between them to reach out and grip her shoulder as she tried to walk away.

Observing her reaction closely, Law tried to gauge the severity of her mood, seeing as he was about to encounter it for himself. The officer suddenly recoiled his hand as though her skin had burnt him, backing away quickly as she turned to look at him over her shoulder, aura amplified to a visible and incredibly intimidating degree. Knowing from personal experience just how strong the sensation it emitted was, Law could only imagine how much the soldier's gut was twisting about now as she stared him down with that single, unnaturally red eye.

Seemingly satisfied by the man's silence and withdrawal, Nayla resumed her departure. If she were so obviously in no mood to spend any energy in explaining herself to the spooked man, then he could only imagine how much moodier she would be when seeing him.

Sighing at that, Law steeled himself inwardly for what was to come as he turned to make his way back down the cliffside, reminding himself that he more than likely deserved all of it…but finding his anticipation to talk to her again overrode the foreboding he felt in his chest. A small smile at the thought of finally hearing her voice again, even if she were screaming at him, made its way onto his face as he glided back down the hill through the trees to meet her on the path she was taking.

It was a relatively short, dirt road that led out from the portside town, through the woods and to the valley where it vanished amongst the overturned soil that had probably once resembled a scenic travel route to the neighbouring town prior to the outbreak of this battle. Apparently the invading army that Doflamingo was backing were attempting to seize the coastline of Pugna, a key strategic point of interest that could very well turn the tide of this war. Not that Law cared, nor found anything of interest about this war that could possibly help in achieving his goal, but it had been worth looking into just in case.

Slipping silently through the trees, minding the undergrowth and weaving his way back to the path he had taken, he felt an unexpected level of anticipation, excitement and relief. Anticipation to finally, after a long, hard month, get their reunion out of the way. The idea of how unpleasant it may be had been daunting and dangling over his head for far too long. It would be a relief to finally get this over and done with.

As he often did, he had thought out this scenario in advance in his head many times already, predicting all the ways it could play out, what Nayla might say or do, what he could say or do in response. However it did play out, he was eager to finally get this horrible feeling burden off his mind and chest and it would be the first step to repairing things to how they used to be between them.

Turning to his right as the ground levelled out beneath his feet, Law began to be able to see the road up ahead through the trees as it ran through the linear clearing in the forest that had been made for it.

Although he hadn't walked too far from the site of the battle, the gravid sounds of men trying and succeeding in killing one another over the rights to the dirt they lay down and died on, was now a seemingly distant ambience thanks to the way the edges of the cliffs surrounding the valley rebounded the morbid echo of it.

Here, the natural night time sounds of what few woodland creatures had remained in their habitat began to be audible. Crickets, few scurries in the dark underbrush and the occasional nocturnal bird call. It was almost certain that many of the creatures had receded to other areas of the woods, frightened by the explosions and loud noises coming from the conflict, as well as the regular traipsing of supplies, soldiers and returning bodies that frequented this once seldom used, unpaved path.

Slowing his pace, Law came to a stop beside one of the thicker trees several rows away from the road, careful to settle beneath this one as its thicker canopy offered him reprieve from the silver beams of moonlight that spilled through the gaps in the leaves overhead in fine streams.

His feet halted his advance as he found a question that had come up so many times over the last four weeks it maddened him, rear its ugly head yet again...What would he say to her?

Beginning to hear her making her way closer down the path towards him, Law knew he wasn't prepared to honestly explain his irrational fear of never seeing her again, of feeling that momentary desperation, that need to ensure she came back after the moment they had shared.

The fleeting idea of justifying her absence of heart as a battlefield advantage should she be successfully struck in the chest had been a weak one…Though he had taken personal comfort in it, and in being able to see visible proof that she was still alright, despite having no real reason to question her aptitude to do her job and make it back safely.

There simply wasn't a lot he _could_ say to her and no matter how many times he'd asked himself this question, he always came to the same answer; he would simply allow _her_ to speak first and go from there.

Whether he had caused her upset, anger or both, she'd had four long weeks to cool down. Whatever she wanted to say to him, she had every right to and he would take it patiently and deservedly. After that, he had an unfounded faith that they would work their way past it.

If he had to guess how she'd react to his presence when she saw him, then he'd guess she would probably still be mad as a hornet, scream her lungs out at him, call him every name she could think of… then he'd return her heart, then she'd be pissed for a while - maybe a long while…but eventually, she would cave to one sly tease and that smile that she didn't want to spread on her face would. Then they would eventually fall back into their playful, entertaining and enjoyable rapport with one another.

Feeling the smallest tug at the corner of his mouth at the thought, Law rest comfortably against the trunk behind him, watching as Nayla began to come into view between the gaps in the trees ahead.

The imposing crunches of the long, thick heels of her boots against the dirt road with each of her powerful strides began to get louder in her approach, the unfamiliar weight to her step accountable to the deceptively heavy armour and blades she wore. The clinks of them as they bumped against her hip in their sheaths and the movement of her body beneath the metal plating of her black bodice causing a rhythmic, metallic clink to each of her steps.

It was actually his first time seeing her fully dressed in her mercenary attire this closely. The high heels of the black leather, thigh-high boots significantly added to her height as they protected her legs. The elaborate metallic skull and rose décor emblazoning them and the matching black leather gauntlets shone threateningly under the moonlight above as she moved. Surprisingly, he'd found neither items to be bearing any concealed blades when he'd inspected them from her suitcase, though he imagined it was probably because there had simply been no reason for her to weigh down her armour any further with unnecessary armaments if she would be using her ability and her weapons whilst wearing it.

As he'd imagined, the strips of bare flesh between the tops of her boots and her armour, her upper chest, shoulders and the bare portion of her arms had small flecks and splatters of the excessive amounts of blood she had spilt. None her own. Though, considering her method of killing, it was surprising she didn't manage to get more on her, she seemed quite good at avoiding the majority of the mess she made but he could see why she had wisely chosen the colour black.

Although it hindered his ability to decipher her slightly silhouetted features, the moon tonight was nearly as bright as the one they had kissed under, reminding him of how it had been a full month since he'd seen her. It set the dark hair on her head alight; the fine strands practically shimmered as she moved.

Though he was trying, there was still very little more Law could tell about her current mood, despite her increasing proximity. The black bandana she wore across the lower half of her face and the patch over one eye left very little of her facial expression exposed and readable. All he could see was a proud posture, an assertive gait and the evidence of a bloody encounter…Seeing her in her element as a professional mercenary this closely was a captivating sight; intimidating, dark and beautiful.

Content to quietly admire her just a moment longer before making his presence known, Law remained perfectly still amongst the trees as he watched her begin to stride past…then furrowed his brows in question when she stopped abruptly in her tracks.

She froze for a moment before looking back over her shoulder the way she had come. Wondering what it was that had made her halt so suddenly - if she could hear or sense someone following her, Law followed her gaze back up the trail questioningly, wondering why _he_ hadn't noticed such a thing.

Realising his error within that same split second as he heard the rustle of the overgrowth in front of him, he turned his gaze back to her, narrowly able to move his head aside as her ability-amplified fist collided with a startlingly loud crash to the trunk beside his face. The sound of the thick, aged wood splitting and shearing instantaneously under the impact momentarily deafened the ear on that side and her single, red eye seemingly pierced straight into his beneath the shadows of his hood.

Quickly pushing his shock at the lethal impact intended for his head and how quickly she had crossed the distance between them aside, Law dodged away entirely as her other fist flew up to where his face had been, pushing the shattered trunk well past its limits as it cracked, waned and began its slow tumble backwards, crashing nosily amongst its neighbours with loud, laboured creaks.

Catching the breath he'd suddenly lost at his unexpected need to evade not one, but two lethal attacks in quick succession, Law stared at her in disbelief as she slowly turned to face him again, giving the tumbling tree behind her no regard as it slowly peeled away the shadows they had been standing beneath. Moonlight flooding over her, than himself in a bright, sweeping curtain as the elderly core of the tree tore asunder, causing mournful wanes and disgruntled rustles of its neighbours as it lay its now dead weight upon them heavily on its way to the forest floor.

Reaching a hand up to the fabric of his hood, Law rapidly pushed it back, fully revealing his face before she could launch another attack at him. "Nayla! It's me!"

Eyes widening as she withdrew her blades and charged him without hesitation, he quickly drew his nodachi, parrying her incoming attack, surprised at the sheer strength behind the blades pressing firmly against his own. Their interlocked weapons the only thing separating the stoic face that had come to a stop no more than an inch away from his own and her single, emotionless, red eye bored straight into his alarmed and questioning gaze.

"I know it is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bloody Bête Noire - Nayla's epithet, literally meaning 'Bloody Black Beast,' which suits her armour's appearance and bloody fighting style. Though the term's intended meaning is along the lines of 'someone/something that is particularly disliked/avoided,' which suits the fact people dislike and avoid her due to her killing method and the cursed blade-type aura her ability emits.


	57. Aftermath

Ducking another violent attempt to lop his head off, Law pushed back quickly to get out from the cramped spaces between dark trunks to the road, deciding the open area would be worth giving her a visual and attack advantage if it gave him them as well.

"Nayl-!" Unable to finish his sentence, he whipped his nodachi back up to shield his neck as she launched from the dark overgrowth beneath the trees at him. "Why are you attacking me?!"

Answered with a more violent surge of her ability pushing against his weapon, Law grit his teeth, amplifying his own Haki and digging his heels into the ground beneath him to hold her at bay. Her only exposed eye, completely unfamiliar to him – in colour and in its lack of emotion. No anger, no laughter, no mirth, just a flat stare as she attempted to overpower him.

Feeling the creep of her negative, cursed blade-like aura as it seeped from her, he knocked her blades aside and jumped back, putting space between them again. "Stop ignoring me! What do you think you're doing?"

Seeming to contemplate whether to bother answering him or not for a moment, Nayla then began running towards him to close the gap for her next attack. "What I should have done the second I woke up in your brig." She responded calmly, throwing each of her blades at him before he could respond.

It was then he realised how much he didn't want to fight her and how it hadn't been that long ago that he had been so keen to. When he had first brought her aboard, he'd been inwardly welcoming and almost secretly hoping for an opportunity to see what she was really capable of. He had so wanted her to challenge his authority, to physically prove he could put her in her place and keep her under control if needs be. That feeling had all changed. The way she was lunging at him with deadly serious lethal force meant he'd need to take her seriously if they were to fight right now and he didn't want to hurt her.

Evading one blade's path and deflecting the other with his nodachi, Law tried again to resolve the situation verbally and avoid a physical confrontation. "Are you out of your mind, Nayla?! You DO realise what happens to the Devil Fruit effect on your heart if you kill me right?"

Catching her deflected weapon neatly as she neared, Nayla swung straight for him from the front, the first blade he had evaded beginning its rebound towards him from the back. "If you've been this easy to kill all along then I'd deserve it."

Eyes widening at the blunt dismissal before tutting at her stubbornness, Law side stepped to his left to avoid the sandwiching of both her attacks, watching as she caught her incoming blade and moved to attack where she anticipated him dodging to his right. She may have learnt a couple of his tendencies – like which side he favoured on his first evasion, had the opportunity to learn about and see more of Devil Fruit in action but _he_ had seen her fighting for the past week. He was far more familiar with _her_ combat ability than the vice versa, even if she wasn't aware of it. Plus after fighting everyday for four weeks, she must have been exhausted. He definitely had the upper hand here, if he wanted it.

"Enough of this! What's the plan here, kill me and yourself in the process in a fit of rage?"

"Who's in a fit of rage?" She asked levelly, turning to face him as she amplified her ability to a palpable, visible, foreboding aura.

Though he felt superficial irritation at her response, inwardly Law was feeling more than a little unease. Not just at the sense of the cursed aura cascading off her skin but at the unfamiliarity he suddenly felt about the woman in front of him.

The foreign, unnatural red tainting the dark blue of her irises that he had come to enjoy gazing into. The usually open, mischievous, sweet, playful sentiments reflected in them replaced by the flat and calculative stare he was now on the receiving end of. The fiery, temperamental rage he'd expected to confront was lost to a cold, composed demeanour that wasn't something he had seen from her before.

It suddenly felt as though he didn't know her. That this wasn't the woman he had joked with, teased, that made him reluctantly smile and laugh, that he'd curled up with in his bed, that he'd shared all those intimate moments with - sexual or the one kiss with her that had made his heart flutter so strongly.

Swallowing around the hard lump in his throat at the painful realisation of just how far she had distanced herself from him in these past four weeks, he clenched the fingers of the hand he had raised shut, still not wanting for it to come to this.

"You had better summon that 'Room.'"

Whipping his eyes back up to her from his closed first as she launched at him, both blades readied, he spread his fingers again unwillingly, summoning a Room, though only used it to move himself swiftly out of harm's way. The slashing impact meant for him carving two deep crevices into the worn ground of the dirt road where he had stood.

Whole heartedly expecting him to have evaded her direct attack, Nayla turned to him, lunging towards his new location. Beginning to lift his nodachi to parry her incoming charge, Law lifted his hand instead, swapping himself with her with a swish of his index and middle fingers.

Stuttering slightly at the sudden change, she quickly realised what he'd done, whipping around to strike at him – now behind her, only to find he teleported himself back a safe distance. Furrowing her brows a little as she saw nothing in his place, she wondered if he were able to teleport without replacing himself with another item or if he were able to exchange with something as small as the fragments of soil on the ground.

Looking back up, Nayla immediately threw both her blades at him, deciding to run straight after them, intending to attack barehanded in the moment he was preoccupied with having to deflect her weapons. She watched as he deflected her first with his sword and her second with a swift swivel of his fingers to swap it with a harmless leaf, causing her teleported weapon to thud clumsily and harshly into the road beside him that he had lifted it from.

Closing in as his eyes darted back to her, he lifted his free forearm to block her incoming punch, his Haki protecting him from the bone crunching brunt of her fist. Anticipating he'd successfully block, she immediately raised a leg to kick him in his side, now unguarded by his raised arm, wondering why he hadn't swung his sword down on her from this proximity yet, only to find her leg contact air as he teleported himself to a location away from her again.

Ignoring the small throb of irritation that appeared at the action, she quickly pulled the blade partially buried in the soil beside her out, turning and moving to attack him once more, clenching her jaw tightly as she watched him re-sheath his weapon and await her approach calmly.

Not letting the action stop her, Nayla swung straight for his head; once more he avoided the blow, and once more he teleported himself. Scowling at him from beneath the black fabric of her mask as he moved completely out of her range yet again, she took a deep breath, attempting to quell her rising annoyance at his silent, evasive behaviour as she composedly retrieved her other blade from the trunk it had embedded itself into when he'd deflected it with his own.

"Are you just going to keep mocking me or are you actually going to fight?" She ground out, the neutrality of her voice wavering a little as she turned to face him, watching as he settled his nodachi to his shoulder and returned her appraising stare.

"I'm not mocking you and I'm not going to fight you."

"It's not an option." She promised darkly, beginning to walk over to him slowly, tightening her grip audibly on the hilts of her swords.

"I don't have to abide by what _you_ want, Nayla. I don't want to fight." He stated passively, watching her movements carefully though he didn't appear concerned.

'Yeah, it's always been about _you_ doing what _you_ want,' she thought bitterly to herself, refraining from saying it aloud as she came to a stop a few feet away, planting her heels firmly into the soil as she cocked her head to the side a little in question. "Hmm, and why is that, Law? You aren't frightened are you?"

Unable to help the small upturn of the corner of his mouth at the sarcastic sweetness in her voice and at the taunt, he watched as she amplified her ability back up to visible aura, the unpleasantly negative sensation it radiated washing over him in waves. "Not at all, and my reasons are my own."

Rolling her eyes at that, she lunged at him. "Always have been."

Stepping out of her line of attack as she swung her sword at him, Law moved again to avoid the immediate follow-up swing that came from her second, teleporting himself backwards a few feet and out of her arm span. As soon as he did, Nayla threw both blades at him, again, following after them as she watched him swap them for rocks, causing them to embed deeply into the soil. Just as before, with a further flick of his fingers, he moved himself away before the fist she had readied could contact him, enough force behind it to destroy the trunk of the tree that had been unfortunate enough to have had Law appear in front of it with his previous teleportation.

Rapidly turning, retrieving her swords from the ground and running at him again, Nayla held onto them this time, confirming the absolute futility of any projectile attack against the man and instead opting to stick to physical confrontation.

Following every agile dodge he made, she slashed at him, over and over again as he took steps back waiting for her opening patiently. With his right hand holding his nodachi, it would only be a matter of time before he raised his left to switch himself elsewhere to escape her onslaught.

Seeing Law's hand rising slightly in her periphery, she slashed at him with both blades, simultaneously lifting her foot to kick it and knock it out of its motion to move him somewhere safe.

Now understanding why she had chosen to persistently attack him head on when he saw the target of her incoming boot, he rapidly infused his left arm with Haki to block and shield his hand from the sure-to-be-bone-shattering impact her foot would have landed on it. Raising a brow at her, he pushed aside her contacting leg and took a jump back, admittedly needing to use more effort than he would have liked to safely dodge all three incoming attacks from her two weapons and kick.

Though she left him no time to contemplate that, nor raise his hand to teleport himself away from her as she immediately continued her assault, driving him further back as he effortlessly dodged each swing, awaiting her next attempt to knock his free hand when he tried to utilise his Room.

Trying again, more subtly to move himself out of her range with a slight of his wrist, he found she upped her speed and frequency of attack dramatically, forcing him to stop and use that hand to pull the blade of his nodachi from its sheath instead to parry an incoming, overheard slash from both her weapons.

"Tch." Gritting his teeth, Law summoned Haki to his arms and weapon as she escalated the threatening pressure on his precious blade and challenged the strength of his own muscles to withstand her increasingly heavy strike.

Noting the pitch black edge to the blades she pressed against his, assuming them to be the visual result of the infusion of her ability as they'd not been there during his possession of them, his gaze darted from the blackened steel of her weapon to her eye, his own ones narrowing as he noted the satisfaction in it. She was obviously pleased with herself to have forced him to withdraw his weapon again to defend himself.

Hearing a quiet chuckle come from behind her mask, Law furrowed his brows, on the verge of asking her what was so funny before he felt a surge of both her ability's bone-chilling aura and its force against his nodachi.

Increasing it further, Nayla began to force him back, watching as he steeled his gaze and pushed harder against her, his heels digging into the soil as he stood his ground and halted his movement.

With a grunt of exertion, she forced a sudden, maximal burst of strength into her arms, forcing Law to stumble back the little bit more she needed as he broke their blades apart and caught his footing again.

Looking up as she charged him without mercy, he took a step back instinctively, eyes widening as he passed through the very edge of his Room and felt the trunk of the tree behind him stop his motion. Although it had partly been due to his own distraction and lack of desire to truly retaliate against her, she'd done well to push him to the edge of his Devil Fruit's range of power, a lot better than he'd anticipated…but he still had time to take the short step forward back into his Room and more than enough time to raise his nodachi to parry her incoming attack.

Deciding to do neither as she enclosed on him, the tips of her blades aimed squarely for his chest, Law instead lowered his weapon to his side, remaining still against the rough bark behind him. Watching her one exposed eye widen in shock at his action and at her failed attempt to halt her incoming attack at such close proximity as he felt the pressure of her impact impale him to the tree he leant against.

Staring at the swords penetrating his chest numbly, Nayla watched in shock as the thick, dark blood oozed freely through his top, down the length of her blades and over her gloved hands, dripping to the ground silently. Her absent heart deafened her ears with its pounding as she tried to process the fact she had really just pierced his.

Startled out of her daze by the hand he raised and rest on one of her own, she whipped her head up to look at him as he spoke.

"I thought you might be a little…upset with me…" Feeling his grip on her hand tighten as he began pulling the weapon it held out of his chest, Nayla withdrew them both as she took a horrified step back, staring at the deepening red bloom in the fabric of his top. "I'm glad I took precautions…" He said quietly, more to himself than to her as he lifted the hem of his hoodie.

Snapped from her surprise as she saw him reach under and place his hand over 'his' impaled heart, she tightened her fists as she deduced why he was still alive – _talking_ to her nonetheless. Barely able to utter a word of her own past the receding shock, strong nausea at the thought she had really just killed him and rising anger, she watched as he began extracting the foreign organ. "Who's-?"

"Not important." He muttered, holding the cube between fingertips and thumb, eyeing the heart still oozing within and its waning beats with a scrunched nose, obviously displeased with touching the bloodied thing.

"N-…Not important?!" She yelled, watching him toss the dying organ behind him carelessly into the bushes.

Wringing his hand free of the excess drops of (hopefully disease-free) blood, Law looked back up at her, raising a brow at the first genuine temper flare she'd shown since they'd spoken to one another, something suddenly, and gratefully, far more familiar about her in that moment.

Gaping at him from beneath her mask before sighing loudly in her frustration, she threw one of her blades into the dirt at her feet aggressively, swearing under her breath.

"It isn't as though you haven't already killed hundreds of nameless people over the last four weeks Nayla-ya, what's one more?" He reasoned, sliding his nodachi back into its scabbard.

Opening her closed eye and lowering the free hand she had raised to her clothed face, she narrowed it dangerously at him, making him wonder if it were what he had said or if it were the use of his usual suffix on her name after so long of omitting it.

"Asshole." She hissed, snatching her sword from the ground and swinging both her weapons aside violently to flick off the excess of 'Law's blood from them as she turned and began walking down the road in the direction of the town.

Strangely finding relief in her calling him names and her apparent lack of interest in attempting to attack him any further as he watched her re-sheath her swords, he released his Room as he followed after her, a small smirk finding its way onto his face. "…You seemed quite upset about 'killing' me'"

"Because you LET me do it! You and I both know you could have dodged that." She seethed back at him.

"Oh, is _that_ why?" Matching the pace of his lazy stride to her angry stomping speed as he caught up to her, he felt his small smile grow a little as she whipped her head around to glare at him over her shoulder, though she chose to say nothing. "You never had any real intention of killing me, it was written all over what little of your face I could see. That's good to know."

It really was, she may greatly dislike him right now but knowing she didn't truly want him dead was relieving, on a lot of levels.

"Fuck you." She spat out, turning her gaze back to the winding road ahead, cursing herself inwardly for her reaction to his trick and wondering why she still gave a damn about whether he lived or died – because it sincerely had nothing to do with the fact he still had her hea-

"…Don't you want your heart?"

"Fuck off."

Blinking in surprise at her temperamental response before smiling wider to himself, he wondered if she could see his expression in the periphery of her currently enhanced vision, considering he was on the side of her with the covered eye. "I have it with me, if you'd like it back now."

Reaching into his coat pocket he gently began pulling it out, watching her turn to him as she felt the slight pressure on it from his action. It was something she had felt more than a few times over the four weeks; an alarming and uncomfortable yet reassuring and calming sensation she could never get used to, nor did she want to…an irritating and saddening reminder of his action.

Holding it out to her in offering, Law waited patiently for her response.

"…Fuck you." She muttered, snatching it from his outstretched palm as she peeled the bodice away from her chest slightly and carefully slot the cube the right way around into the opening he had left her with.

It was all so strange and surreal, seeing her own heart, let alone seeing it outside of her body and even stranger that she had expected to feel something upon its return. It was entirely painless with no sense of physical relief granted from it, just as there was no physical discomfort from it not being a part of her, only the horrible, weakening sensation of its abrupt removal at the time.

Blinking at her filled flesh she gingerly replaced the armour to her chest, inwardly relieved to not have a gaping absence in her body any longer. It had been unnerving and frightening. Getting changed and washed had been…freakish. Wondering if it was ok to get water in the…'hole' or cringing when lying down at night and seeing the fabric of her nightwear 'dipping' into the vacancy of it.

Letting out a long, silent sigh of relief beneath her mask, she closed her eye, feeling her mind ease a little as they made their way down the path in silence, the darkened, abandoned portside town now visible on the horizon through the clearing between trees up ahead.

Eyeing her as she let out her exhale, Law wondered how much of her now-calm behaviour was purely due to exhaustion and just how angry and violent she may be with him when she recuperated some energy.

"…Do you feel better now that you stabbed me through the chest?" Law asked somewhat cautiously.

"No, because it didn't actually fucking hurt you."

"You think you'd feel better if you hurt me, do you?" The scepticism in his voice clear, knowing how shallow that kind of satisfaction usually was.

"Yes."

Feeling his brows graze the brim of his hat at how rapidly she'd responded and the conviction in her voice as she had, Law couldn't help but feel he probably did deserve the beating she apparently wanted to give him, at the very least a slap.

"…I doubt that it would really make you feel any better…" He couldn't believe he found himself contemplating whether it was worth letting her get one shot in to get it out of her system so that they could maybe move on. "But if you think it wou-" Before he'd even finished the _possible_ offer, Nayla whirred around and punched him in the stomach, giving him no more than a split second to react, to summon enough Haki to protect himself from the potentially fatal force.

Grunting and scrunching his eyes shut tightly at the painful impact, he lift a hand to his abdomen as he doubled over and came to a stop. Opening his eyes he glared back up at her for that sucker punch, having to remind himself of what he'd done to deserve it to curb his urge to retaliate.

"…Better?" He rasped out sarcastically.

"Much." She confirmed cheerfully before turning and making her way back down the road.

Cursing inwardly and closing his eyes in a bid for patience, he stood upright, though rest his hand to his tender spot as he followed, keeping a wiser distance from her as he rubbed his stomach subtly. "…I take it this makes us even."

"No. Not by a long shot." Furrowing his brows at the return of the cold edge to her voice, he wasn't sure how to phrase his question of how he could make things right between them again though found she spoke again before he could formulate the words. "I don't want us to be even. I don't want anything from you. Leave me alone. Don't talk to me. Don't touch me."

Letting his hand fall back to his side, he glanced over at her. Her brisk walk, rigid posture and disdain for him all too obvious in her body language. He'd done, far more damage than he'd imagined. "…Will you be leaving the sub?" Both wanting and not wanting to know the answer, it had been almost difficult to ask the question aloud, but if this was really how she felt about him now…he wouldn't stop her from leaving if she wanted to.

Watching the movement beneath her mask carefully, she seemed to clench her jaw tightly as she came to an abrupt stop and rounded on him, a moment of hesitation – what he guessed was her last resolve to remain relatively calm and not completely lose her temper before she finally did.

"You bastard…You're _still_ only concerned about your precious goal? That's all you've _ever_ cared about, isn't it?! You never gave a fucking _damn_ about me! What, were you just messing with me, making me think that you did just so it'd give me some reason to stay? Did you just fake that whole thing to get my guard down long enough for you to pull what you did?! You played me for a fucking IDIOT using sex to get your hand up my top! FUCK YOU! You fucking disgust me. Jeff knows better than you - _JEFF!_ You manipulative, conniving, backstabbing fucking bastard!"

Remaining silent as her voice gradually gained pitch and volume, Law watched the remaining splinter that had been valiantly holding together the dam she had stored her anger with him behind snap. Her fury, hurt and betrayal pouring out at him in a vicious tirade.

Realising she had begun yelling at the top of her lungs, Nayla took a deep breath to try to compose herself. "How _dare_ you fuck around with my emotions like that. How _dare_ you make me think, for even a second, that you actually gave a shit about me. All you care about is your goal, your crew and yourself. That's it. Fuck everyone and everything else that doesn't fall into those three categories." She hissed, growing deadly quiet again in her smouldering anger, ignoring his neutral, quietly assessing stare with those beautiful steel eyes she had once so admired. Feeling the contrasting sting of how painful it was now to look into them, compared to how much she had enjoyed and wanted to indulge in holding his gaze before, she turned away and resumed making her way back to the town.

"Don't worry, Law. I'll stay until you have enough to pursue your beloved goal. As soon as you tell me you have the information from me that you need to complete it, I'll leave. I'll consider finishing this job as repaying what I owe you for saving my life."

Unsure of what to say, what part of what she'd said had hurt him the most and why her words had made him feel the way he did now, Law remained quiet as he tried to decipher the thoughts and feelings her rant had caused. As he slowly trudged after her in the first uncomfortable silence they had ever shared with one another, he tried to go through the rapid-fire in his head systematically.

He could feel his opportunity to reply, to correct her misinterpretation of what had happened between them that night, to explain himself, slowly slipping away with every second that passed but he couldn't do it.

He wanted to tell her he hadn't faked anything that had happened between them. That he would never purposely manipulate a woman's feeling that way – be angry at her for thinking he would ever do such a thing to anyone. He wanted to say he had never planned to take her heart, that it had been a mistake, that he regretted it, that he was sorry for doing it, to explain why he had done it.

He couldn't think of the right words, or even the convincing ones that he could use to change her mind…he wasn't sure he could bring himself to exposing the more vulnerable part of himself that had made him behave the way he had. He couldn't bring himself to lay his own thoughts and feelings bare to her, open to her scorn, rejection and probable disbelief. Taking her heart from her had nothing to do with demanding her return for his goal's sake…but he could understand why she thought that…

As for how her words had made him feel, how they had cut into the vacant core where his heart should have been, he couldn't even begin to fathom why they had affected him as much as they did. It hurt to think that she now thought so lowly of him, that she deemed him so untrustworthy, so callous, so cruelly manipulative – of _her_ , to know she felt of no value to him as a person at all, to know she was disgusted with him…that she hated him now.

"You know something?" Shaking the thoughts and the perfect image of the warm, doting, affectionate smile she had given him that night after their kiss from his mind as he heard her speak, Law side-glanced at her, wary of her actions and of how her next words may further affect his mood. "…I'm not even really angry at you."

'Could have fooled me,' he internally snarked, raising a hand subconsciously to the tender part of his stomach as he deadpanned at the covered side of her face.

"…Even though you really hurt my feelings, I'm angry at myself. I knew better. I knew exactly what kind of man you were from the start. It was _my_ fault for falling for all that shit and thinking you gave a damn about me at all…You know what the worst part is?" Not liking how quiet her voice had gotten, nor the small, sad tone that had slipped into it, he inwardly steeled himself as she turned to face him. "If you had just asked me for my heart, I'd have given it to you, Law…I'd have trusted you with it."

Able now to answer his question of what it was out of everything she had said that had hurt the most, he watched her look away from him as they continued down the dark road, a sense of defeat settling heavily in the pit of his stomach at the knowing or unknowing double entendre she had uttered as they headed towards the town in silence. Sombrely acknowledging that in that moment, despite them walking no more than a foot apart, side by side, they had never been further apart.

* * *

It wasn't more than a ten minute walk to Pugna's portside town of Partitus, though it had both felt so much shorter and longer than that to Law. He hadn't had nearly enough time to mentally digest all that had been said and done in the last thirty minutes, yet simultaneously; the silence between them had stretched on for what seemed like an eternity.

Not that he'd particularly felt like breaking it, not wanting to provoke any more violence or words that affected him to a worrying degree, but he did so as they began reaching some of the smaller houses built on the outskirts of the town when Nayla began veering off path to one of them.

"Where are you going?"

"My stuff is here." She replied levelly, walking up the short, wooden porch of the recently evacuated home and helping herself inside through the front door.

Belatedly realising the absence of the black duffel bag she had left with, Law turned to follow her inside, mildly wondering if she had been the one to break the lock as he eyed the splintered, seemingly violently thumped wood around it as he passed through the open door and over the threshold into the house.

It was a modest one; a bungalow with simple carpentry, quaint décor and a neutral palette colour scheme throughout the open living room and kitchenette in the corner. Though much of it was difficult to make out in the darkness. The power had been cut to the majority of Partitus shortly after evacuation of the residents here. Very few buildings directly beside the ocean were still supplied, allowing for vital dock services and supplies to the soldiers and scarce visitors that had been under a rock and were unaware of the plight of this nation and its escalating war.

Visitors were technically barred from currently landing here, though that rule really only applied to the law-abiding ones. Still, it hadn't been easy to remain docked whilst waiting for Nayla to finish this job, even harder to secure the additional week's worth of supplies and rations spent waiting around for her, considering everything was held with priority to fleeing citizens and military forces. The crew had become irritable and antsy at the prolonged and hostile stay; he was looking forward to getting off this island as soon as possible.

Eyes finally adjusting to the darkness and snapping to Nayla's shadowed form as he heard her push open a door up ahead, he watched her enter what he assumed was the master bedroom, wondering if she perhaps had no trouble seeing in the dark with her eyes as they were right now.

Following after her, carefully avoiding the lowly perched, wooden coffee table and worn, beige sofa, Law peered around the door as he heard the characteristic scratch of a match to the striking surface of a matchbox.

Gaze sliding over to her as the room was bathed in a warm glow, he watched her wave the flame out as she set the long, cylindrical glass chimneys back over a pair of oil lamps resting on the bedside cabinet.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting the mood." She deadpanned at him dryly as he entered the bedroom.

Rolling his eyes at her bitter sarcasm, wondering if it had been a throwback of his own response when diming the lights in the infirmary during one of her examinations, he watched her reach beneath the double bed to pull out her bag by its strap.

"I'm washing up and resting before getting back on the sub."

"…Here?" He asked in surprise as she set her bag atop the white fabric of the duvet cover and unzipped it.

"Yes, here. You can go back ahead of me and take care of your crew. I'll be there in a couple of days."

"Why wouldn't you just shower and sleep on the sub?"

Looking back at him, she rest the hand she'd been pulling her fresh set of clothing out with down atop her duffel bag. "I always shower and rest after coming off of a job. I don't want to travel any further. I'm filthy and I'm tired. I haven't slept in four days. Don't question how _I_ do things and leave."

Crossing his arms over his nodachi in annoyance of her snippy tone and behaviour, he watched as she plucked out her last needed item of clothing, picked up one of the lamps and began walking away. "My crew have been here waiting for you for a week, Nayla-ya. _They_ are tired too. I know you're angry with me but forcing them to wait for you any longer is unfair. It's not their fault you took so long to finish your job."

Watching as she whirred back around to face him, Law raised a brow at the apparent nerve he'd struck. " _I_ finished my fucking job a week and a half ago. The _dickhead_ I'm working for, aside from you, 'conveniently' forgot to mention he'd already sent out a new shipment of artillery that 'conveniently' arrived during the same time I was here hired to destroy it all. Prolonged my job by a damn week." She ground out before turning and beginning to stomp back towards the En Suite's door.

Reigning in his irritation with her as he heard that, understanding where hers was coming from, he tried to reason with her again instead. "Be that as it may, you still need to come back to the sub tonight so that we can depart. Supplies are difficult to obtain here an-"

"No." Cutting him off, she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Oi! Nayla-ya!" Running his tongue over his teeth and uncrossing his arms, Law strode over to it, his patience with her behaviour tonight beginning to wear dangerously thin.

"Just leave me alone already."

Some of his annoyance subsiding again as he heard her tired, grumbled response, just audible through the wood she leant her back against, he listened to her set the metal base of the lamp down inside and the sound of buckles as she began undoing her armour.

"…Why would you be so insistent on taking a cold shower in an unheated, abandoned home?" Leaning a hand to the door, he furrowed his brows in thought, waiting for her response.

There was a short pause in the rustling of her movement before she resumed, the sound of leather threading through leather before a heavy clank telling him she'd undone the holster holding her weapons and dropped them to the floor.

"I thought you made it clear you didn't want Joker to catch wind of my association with you and your crew. Strutting on board your ship as I look now would kind of give it away. There's no telling if that man has anymore eyes and ears on this island by the docks."

Narrowing his eyes at her calm reasoning but obvious, gaping flaw in it, he listened to the soft slaps of material being tossed to the tiled bathroom floor, guessing them to be her leather gauntlets. "So just stop using your ability and change your clothing, as you've always done in public with us before."

"…As soon as I stop using it, the after effects will kick in and I won't be _able_ to go back to the sub. I need to rest. I'll be there in a couple of days."

She had told him, long ago, that she needed time to recover between extensive uses of her ability. That how she felt afterwards intuitively told her she was causing damage to herself. Pressing his lips into a firm line as the thought of her three week limit and four week use came to mind again, he couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation as he spoke next. "…Nayla, are you ok?"

Her movements on the other side of the door stopped for far longer this time before she finally replied. "I'll be fine. Just leave me to sleep it off and I'll be there when I can." She said quietly, her voice getting further away as she walked over to the shower in the room and turned it on, signalling the end of their conversation as the water spilled loudly against the ceramic of the bathtub beneath it.

Staring at the printed word across the back of his fingers resting on the door in front of him for a long moment, Law turned away with a heavy sigh, worry, amongst other things, beginning to set in as he looked around the dimly lit space of the large bedroom. For a young couple by the looks of it, judging from the two wide, laughing smiles that seemed to inadvertently mock him from the picture frame hung on the wall opposite. A relatively attractive woman wrapping her arms around the man's shoulders as she leant over and pressed her cheek to his affectionately in a happy embrace.

Eyes darting to the open door of the room instead, Law lifted the lamp Nayla had left behind, only now realising she had lit the additional one for his benefit as he made his way back out into the living area towards the kitchenette.

He wasn't leaving. Not by a long shot. Aside from genuinely being curious as to how badly such prolonged use of her ability affected her since the day she had mentioned it, if she were going to continue travelling with them then they were going to be leaving this island tonight, whether she liked it or not…That and he was admittedly concerned about the state of health she'd be in if she felt so sure she'd be unable to make it to the docks after ceasing her ability and thought she'd need to rest for days after this…

Setting the lamp down carefully onto the draining board beside the sink and resting his nodachi against its edge, he pulled the sleeves of his coat up, using minimal contact with his blood-stained hand between his thumb and index finger on one side with an upturn of his nose at the dried substance on his skin as he leant over and turned the tap on.

The heart he had taken had simply belonged to a military officer overseeing the docking of the island. The man had gotten too bold, continuously demanding they depart, refusing to allow services to be spent on his sub and crew and insisting he would contact the marines to have them removed.

It was painfully clear he'd do no such thing. The marines would be reluctant to approach the coastline of a war ridden island, less inclined to in the knowledge that there was already a heavy military presence here that _should_ be able to take care of things themselves and there was no way they'd arrive before he could do serious harm to the officer and the soldiers here if he did decide to call them. They both knew that, though it hadn't stopped the ego-bloated, yippy little nuisance from continuously barking about it until Law had lost his patience and taught him how to shut up.

Frowning a little at the memory of that annoying, now very much dead man, Law washed his hands beneath the cold stream; shifting his thoughts back to the woman he could still hear showering in the other room, imagining how much redder the water running down the sinkhole in _that_ room was than his.

…Perhaps he was over thinking things; maybe she just suffered from extreme exhaustion after using her ability if she needed to sleep it off for so long…She _had_ mentioned being awake for four days straight by now, her stamina was admirable if she really did continue to fight for such a long time. She'd probably been pushing herself to finish as soon as she possibly could so that she could stop using her ability and had likely been too worried to walk out at three weeks on _this_ job Joker had given her. Perhaps for her agent's sake, though the little ebb of guilt that crept into his mix of unpleasant emotions wondered if any part of her enduring the extra time here had been for his or his goal's…It was doubtful though, considering how she appeared to feel about him now.

Turning off the water, he reached for the towel hung over the door handle of the nearby oven, drying his hands as he turned his gaze back to the open doorway leading to the bedroom.

Things hadn't gone as planned. Although the possibility of a particularly aggressive response from her had crossed his mind and he'd prepared for it, he hadn't truly been expecting it to happen. He'd seen how quickly she could snap, how volatile and violent she could be when pushed, as with Stravia, and hadn't wanted to be caught off guard in the same way. Though he'd thought he was being over-cautious at the time he placed his own heart away safely before leaving the sub that evening, that he was reaching for the _least_ likely of possible outcomes of their reunion when he had decided to place the other man's heart in site of his own on a cruel whim on his way out to see her…She was much angrier with him than he'd given her credit for and his actions had hurt her more than he'd feared...she'd even been honest enough with herself and with him about how much that had been. Her emotional honesty was more than he was capable of.

Tossing the towel to the surface of a nearby kitchen counter with a sigh, Law picked up his weapon and the lamp as he made his way back towards the bedroom.

It wasn't too late to say what he really felt and thought of her, even if it disagreed with his sensibility completely. It wasn't too late to explain himself and his actions, even if his pride didn't want him to...

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he set the light back where Nayla had left it on the cabinet beside him as he rest the tip of his nodachi gently to the carpet by his feet.

He had time now, to make that decision, to sort through his thoughts and choose his words carefully before she returned. In the end, it all came down to a simple question that he had to answer first, if he could answer it, then everything else - what he should say, what he should do and how things should play out from now, would fall into place…What was it that he wanted from her?

He wanted access to the information about Joker she was privileged to. He wanted her to work for Doflamingo on his behalf and gradually grow trust and more intimacy with his underworld network. He wanted her to remain on the sub with him and his crew and to keep their public association quiet so as not to put herself at risk of the man's wrath should he find out her ties to himself. Those three things were a given and already resolved.

The more complicated things were…did he want her trust? Her friendship? Her companionship – if so, emotionally or physically? Both? Did he want her to like him, trust him or care for him as a friend or more? Those were difficult for him to answer and even when he did, he then couldn't help but ask himself _why_ those were his answers - and _those_ questions were even more difficult to answer.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling quietly, he twirled the sheath of his weapon into the pale peach fibres of the thick bedroom carpeting. He'd had a month to think these things over and he found no easy solutions no matter how many times he went through them.

Yes, he wanted her trust – he _needed_ that for things to work on a professional level between them. He'd always known he may have issues in earning it from her because of how he'd brought her aboard to being with but had been confident he'd be able to do so over time. He'd managed to, that much was clear by the fact she had shared so much of her personal heartache with him and he'd damaged it…but he was sure he could re-earn it again over time.

He…did want her friendship. He enjoyed their banter, the way she taunted him playfully, her silly jokes, the sound of her laughter, the sight of her smile. Her physical presence on board his ship and within his own living space had been unexpectedly pleasant, despite his minor gripes about trivial things such as her personal belongings finding homes amongst his own…but even the small amount of annoyance those things had caused initially had become near-nothing now. However, wanting and _needing_ something were two different things. He didn't _need_ her friendship and in fact, if anything, it would only cause conflict of interest with them on a business level, as it had already been doing.

He did want her companionship, physically – that was easy to understand. She was an attractive woman in close quarters who'd shown him sexual interest as well. Simple. But again, he didn't _need_ it.

Whether he wanted her companionship on an emotional level or not…Furrowing his brows at his feet, as he stopped the idle back and forth twisting motion of his sheath splaying out the material of the carpet, Law gave that question a long moment of honest, hard thought before finally concluding the answer to that was no.

Although he was curious as to how it may feel to have that kind of bond with some sort of partner or significant other, there was really no desire for him to get emotionally entangled with anyone else. Just the fleeting touch of it he'd experienced with her confirmed a lot of things to him. It would be a burden, it would affect his judgements, it would rearrange his priorities and it came with far too many strings attached to be a worthwhile pursuit, at least for now. He had far too much still left to do, that kind of relationship was something he had no interest in presently…and he had a _deep_ dislike of strings.

Frowning at the demented, grinning face that popped into his head at the latter thought, Law glanced up at the framed photo on the wall of the couple whose happy home they were now intruding on, absent-mindedly assessing the features of it.

Again, Nayla liking him, or caring for him as a friend were simply wants, not needs and he could live without them. If she really were fine with continuing to work and return to the sub as she had been doing then he should simply count himself lucky she felt remotely obligated to do so and take advantage of her misplaced sense of debt to him until she either decided not to come back or he decided he had enough information from her to formulate a solid plan.

In fact, it would probably be better if she remained as distant to him now as she seemed to be…It had been his intention after all, he'd never expected for her to like him, not after dragging her aboard against her will. It had been an unforeseen response, one she probably hadn't seen coming either…their personalities had seemed to simply 'click' together neatly, against their wills.

Humming in thought quietly, he propped his weapon against the edge of the large double bed before lying back across it, wincing as he raised his arms to rest his hands behind his head. The stretching motion provoking an increase in the dull ache she'd left on his stomach muscles. Glancing down past the bloodied patch she'd caused over 'his' heart on his hoodie at his abdomen, he lifted the hem slightly, verifying no visible bruise…yet. She hadn't held back, at all, in her speed to whir around and attack him nor in her power. If he weren't as fast as he was at being able to summon Haki and read her motion he'd have had a hole through his stomach to match the one in his chest right about now.

That was the second time he'd had to use it to save himself from a fatal blow from her, though this more recent attempt had been far less playful than her one to snap his neck with her thighs in the infirmary…If you could even have called that playful…it certainly was by comparison…practically a tickle by comparison.

Pressing his lips together in displeasure of that thought, he pulled the fabric back down, moving his hand back up to his head more gingerly as he rest it to the covers beneath him. The long night and the rides on adrenaline and anxiety he'd experienced over the last few hours were beginning to catch up to him, he was looking forward to returning to the sub and getting a good night's rest.

She would no doubt sleep on his sofa, the days of sharing his bed were obviously long gone…Perhaps he should finally clear out one of the cabins for her? Despite tonight, he knew she could be trusted not to harm his crew, she'd proven that time and time again now and he had no real reason to withhold his earlier promise of her own personal space once she had earned his trust.

Glancing at the door to the bathroom as he heard the sound of running water come to a stop and muffled movement, Law put the less important thoughts aside, refocusing on what he had settled down to decide on to begin with.

Even if he did find the right words to express what he'd thought and felt; why he'd done what he'd done…was there any point in doing so? What was it he expected from her as a response? Disbelief? Mocking of him exposing his more vulnerable thoughts? What did he _want_ from her as a response? Understanding and forgiveness? What for? He didn't _need_ those. For things to go back as they were? Why, when he didn't like where things were going?…Perhaps it was the best case scenario that she'd assumed what she had, that things had stopped where they were. It could be a blessing in disguise that their fast-growing familiarity with one another had been stopped dead in its tracks. A neutral working relationship with her was what he had always wanted and intended anyway.

Balancing it all out in his head, overall, it seemed that correcting or trying to smooth over the misunderstanding served no purpose. There was nothing to be gained from it other than a weakening of his persona in her eyes and regaining her favour which made no real difference to her purpose with him if she were agreeable to working for him without it.

Sitting up as he awaited he re-entry into the room, he firmly decided not to say anything. Considering how deeply what she had said to him tonight had bothered him, how much he seemed to care about what she thought of him despite it having no real relevance and how much of his time he had spent thinking of her over the last month – even longer, all the hours collectively he had ever spent wondering about her, speculating about her, worrying about her, thinking of her, fantasising about her that he could and should have spent on something of more importance, his crew, his goal, his plans…It made it all very clear to him that he should embrace the new distance between them as a fresh start to get things going in the _right_ direction.

Knowing inwardly that he had reasoned everything correctly and logically, even if he didn't particularly feel happy about it on a personal level, Law resolved to approaching this, her, from an objective and rationalised angle. Finally, as he should have always done. He'd been caught a little off guard by how subtly, sneakily and quickly he'd grown fond of the woman but that came to an end tonight. Everything would be different from now on and it would work out well in the long run. Things were probably better this way.

Pulling his gaze from the photo on the wall opposite him, he focused on the door as he realised how long the water had been off and how long it had been since he'd heard any movement coming from inside.

Resting his elbows to his knees as he knit his fingers together over his open lap, he waited patiently for her to leave the En Suite, ready to insist that, one way or another, she returned with him tonight. There would be no compromise on that issue.

…

Furrowing his brows at the continued silence a small edge of concern began to grow in him. Despite his resolution to embrace the new distance she wanted from him, they didn't need to be friends or even like one another for him to worry about her well-being, at least as her doctor for the foreseeable future.

Standing up quietly, he made his way over to the door, his boots pressing silently into the cushioned floor as he slowly approached it, listening intently as he pressed his ear to the door. Finally hearing the gentle wheezing from the other side of it, he would have liked to have breathed a sigh of relief as he dismissed the thought of her possibly passing out or something of the sort in there but he didn't like the sound he heard enough to do so. Her breathing seemed mildly laboured and uneven.

Just as he was about to call out to her, to ask if she were alright and let her know he was still in the house, he heard her begin to cough. Which in itself wasn't very alarming…but the obvious sound of hacking up fluid and spitting after each bout, was.

"Nayla-ya?"

Hearing her rattling coughing pause, then her frustrated groan, he pulled his ear away from the door as she spoke, sounding more tired now than she had before her shower. "Why are you still here?"

Ignoring the question and listening carefully to the rasp in her voice, he contemplated the door handle. "Are you ok?"

"I said I'm fine, go away." She sighed out, almost seeming to struggle to find the energy to finish her sentence.

"No. I'm waiting for you. You'll be coming back to the sub tonight. If you're ok then get dressed before I come in."

"Can't you ju-?" Cut off by a round of coughing, he listened as she turned a tap on, guessing she was by the sink inside and reaching for the handle with a frown.

Pushing the door open, he spotted her beside it, leant heavily against its edge and wrapped in one of the resident's towels. She had one hand over her mouth and the other was sweeping the running water over the inside of the sink hurriedly to rinse it clean.

Leaning over her shoulder he spotted the flecks of blood easily against the white enamel and even despite the dim lighting in the room, he could tell it was far darker than it should have been. Pulling the hand to her mouth away as she got her coughing under control, he inspected the blood on her palm, pressing his lips together in a firm line as he looked up at her eyes, now back to their usual, more familiar blue hue.

"We're going to the sub." His stern expression and serious voice leaving no room for argument.

"Bu-"

"Now." He cut off, deciding this was one of the few times words were an absolute waste of energy with the stubborn woman as he reached over to the pile of folded, fresh clothing she had placed to the side of the sink.

Watching him tiredly as he lifted her hoodie from the top and shook it loose from its fold, she swallowed back the tickle in her throat that made her want to start coughing again. "It happens sometimes, its normal. It's gone within a day or two."

Looking back at her incredulously as he thread his hands through the bottom of the item of clothing in his hands, he lifted it up over her head. "Are you serious, Nayla? Every time you use this stupid ability of yours for three weeks you cough up blood and think that's normal?"

"…It only happens when I've used it longer than three weeks." She mumbled quietly, leaning heavily against the surface behind her and clutching her towel to her chest weakly, wanting to refuse the help he was offering but not having the energy to as he gently lowered the top over her head.

"Then don't use it longer than three weeks. Idiot." He said bluntly, catching the annoyance in her gaze as her head appeared through the collar as she slipped it on and over her arms.

"It's no-!" Immediately beginning to cough after she began raising her voice, she held her hand up to her mouth as Law reached beneath her wet hair, pulling it out from under the fabric of her hoodie for her before tugging the hem down over the towel she wore. "It's not like I wanted to, you ass." She completed more quietly as her coughing subsided, glaring at him as he reached over for her panties and snatching them from him with her clean hand.

"Get dressed, we need to get you to the infirmary." He stated simply, walking over to the bathtub and scooping her rinsed armour out of it.

"No, _we_ don't. All I need is some slee-hey what are you doing with my stuff?" She demanded angrily, looking up at him from pulling her underwear up under her towel as he scooped her weapons from the floor and passed her to leave the bathroom.

"Packing them." He said simply not looking back at her.

Having to halt the protest on the tip of her tongue as she began coughing, she turned the tap on, rinsing her hand clean again in annoyance as she cleared her throat. "Don't, you'll get my stuff wet." She tried calling out loudly enough for him to hear over the running water before turning it off and wiping her hand dry against the towel covering her side.

" _That's_ what you're concerned about?" He asked dryly, reappearing at the doorway and striding straight over to her.

"I-" Losing her voice to another bout of coughing, she closed her eyes as she doubled over, feeling him lean past to grab her jeans from the counter behind her.

"Stop talking." He demanded calmly, leaning down in front of her as he opened the item of clothing up. "…Well, hurry up."

Narrowing her eyes at his impatient tone and stern stare, she reluctantly stepped into the pants he held, not enjoying the sense of weakness or humiliation of Law pulling them up under her towel as he stood, tugging them firmly to her waist before unwrapping the damp fabric from her body and discarding it to the floor.

"…I can do that myself you know."

Glancing back up at her eyes from the zipper he was pulling up, Law couldn't help but smirk just a little at the petulant-looking pout on her face as she watched him help her. "I'm sure you're capable, but you're looking more than a little worse for wear, Nayla-ya. You can't even seem to support your own weight properly right now." He said, finishing buttoning up her jeans and indicating to the way she was using the sink behind her to prop herself up.

"Which is why I need to rest. Just let me get some sleep fir-"

"No."

Starting to lose her temper as he cut her off again and turned to leave the room, she clenched her jaw tightly, willing herself not to expend what little energy she had on anger, she was on the verge of taking an impromptu nap on the bathroom tiles as it was. Pushing off from the sink sluggishly, she picked up the lamp and stumbled tiredly to the door, resting heavily on its frame with her free hand as she peered inside the bedroom, spotting Law by the bed as he zipped up her duffel bag.

Leaning over, he blew out the lamp on the bedside cabinet before turning to her as he lifted the strap of her small carrier to his shoulder. "Let's get going."

"…I can't."

Pausing in his motion to lift his nodachi, he glanced back at her, taking in how heavily she was leant against the doorway and the exhaustion now clear on her unmasked face in the modest glow of the lamp she held. "…Are you just too tired or are you in pain?"

"…Both." She admitted quietly, dropping her gaze to his boots, not feeling great physically, mentally or emotionally. The immense weight of her own body and the deep ache of her worn, overused, damaged muscles insisting she make firm acquaintances with either a bed or a floor soon.

Hearing a rustle of clothing and seeing his feet move slightly, she looked back up at him as he peeled off his jacket and set his weapon on top of the bag he had lay back down to the bed. Pushing his sleeves up, he walked over to her, holding his jacket out until she took it from him unsurely, then turned around and lowered himself down. "Put it on. Your hair is wet and the night air is a little chilly. Then hold onto me."

"No." She refused bluntly at the motion, looking up from the fabric clutched weakly in her hand as he looked at her over his shoulder in annoyance.

"We're going to the sub tonight, Nayla-ya. You need to be seen to, I don't have the equipment here to do it and I can't leave you alone like this. I have a responsibility to see to my crew's needs and we need to depart as soon as possible. Don't make me repeat myself and don't make this anymore difficult than it needs to be." He explained patiently though his tone was firm, making it clear to her that he was offering no compromise.

Absolutely put off by the physical contact with him and the embarrassment she felt by having to be carried all the way back to the dock, she chewed her lip as she weighed her lack of options. The thought of a heated placed to sleep tonight and of seeing the crew again – of Jake likely fussing over her and making her something special to eat and drink until she felt well again, of the guys making her smile and laugh again after four weeks of anger and heartache…even of Law doting over her more than necessary, ensuring her comfort and bringing her pain relief as she needed it making her reluctantly swallow her pride.

Holding onto the wooden frame, she leant over and placed the lamp she held limply beside his own extinguished one before grudgingly pulling on the coat he offered and placing her hands onto his shoulders, watching his as they wound gently around her calves, winding the long ends of his jacket around her legs and bare feet warmly as they did. "Ready?"

"Yeah…" She sighed quietly in defeat, wrapping her arms around his neck, ignoring every memory of her doing so before that the action brought to mind as she leant forward to rest her chest to his back.

Feeling his grip tighten around her legs, he lifted them to his waist, supporting her weight effortlessly as he did. Securing his hold as he stood straight, he walked back over to the bed. "Tuck your bag and my sword between us."

Releasing him with one hand as he leant over to allow her to reach them, she obediently did as he asked, sliding his sheathed nodachi between her stomach and his lower back, hilt still within his reach should he need to draw it and her own small bag, pressed flat between them as she resumed her hold and rest forward more comfortably again.

Turning he blew the second lamp out, plunging the room into moonlit darkness before striding towards the bedroom door. "Are you usually in pain after using your ability for this long?" He asked casually, weaving around the living room furniture as he made his way back towards the front door of the house.

"I'm always sore after using it, a little like working out for too long or…" Not wanting to draw a parallel to the aches and pains of a bad flu, refusing to draw the memory of her last one any further to the forefront of her mind whilst she was in his hold, she moved on. "…but that's it. A little weak, a bit chesty, very tired and kinda achy after using it for three weeks. I usually need a couple of days to sleep it off and get back on my feet." She breathed out quietly, fighting down the tickle in her throat urging her to cough as he pushed open the door without releasing her leg.

"And after four?" He enquired, not bothering to close it behind him as he made his way down the few steps of the wooden porch of the house.

"…I don't know. I've never dared use it for this long. I know I get really sick after about three and a half." She rasped out, beginning to cough on cue in the latter half of her sentence, trying to pull back and turn her head away from him.

"Don't lean back like that. Just hold on securely and cough, Nayla-ya. It's not like this top isn't already ruined and blood-stained." He reminded neutrally, making her realise she had speared and bloodied the hoodie he was wearing not long ago.

Not necessarily feeling guilt at that but something close, as well as embarrassment at how she had lost it with him – more at how he _knew_ from her reaction that she still cared about him when she felt the reverse wasn't true, Nayla closed her eyes as the weight of her four week exertion became too much to compete with any longer.

Unable to sit upright anymore she leant her weight fully to his back, resting her head to the crook of his neck with a tired sigh. She hated this, all of it. The way he _seemed_ to care about her when he didn't. The way he held her securely, gently and how reassuring it felt. The feel of his toned back in motion against her chest. The warmth of his arms wrapped around her legs, the scent of the jacket enveloping her snugly. The familiar smell of the detergent they used on his sub sticking to it and the fabric of his top. The fragrance of his aftershave coming from the flesh of his neck she rest her cheek to, of his shampoo coming from the thick, black hairs pressed against the side of her face. How soft they were against her skin, how soft the fur of his hat felt, cushioning the part of her head that leant against it. She hated all of it. It made her chest ache painfully. All the little things that she had unknowingly grown to associate with him, like about him, every way he tickled her every sense, all of it made her feel so sad, angry and hurt now.

It felt so unfair that she was no longer allowed to enjoy those things, that she was an idiot for ever liking them, that she could never find pleasure in them again. To think that even at her age and experience that she was still so naïve and gullible…or worse, to not be either of those. To have received every warning signal her brain had given her about him, hear every ring of every alarm bell it had blared at her and _still_ been so unable to help but to like him. Inexperience could be remedied with experience, mistakes could be learnt from…but when you _knew_ you were making one and carried on anyway, that was just stupidity. There was no cure for that.

Coughing a little against his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around his front more securely as she nuzzled comfortably against his neck, thankful he'd given her his coat as she felt the slight breeze run through the cold water still soaking her hair.

"Nayla-ya?" Too tired to offer a verbal response she simply offered a hum to show she'd heard him, hating the feel of his smooth baritone against the ear she had pressed to him as he spoke. "How did you know I was there? My sword?"

Slowly realising he was asking how she had noticed him standing so far off-road, she nodded in agreement slightly against his shoulder. "Yeah, I can feel other cursed items from further away when my ability is fully used." She murmured lazily against him, earning a thoughtful hum from him in response before silence settled between them again.

She hadn't had much free time in the last month to really think about Law other than the trip on the way to Pugna. Though she'd never want to admit to being so badly affected by a man she hadn't known all that long or gotten all that involved with, she had come close to tears a couple of times during the journey. There weren't many people she had dared share so much of herself with. It hurt to think she had misjudged him so badly, that someone like him knew of her deepest, darkest most painful moments when she didn't open herself up like that to others who, unlike him, had shown her nothing but kindness.

Like she'd told him, she had learnt her lesson, unfortunately the hard way and though she thankfully hadn't had much time off the battlefield to dwell on her mistakes or on him, she'd had enough time to decide two things.

One was that although it may pain her a little to be around him, that she would get over it quickly. It wouldn't be a big deal in the long run, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice and she really did feel as though he _had_ done enough good things for her to warrant her assistance until he no longer needed it.

The other…was that things were probably better off this way.


	58. Better this way

"Oh! Hey! Captain!"

Stirring awake sluggishly at the loud, recognisable sounding voice, Nayla blinked her eyes open blearily, the familiar dark, metal walls and their adorning assorted pipes coming into view, zooming past her in rapid, rhythmic strides.

"Nayla-chan too! Welcome back, Cap-…Captain! You ok?!"

Feeling Law's back move against her chest as he took a deep, silent sigh, Nayla lifted her head, resting her chin onto his shoulder to look ahead of them down the sub's hallway at Penguin and Shach, both staring at him with mouths agape in horror.

"Fine." Law drawled out lazily, reluctantly coming to a stop in front of them.

"…A-Are you sure?" Shachi asked in bewilderment, lifting his sunglasses as he stared at the large bloodied spot over his captain's heart, reminding Nayla of its presence as she shifted guiltily in Law's hold.

Reading the deadpan on his captain's face as he stared at Shachi, clearly grumpy and unimpressed with the repeat question, Penguin moved on to greeting her instead. "Nayla-chan! Where the heck have you been? We've missed ya!"

Unable to help but smile at his wide grin and as Shachi turned to her and mirrored it, apparently deciding not to poke into the nature of his captain's alarming looking 'injury' any further, Nayla lifted one of her arms up from around Law's neck, beckoning him over to that side.

"Heeey, my boys. How have you guys been? I've missed you too." She managed out tiredly, struggling to find the energy to lift her head any further from the support of Law's shoulder.

"Good, good. Crappy little island though, huh?" Shachi commented, batting Penguin out of the way to happily receive his one-armed greeting hug first.

"It's not crappy, there's a freaking war going on here. How many times we gotta tell ya?" Penguin grouched, though it was obvious he was more irritable at his friend's actions than at what he'd said, judging by how he shoved Shachi out of the way to get his own hug.

"So? It still makes the island kinda crappy to visit, doesn't it?" Shachi grumbled back, adjusting his glasses from the rough push with a mild frown.

Tutting and choosing to ignore him, Penguin returned her gentle squeeze warmly before pulling away. "You alright, Nayla-chan? You look exhausted."

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just need to-" Stopping as Law cleared his throat, bringing their attention to the fact they were holding a casual conversation over his shoulder whilst he was still carrying her, Nayla draped her arm back around his neck as he started walking down the hallway again.

"She's on her way to the infirmary. You can have your catch up later." He said briskly, not waiting for their reply as he walked towards the door of it.

Sighing at that, though admittedly too tired to talk for much longer anyway, Nayla offered them a small smile and apologetic wave, unable to imagine what they must be thinking as they watched their captain carry her inside and out of sight curiously.

* * *

Feeling a gentle sway before anything else, Nayla slowly recognised the sensation of the waves gently rocking the ship, turning away from the brighter side of the room and groaning lightly at the pain caused by the shift on her sore muscles as she pried her eyes open slowly.

Blinking in surprise at the familiar face she saw sitting beside her bed, she smiled widely as he beamed at her. "Jake, hey." She croaked out through her unused voice.

"Heya hun, how you feelin'?" He asked softly, resting his hand over hers and giving it a light squeeze as he grinned happily.

"Good good, just tired." She managed wearily, returning it as she rolled over to face him fully, noticing that she was thankfully still in the clothing Law had brought her on board with beneath the sheets. "What time is it?"

"You mean what day is it." He corrected, chuckling at her surprised expression. "You've been out cold for a couple of days, had me and the lads a little worried there. Though Cap' and Kotta here reassured us you were fine, just exhausted." He said, nodding at the latter as he appeared around the foot of her bed, making his way over.

Looking at him as he came to a stop beside her pillow the redhead seemed to assess her critically though didn't say anything.

"How long you been sitting here? You didn't have to." She turned her gaze back to Jake, not particularly happy to see the medic and not feeling well enough to put up with his usual abrasive behaviour and rudeness towards her.

"Well, I-"

"Near enough the full two days." Kotta interrupted, looking at the man in disapproval as he set the glass of water he was holding onto the surface beside her bed. "Swapped his shift with Dean to be here today, felt it was the least he could do to return the favour, seeing as you doted over him when _he_ was in here."

Brows rising, she looked back at Jake as he cleared his throat in signal for the man to stop talking, smiling widely at the cook as she noticed his cheeks were a little pinker than before. The last time she had seen him was here in the infirmary the night he'd been drugged and taken by the hunters after the bounty on Law's head. She'd thought of him more than a few times on her way to Pugna, wondering if he had recovered yet. Opening her mouth to ask how he'd been since, she was beat to it by Kotta speaking up again.

"Get some real fluids in and keep them down so that we can get that cannula out." Raising and looking at her other hand in surprise, she visually confirmed the securely taped, small plastic tube in the back of it, guessing that she'd been given some intravenously during her deep 'sleep.'

"Captain said you might be in pain when you wake up, do you need any painkillers for it?"

A little stunned by the perfectly polite, neutral tone he used, she blinked up at him dumbly for a moment before finding the words to reply. "Oh, um. No, a little sore but not too bad."

"Mhmm, I'll grab some then. Captain said you'd downplay any pain you had, so I'm guessing it's pretty moderate." He said levelly, walking over to the corner of the room that held the counters and cupboards without waiting for her reply.

Huffing at him and at what Law had said, she looked back at Jake as he chuckled at her, lifting his hand from hers to pick up the glass. "What can I get ya to eat, Nayla-chan? Think you can manage some light meals?"

Taking the water he offered her as she sat up slowly, she soon smiled again as he reached over and propped her pillows up for her, before she gingerly rest her weight back. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not really hungry to be honest. Maybe later today."

"Captain said you'd turn down meals but told me to ignore ya and bring ya something anyway, so you may as well have a say in what it is."

Lowering the glass from her lips at that, the jolly chef chuckled heartily again at the mild scowl on her lips as Kotta came back over, handing her a couple of pills in a miniature paper cup.

Looking between it, the medic's face and Jake's amused grin, Nayla sighed at them both as she took the medication she was offered. "Your captain sure is a know it all, isn't he." She muttered, tossing back the tablets before taking a sip of water.

"Sure is." Jake agreed, getting up from his seat. "How's a nice, easy soup sound? A little bread and salad on the side?" He offered, sliding the stool back under her bed.

"Sounds lovely, thank you." She conceded with a smile and a huff, handing the disposable medicine cup back to Kotta as he held his hand out for it. "Both of you." She amended, smiling up at the redhead as he took it from her, catching him off guard momentarily before he grunted quietly in acknowledgement, turned and walked away with it.

Sharing an amused look with Jake, she took another sip of her water before setting it back down on the bedside unit next to her.

"Alright, I'll go get your meal started and let the worried hens know you're up. Expect noisy, annoying visitors soon." He warned, waving as he turned to make his way out of the infirmary.

"I'll be looking forward to it." She called after him, waving him off with a quiet laugh.

"Two at a time, max" Kotta reminded sternly, tossing the cup into the trash can by the counter.

"I know, I know. You gotta tell that to the idiots." Jake called back over his shoulder carelessly as he left the room.

Rolling his eyes up to the ceiling as if silently asking for the patience to deal with the impending from a higher deity, Kotta sighed before making his way back across the room to the desk she was more familiar with seeing Law behind.

"I'll need to do a few vitals on you before going to let Captain know you're awake."

"Ok." She agreed quietly, watching as he pulled a sheet of paper out of Law's top drawer, attaching it to a clipboard before plucking a pen off the desk's surface and walking back over to her.

"I have no idea why they're all so sweet on you. Jake's been here damn near constantly, the morons won't stop harassing me about how you're doing, Captain's been in and out of here fussing over you personally – though he won't tell me why." He grumbled, almost more to himself than to her.

Relieved to hear Law had apparently been dealing with her himself and that it seemed he hadn't filled the medic in on her condition or ability, she couldn't help but tease the grouch a little. "Oh, I dunno. It must be all that 'manipulating' of your crewmates that I do."

The look he shot her that let her know he didn't find that funny, made her laugh a little as she watched him set the clipboard down beside her water.

"I can already tell that you're gonna be a hell of a lot more of a pain in the ass to care for now that you're conscious." He grumbled.

* * *

Feeling his mind beginning to run dry of avenues to explore, Law looked up at the clock on his wall, deciding that it was probably about time he took a much needed break from going over the information Nayla had brought back from her latest job.

Neatening the small stack of papers in front of him, he made up his mind to go see Bepo, seeing as he'd come by earlier to consult him about some upcoming navigational issues. Apparently the island after the one they were due to arrive at tomorrow drew them close to the Calm Belt again. Its inhabitant Sea Kings was an issue in itself but on top of that potential threat, the stretch of sea between tomorrow's island and the next was also supposedly notorious for its deadly and abrupt weather changes…Well, even _more_ deadly and abrupt than the Grand Line was usually anyway.

He'd felt a little guilty turning his first mate away earlier but had been on a train of thought he hadn't wanted interrupted and going over the route for days from now could wait a few more hours so that he could finish the bit of work he was on. Though, as it often did, a 'few more hours' usually became several, or half a day.

Setting his pen down with a tired sigh, he decided that his usual evening cup of coffee after a quick stop at his navigator's cabin would be a good opportunity to stretch his legs and perk himself up for some more deliberation on his return.

Stretching as he stood, he then picked up the nodachi propped against his desk as he made his way around it towards the door, his eyes lingering on Nayla's small, cursive script on one of the pages of her notes as he passed by.

Things had been relatively peaceful since her return; Law found that his mild caution about her becoming violent with him again once recovered had been thankfully unneeded. She'd been nothing but cooperative, polite and civil with him since she had awoken and he'd gone to see her.

After examining her, she'd agreed to the same round of tests he had done prior to her mercenary job on Pugna. Obviously, all the initial tests soon after her extensive ability use had been awful. Even drawing up a vial of her blood during her first day of deep unconsciousness, it was obvious from the dark hue that the black substance was in much higher concentration than 'usual.'

All of her numbers were erratic; her cardiac enzymes were raised, her liver showed signs of acute inflammation, her kidneys showed worrying signs of impairment, there were many fine haemorrhages throughout her lungs - everything was off, in a big way.

He was eventually able to confirm that the small vessel damage within her airways that had caused her to cough blood was the root cause of _all_ her abnormalities. Destruction of her smaller blood vessels was not limited to just her lungs, it was present in the minuscule vessels of her heart, liver and kidneys as well. It was safe to assume that in fact _all_ of her vital organs suffered in the same way, including her brain…

The damage he'd examined microscopically from the small sample she had allowed him was as if the vessel walls had been slowly eroded from the inside out, nearly identical to what he'd observed in Fidelis. Although Nayla was, for some reason he still couldn't figure out, extremely resistant to the almost dissolving-like qualities of the black abnormality in her blood, it would seem that she was by no means immune. It was killing her all the same as it would anyone else, just at a much, much slower rate.

The words of that solemn thought echoed louder than the door he closed behind him within the metal hallway of his sub. Pressing his lips together in a firm line, he made his way towards the staircase, indulging himself in allowing his thoughts to linger on the woman now that he wasn't working.

…Examining her in the infirmary was all the physical contact they had these days and even that seemed to cause her palpable, though not visible, discomfort. Although she did an admirable job of concealing it on her face, it was obvious to him that she hated when he touched her now, not that he could blame her.

To think that carrying her back that short distance to the pier that night would be the last time he even came close to holding her…and that thought had crossed his mind at the time. He really hadn't wanted to acknowledge the feel of her wrapped around him nor her warmth pressed to his back…He really hadn't wanted to keep glancing down at the slender, little hands clasped together over his chest nor make a mundane note of how smooth and supple her skin was, despite her occupation - attributing it to the thick, protective gauntlets she wore…nor make a mundane note of how he'd never feel them on his own skin again…

He'd almost been reluctant to set her on that infirmary bed, scolding himself for the regret of not walking back more slowly when she obviously needed medical care. As soon as he had drawn the covers over her, she had closed her eyes, failing to fight off the deep exhaustion she must have been suffering from. It would seem that the only thing that had kept her moving after leaving that battlefield was her ability and as soon as she had stopped using it, she'd appeared to be overcome by her fatigue. Her body didn't seem aware of, or at least ignored, its own pain and tiredness when she was using it - yet another bad trait of it. The more he learnt about and observed of it, the more he really didn't like her ability, nor its tremendous and dangerous drawbacks.

Frowning at collective facts he'd ascertained about it as he descended the stairs, Law began to personally feel as though her ability's cons were gradually out-tipping the scales against its benefits.

Sure enough, over the coming weeks during what Nayla had described as her usual recovery period, the numbers on her tests had come back down, in sync with the amount of black substance in her circulation. All the microscopic damage she had done to herself had gradually healed.

Though the acute damage of her ability was an obvious and predictable finding, even if it was a little more drastic than he'd anticipated, the real point of his testing had come one and a half months after her return from Pugna. When she had seemed fully recovered, or at least as healthy as she would get between uses of her ability again, he had taken one last round of samples. Comparing those to the baseline ones from as far back as the day he'd first met her there was a slight increase in her borderline-abnormal figures.

Her tiny bit lower than usual white cell count had now dipped a little further. The T wave abnormality on her ECG tracing was now a tad more pronounced. The mild anaemia he'd attributed as a normal finding for a woman of child-bearing age was now slightly worse. All the somewhat irregular findings he had found on her were now faintly increased in their severity. It was confirmation of the cumulative damage she built with every long use of her ability and had been exactly what he'd hoped he wouldn't find, but given she'd been using it for four years and it had only caused such a mild level of disturbance, the rate of damage was very slow, but definitely there.

When he had told her, Nayla had been fairly surprised to learn that she was doing permanent damage to herself, under the impression that she was making full recoveries between long uses but had sombrely taken the news in her stride.

She hadn't asked for his opinion or his advice as either an acquaintance or her doctor, but if she had, he would have recommended she give serious thought to stopping taking any jobs that required extensive use of her ability, or any use of it at all. Though, he didn't bother to voice it, it was something she had already been contemplating doing anyway…prior to meeting him that was. Prior to his demand she take any and all jobs Joker offered her, including wars.

A selfish, though thankfully very small, part of him wanted her to continue using it for just a little while longer - at least until he had what he needed. Then he'd like to hope that once she left that she would stop using it altogether, for good. He wouldn't even have minded if she had decided then and there to never use it again and tell him so, he'd have had no argument to that stipulation at all, if anything, he'd have felt a little relieved to hear it, but it was her choice. Her livelihood, her income and her health as well.

He imagined that her, as untrained as she was at nineteen, had initially needed to rely on it very heavily to make her living but he had no doubt that she was far stronger and more capable now. With the traits and training she had learnt since, Nayla could easily make a living off of the side jobs she took in between wars; her being a mercenary was redundant now that he thought of it.

Although he could quite vividly imagine her mindset at the time she had started working as one, the current Nayla, the kind, funny, caring, generous and sweet woman he'd come to know and the vicious killer he'd seen on the battlefield of Pugna, were a complete mismatch.

Nineteen year old Nayla may have felt differently but the current one certainly didn't _want_ to kill other people, she didn't seem to take any pleasure in it. Her older, wiser, more emotionally levelled out self didn't _need_ to vent her frustration at the world in such a way anymore, she seemed to have reached a place of acceptance and calm in her life and what it has become, even if she did seem restless and displaced…Being a mercenary as she was now just didn't seem to suit her. Not in a sense that she couldn't do it or wasn't good at it, he'd clearly seen evidence of the contrary, he just felt that, as a person, the occupation didn't suit her.

Making his way towards the crew cabins as he reached the second floor, he glanced idly at the rec room door when he heard laughter erupt from within it as he passed by. Knowing that she was most likely in there as well.

After only spending one more day in the infirmary after waking, Nayla had moved back into his quarters. Other than being a little on the weak and tired side she was fine and had gradually recuperated…or so he heard. Truth be told, he hardly ever saw her outside of set examination times, he hardly ever saw her at all these days.

She had taken to choosing to go to breakfast whilst he showered in the morning and more often than not, she finished fast enough that he'd see her on her way back up to his quarters as he made his way down to the messdeck. The same often happened with lunch and dinner, if he didn't already take those meals at his desk. It was rare they were sat at his table at the same time for meals now.

If he chose to work late in the infirmary after their evening meal, he would usually find she was already asleep on his sofa when he finally returned to his quarters to sleep himself. If he chose to work late in his own living quarters, she would let herself in whilst he was at his desk, spare him a small, silent, shallow smile of acknowledgement then make her way into his bedroom to sleep.

Whatever time Nayla didn't spend avoiding prolonged proximity to him at his dining table or sleeping, was spent around his sub with other crewmembers. Though he could hold no real complaint about that, seeing as she was pulling her weight and helping them with their duties or at least learning how to…again, so he heard.

Apparently she had taken to doing menial work for Jake and the other chefs in the galley; dishes, cleaning the surfaces, organising the pantry, counting stock, peeling, chopping…She'd even taken interest in spending time with Connor and the other mechanics, learning some of their basic maintenance routines, handing them tools when they were climbed high or tucked well beneath equipment and machinery…It would appear that she'd even taken to spending time with Bepo and Jean Bart in the navigational cockpit, content to enjoy the view and learn some of the basic functions and controls of their panels down there…Most surprising of all her daytime activities had been her taking the initiative to approach Kotta herself for medical lessons.

Inwardly Law had been hoping, considering her and the other medic's rocky-seeming relationship, that she would need to approach him first. To speak to Kotta and order him, if needs be, to help her learn what she wanted to learn. Though, apparently the man had agreed of his own accord, knowing already that he'd been signed up for the task whether he liked it or not.

From what little feedback he got about their lessons, Kotta was still relatively adamant he didn't like nor trust her all that much but had admittedly been impressed with what she _did_ already know and found she behaved herself graciously, appreciative of his time and efforts. The medic informed him that she usually chose to quietly read one of the medical books in the infirmary, then ask for his guidance or explanation to further her understanding and occasionally asked him to show and explain how equipment in there worked. He'd promised to teach her more practical examination skills once he was satisfied she had enough base knowledge to appreciate her findings first, which she was apparently very excited for…

Nayla had formed enough meaningful relationships with his individual crewmembers that she had her own life here aboard the sub, completely independent of his own. She didn't need, nor want his company in any way at all.

Aside from examinations, which he now no longer had much excuse to demand on as regular a basis as previously, the only other time they interacted was when she relayed new job outlines given to her from her agent and when she returned from them with new information for him. Though she was perfectly civil with him; no rudeness, no snide comments, no sarcasm….no jokes, no smiles, no teasing…she kept her verbal reporting to a minimum. Often preferring to write things down once she was back and leave them with him to mull over instead, most likely to reduce their contact.

Despite being perfectly courteous and offering as much of her time to him as needed to get the most out of the information he requested, it was obvious she no longer wanted to be around him and that she no longer liked him, in any capacity.

The way things were now, was near enough exactly how he'd envisioned and _wanted_ their working relationship to pan out from the start. Things were definitely better off this way…so why did he still feel almost sad about that?

Thankfully reaching Bepo's door before the question he didn't want to answer could taunt him any longer, Law knocked briskly on it, pushing it open as he heard the bear invite him in.

"Ah, Captain!" He exclaimed happily at his presence before looking back at the work surface of the cartography desk in front of him. "S-Sorry, I was just going to come check to see if you were done yet." He apologised, shuffling the maps he had been looking at back together into a messy pile.

"It's fine, take your time." Law drawled lazily, eyeing the navigator's attempts to hurriedly tidy the papers as he shut the door behind him.

"I was taking a look at some records of routes other people have used before, give me a minute to find the summary of the two I'd recommend, Captain."

Humming idly in agreement as he wrapped his fingers to his sheath, Law looked around the spacious, bright room, sliding his gaze over his friend's personal items with mild interest as he made his way inside. This cabin, like the others, had been initially designed to accommodate up to four men, but given Bepo's size and status, the usual two bunk beds had been substituted for one very large one instead and he'd been given the entire space to himself.

Jean Bart had been given the same treatment as well, with an even larger bed having to have been custom crafted within the room for him as they hadn't had any on board that could possibly fit a man of his stature. It had all obviously displeased the bear a little, but considering the man towered over even Bepo _and_ had been a former pirate captain himself, it was really only fair that he be given a space befitting his size and previous title.

The rest of his crew had the traditional layout in their cabins, though currently there was enough space for them to room as two in each, rather than four. The extra space remained open for any new, worthy recruits…or any other particularly large new ones…or any women who may want their own private room some time soon…

Nayla hadn't brought up her getting her own space again yet and neither had he. If she did, he wouldn't deny her it but in the meantime, he had no intention of offering it of his own accord. If he could avoid the inconvenience to the men he would have to move then he would…it wasn't any misguided sense that perhaps keeping her within his own quarters would give more opportunity for their non-relationship to repair…especially not since she was hardly within them anymore.

Holding in the sigh that built in his chest, Law focused more intently on his surroundings. It wasn't often he ventured into this room, seeing as Bepo usually came to address him in his own, but every time he did he'd find a few new affects from the islands they had ventured to.

New maps to his walls, he noted. Despite having a specific work space to put them up in either cockpit, Bepo was diligent and dedicated enough for his work to spill into his personal space as well.

A few new souvenirs on his shelves and on the surface of his dresser. Making his way over to the latter, Law observed the newer objects with interest. He enjoyed looking at the small oddities his friend sometimes picked up from the islands he'd liked visiting; antique or unique navigational tools, tourist plaques, decorative frames – a photo of them from long ago, before the crew had even been formed filled the eldest one. A picture of them together in their younger days that he secretly took pleasure in looking at and in knowing that his friend still treasured and displayed proudly. A few bear models dotted the remainder of the dresser's surface – the carved, wooden one from an island that boasted the best carpentry skills the Grand Line had to offer was still the most prominently exhibited one…though, he recognised the small, fluffy, white bear toy wearing a pink skirt and matching bow sitting next to it.

Glancing over his shoulder at Bepo's back as he continued to neaten and store his work back into the drawers of the professional desk, Law reached a hand to the small card tagged to the little toy's ear curiously, as he hadn't read it the first time he'd seen it when he'd gone through Nayla's suitcase.

_"_ _Dear Bepo,_

_Sadly, there are no female bears here on Amazon Lily (so don't worry, you haven't missed much)._

_The closest I could find was this little cutie. I hope she'll keep you good company on your travels until you run into that special lady of your dreams._

_Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, I'll never forget you!_

_Lots of Love_

_Nayla_

_xxx_

_PS: It'll definitely happen, ignore the guys. Just grin and 'bear' it for now."_

Nearly scoffing aloud at the horrible pun and yet another obnoxious lipstick print left behind, Law released the card. That woman really had a poor sense of humour…though he wouldn't mind hearing another of her stupid jokes about now…he wouldn't mind hearing her say anything at all to him that wasn't routine details about her work in that near-monotone voice she spoke to him in now…He felt she was almost mimicking his neutral expression when she talked to him these days as well.

…He'd forgotten to wipe the lipstick mark from his mirror before she moved back into his quarters after her short stay in the infirmary. It had been there so long, the full month she had been away working, that he'd grown used to seeing it there each morning, used to avoiding it when wiping his mirror down…If she had noticed it before he'd realised and cleaned it off, then she thankfully hadn't said anything about it.

Unable to help but sigh quietly under his breath, he pulled his gaze from the crudely crafted Amazonian toy to the wall above and behind the dresser, running his eyes over the new maps pinned to the large board there critically.

The lack of relentless teasing she would have previously given him for that, this current neutral façade and boring new speech pattern of hers when interacting with him now…He never thought he'd see the day he actually _wanted_ to hear the ridiculous things her strange sense of humour provoked, or the weird ideas her overactive imagination concocted, or hear that practically impish giggle of hers when she was up to no good, or see that amused smile on her face when she was poking fun at him fearlessly…Well, he _had_ heard her laugh around the sub, but it was always with someone else…He _had_ seen her smile, but it was never at him. Seeing her, gathered with his crew, laughing and smiling like that, he couldn't help but feel a sensation akin to suddenly being on the outside looking in, as if he were standing at a plane glass window watching her sometimes.

Eyes darting to the few photos Bepo pinned to the more personal side of his board, they settled onto the newest addition of one very familiar woman in a very familiar - almost comical, bear hoodie standing beside his first mate. The latter stooped down to her measly height, one arm wrapped around her dainty shoulders as she hugged him around his neck, giving him a big smooch on his cheek through her huge grin. When had that happened? Where had he been at the time? When and where had they taken that photo?

Furrowing his brows a little, Law walked closer to it, looking at the background and recognising the colourful, rusty foliage of the last autumn island they had visited about three weeks or so ago. Procul, if he remembered correctly…He couldn't remember when she and Bepo had been outside together at that island, then again, he hadn't been keeping anywhere near as much of an eye on her as he had been previously.

As he'd internally reaffirmed many times, he didn't feel resolved to stopping her now if she chose to leave, so keeping close tabs on her whereabouts when on land no longer served any purpose. He hadn't actually told her that though, worried that although she had let him know she was content to help for now that him saying he wouldn't stop her from going would give her the green light to do so. He didn't really want her to…she was still an asset to his plan after all.

Nayla did as she pleased whilst ashore now as long as she didn't hinder the crew, so when exactly this picture was taken would probably remain a mystery to him. She usually tagged along with them whilst they were doing their duties during the day and enjoyed their company in taverns or bars or whatever else they got up to by night…he'd made a point to stop watching who she spoke to, where she wandered off to and what she got up to.

…It was annoying that it was annoying when other men flirted with her and it happened a lot. A pretty young woman in a lowlife bar amidst working class or often criminal men, she may as well have had a neon sign hovering over her head the way she drew their attention or a bullseye painted on her chest. It was certainly where most of their focus seemed to be drawn.

Rolling his eyes at that, he turned away from the photo on the wall, leaning his back against the dresser as he crossed his arms, waiting patiently for Bepo as he seemed to look around his desk for the notes he'd made between his papers and maps.

From what little of her encounters he did observe accidentally or in his periphery, it seemed that most of the time, Nayla brushed off her would-be suitors but sometimes she reciprocated their flirtation. In either case, she certainly got more than her fair share of free drinks off of them. Other than that, if she _had_ actually been intimate with another man, or woman, then he wasn't aware of it and didn't want to be…simply because it was none of his business.

As for himself, he'd not particularly gone out of his way to seek or refuse the attentions of women that had been daring enough to entice or approach him. Though when it came down to anything more serious than brief kisses or a flirtatious placement of a hand to his thigh, he often felt lackadaisical and disinterested, as if he were simply going through the motions. He didn't feel any real motivation or drive behind his actions; it almost felt as if he were contemplating bedding the woman just for the sake of it, not because he really wanted to.

A part of him told him he should do it, that it would make him feel better, that he should prove to himself (and to Nayla) that he was absolutely fine, unbothered by their current level of relationship or her interactions with other men, that he would get into the sex with another woman once things got heated…but it all felt like a lie. A forced and very petty one.

When he felt like it, perhaps when a more appealing woman or more favourable situation came along he would. He'd never needed to compete with or prove anything to anyone else and attempting to force himself into feeling things he didn't really feel was idiocy…he was going to ignore the voice in his head that had told him that denying feelings he did feel was also idiocy.

"Ah, here it is!" Bepo exclaimed excitedly, turning around in his chair before getting up and ambling over to his captain, holding out the piece of paper he'd retrieved.

Taking it from him, Law speed read through his navigator's characteristic scrawl and roughly drafted map. "These are the waters around Burlenta?"

"Yeah, once the Log Pose has us within a day's travel of it, the waters are said to become extremely violent. Rumour has it, it's because there are so many Sea Kings nesting in the area that even the waves on the surface become choppy due to the amount of them swimming about down below." Watching as his captain raised a sceptical eye at him from the map in his hand at the word 'rumour,' Bepo immediately offered the more scientific reasoning behind the phenomenon of the waters around an island _not_ being stabilised by its climate. "Or well, some say it's because there's a lot of underwater volcanoes in the area around the island that cause conflict with its severe winter climate and destabilises the weather."

Humming in understanding at the more logical explanation, as not even the Calm Belt itself had such a severe density of Sea Kings as to cause turbulent waters due to their sheer size and movement, Law raised a finger to one of the two 'X's Bepo had drawn onto his map. "And you're suggesting these as the routes we take to bypass the brunt of this turbulence?"

"Yes, we have two options that I wanted discuss with you, Captain. This one-" He tapped a claw delicately to the other 'X' on the map. "-is rumoured to have fewer suspected underwater volcanoes and is more open but also has a much, much higher report incidence of Sea King attacks. The route your finger is on will pass us through an area of more suspected underwater volcanoes and small rock formations but has far fewer Sea King incidents."

Seeing why Bepo would want to ask his opinion before deciding this route on his own initiative, Law weighed the options. The first route gave their vessel more leeway with submersion and manoeuvring through the turbulence should they encounter one the infamously rough storms around Burlenta. The second route made that more difficult but not impossible and offered the benefit of less likelihood of encountering a Sea King.

"And which route were you going to recommend?" He asked, looking up at his first mate and already guessing the answer by the slightly defeated glaze to the bear's eyes before he spoke. He really did hate submersion in warmer waters.

"The second, Captain." He practically sighed, ears slightly bowed as he clasped his paws in front of him.

Smiling a little at him, Law handed him back his annotated map. "Then we'll go with the second, I trust your judgement."

"Aye aye, Captain." He chimed out, a little happier at his captain's praise as he watched him begin taking his leave.

"Oh and Bepo, if you and Jean Bart feel capable of manoeuvring the sub through those rock formations in harsh weather, then do so."

Perking up at his captain's permission to avoid submersion on the volcano-ridden path, Bepo grinned widely at him as he turned at the doorway. "Aye aye, Captain!"

Finding the happy, devoted expression on his friend's face as endearing and uplifting as he always did, Law chuckled a little under his breath as he stepped outside into the hallway. "I'm going to get coffee from the galley, Bepo. Would you like anything?"

"No thank you, Captain. I'll get some rest for my shift in the morning." The bear said brightly.

"Then goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

Smiling widely as he closed the door on his cheerfully waving first mate, Law made his way back down the hall towards the messdeck doors he had passed.

Although a lot of the crew had seemed to have noticed he had been slightly off lately and that Penguin and Shachi had asked him quietly if he were alright, Bepo had been the only one to dare directly ask if it had anything to do with Nayla, he was probably the only one that could without him getting too annoyed about it.

Even though the crew did feel there was something going on between them, Bepo had been the only one to see any sincere proof of it but had never pried into why he had seen him curled up with Nayla in his bed the morning he'd come to check on them. He was either blissfully unaware of the implications behind the action, justified it as something to do with the severe flu they were both suffering at the time or had simply concluded it was none of his business. Whichever it was, he'd thankfully known better than to tell anyone on the crew about what he'd seen and had never really brought it up again, but just as Law had thought Bepo had forgotten about it entirely, he'd surprised him by asking if he'd had some kind of fight with her.

The first thing Law had asked in return was what had made the bear think that, curious to see whether Nayla had confided anything that had happened between them to Bepo but from his response, it seemed that she hadn't…She would probably be reluctant to share any innermost thoughts or feelings with anyone else for a long while, he acknowledged grimly.

That short discussion with Bepo had been enlightening, he found that the bear, and the crew in general, simply felt as though he had been much 'quieter' than usual during the month she was working in Pugna and had anticipated him to be 'happier' once she'd returned but in fact he'd only gotten more 'withdrawn'…apparently. Though what had been interesting to hear was that it wasn't just him, apparently the crew had felt _she_ was a little off since her return as well…It had relieved him a bit to know he wasn't the only one affected negatively by what had happened, though he didn't take any pleasure in her feeling badly. The bear had simply observed their behaviour, had put two and two together and asked an innocent enough question.

Law hadn't bothered lying to his long time friend, there was no point. They were close enough that knowing when something was bothering the other was intuitive. Simply put, he'd admitted that there _had_ been an 'argument' of sorts but that things were fine now and not to say anything to her or anyone else about it. Knowing that had basically meant he didn't want to discuss it, Bepo hadn't asked anything further about it.

Pushing open one side of the large double doors, Law stepped into the messdeck, surprised to find Jake, Dean and Connor sat on the bench nearest the growing wall of photos on that side of the room with their backs and elbows against the tabletop behind them.

"Oh, if it isn't Captain. Told ya he was still on board." Jake joked, nudging Dean in his side as he turned at the sound of the door opening. "You're in your quarters more often these days than ever, hard to tell if we haven't accidentally left ya behind." The man chuckled good-naturedly, though Law didn't feel the humour of it.

"What ya after Captain, your usual evening coffee?" Dean asked, rolling his eyes at the laughing head chef as Connor turned to look over at him as well from his seat on the table, his boots planted on the bench below.

"Yeah."

"Let me get it for ya, you take a load off." The man offered, getting up from his seat.

"Thanks." Law murmured, turning to follow him towards the galley as he sped past before double-taking the photos on the wall the men had been discussing before his arrival as he spotted, even from this distance, the distinct image of long dark hair amongst the new additions.

Wondering if he'd regret it, he hesitantly made his way over to the other two, eyes darting across the handful of new photos they'd added from the island they'd left just a few days ago.

She wasn't in many of them, but in a few here and there. A group photo of a large portion of his crew visiting that one heavily promoted, newly opened tavern that had boasted novelty drinks at market-crashing prices that they had eagerly visited on their first night.

A smaller group picture of Penguin, Shachi, Jeff and Connor in one of the large booths he recognised to belong to the bar that had been across the street from the inn they had last stayed at. All raising their glasses with big smiles and grins…with one happy looking little woman nestled between them with her usual fruity-looking cocktail.

Another of her on her outing with the chefs. Law remembered that day; he'd noticed her tagging along with Jake after breakfast and as the man often did, he sought out the most reputable restaurants nearby and ordered everything on the menu to sample, looking for the newest ideas and additions he could add to their own. The other chefs nearly always went with him and apparently she had been invited to join them that day as well. She was sat between his head chef and former head chef in this photo, Jake laughing to tears beside her as she cosied up to Ichirou on her other side affectionately for the picture. The man's deadpan at her telling the whole story there as she grinned up at him cheekily from her half-hug to his side.

It was clear that Nayla was very fond of Jake and vice versa, though not in any way that suggested a romantic interest between them…Not that he cared outside of still enforcing she not fraternise with his crewmembers in _that_ way, but it made him wonder if perhaps Jake saw some of his own sister in her. They shared a few similar physical features from what he remembered of her.

"Fitting in alright, isn't she, Captain?"

Taking his eyes off of the image, Law slid them over to Connor as he spoke, eyeing the abnormally neutral expression on the man's face.

"So she is." He replied aloofly, turning as he decided he'd rather wait for his coffee in the galley and not invite any further attempts of prodding from the mechanic. It was far from the first time, was probably far from the last time and it had been happening not only with Connor but with several of his more senior members.

He knew they weren't asking from any ill-meaning place, that they weren't gloating, or looking for the latest gossip, that they meant well and were simply curious or concerned…Which was why he tried to keep well-tempered about their not-so-subtle conversation starters about the woman but some days more than others it grew tedious, his patience wore thin and he'd choose to abandon the conversation, or room, all together. Today was one of those days and he was simply too tired to skirt evasively around something, or someone, he didn't particularly want to talk about.

"Ya know, we were just about to go join the others in the rec. You should join us, Captain. Get yourself a real drink instead of coffee." Connor called after him.

"Yeah, the ale we got at the last isle has some real nice fruity kick to it." Jake agreed, turning in his seat again as they watched Law walk away.

"I'd prefer coffee tonight." He declined, pushing through the double doors in relief as he reached them, making his way straight over to the internal side of the closed canteen window and ignoring Dean's inquisitive glance up as he entered the room.

Leaning against the counter there with a tired sigh, Law crossed his arms as he waited patiently for the chef to finish brewing his coffee.

"They still trying to fish around for the story on you and Nayla-chan, Captain?" The chef asked outright, chuckling under his breath as he opened the overhead cupboard for the Jolly Roger printed mug he served drinks for his captain in.

"…Yeah." Law grouched, not entirely pleased with Dean's boldness nor how obvious things apparently were to the entire crew.

"Well, if it makes ya feel any better, she gets it a hundred times worse. She'll probably snap Pen and Shach's necks soon if they don't stop buggin' her about it."

Oddly enough, the thought of his crew not being daring enough to keep poking _him_ with questions and harassing her instead – the thought of her losing her temper and battering his pestering, gossipy crew, did actually make him feel a little better. At least he wasn't the only one suffering.

Deciding not to respond but finding himself smiling just a little at the thought despite himself, he glanced idly at the meal rota on the wall, scanning the menu items for the remainder of the week with curiosity. Then the whiteboard notes with the new ingredients and meal ideas picked up from their previous stop – the cumulative result of Jake's continual and passionate efforts to ever-improve the food for them, he _knew_ he'd made the right call in recruiting that man. Then the…line of different coloured ink tacked onto the end of the existing list of crew allergies and preferences.

' _Nayla – Seafood,'_ he read internally, recalling her mention something along the lines of detesting it some time ago…

It seemed like no matter which room of his own vessel he entered he couldn't escape _some_ reminder of her presence or the thoughts of her that inevitably followed. How had she gotten so integrated with his crew and so entangled in nearly each aspect of everyday life on board his vessel so quickly?

Deep down, if he were honest with himself…he missed her, but the strangest part of acknowledging that was that Nayla was right there. Although he saw signs of her everywhere, heard her all the time, heard _about_ her all the time, he hardly ever saw or heard her directly anymore. It was almost as if she were an afterimage, constantly just barely out of sight and out of reach, like a fleeting spirit aboard that was haunting him. Was it possible for someone to haunt you when they weren't even dead? Because it sure felt like it…How was it even possible to miss someone you _shared a room_ with? How was it possible to miss her _more_ now than when she had been on a different island for four weeks?...And it was only after she had gotten back that he realised he had.

"Why don't ya come join us in the rec room for a lil? Instead of holing yourself up in your quarters for your coffee."

The suggestion, as well as the sound of spilling liquid brought his attention back to the other man as he watched him pour his drink. "Maybe some other time."

"Ah, come on. The crew are startin' to miss ya Cap', at least have your coffee with us before you head back off to your quarters for the night." Dean pressed, setting the glass decanter of freshly brewed coffee back securely into the machine as he picked up the mug.

Contemplating the man's heartfelt smile for a moment as he took the drink held out for him carefully Law sighed a little, deciding he had been neglecting spending time with his men a bit more than he'd meant to _and_ neglecting to give himself more time off to relax than he'd needed. Both as equally important to his success as the time spent looking for holes to exploit in Doflamingo's seemingly impenetrable, ironclad empire.

"…Alright."

"The boys'll be happy to see ya, let's go." Dean exclaimed, grinning ear to ear as they made their way back into the messdeck. "Slackin' time, slackers!" He called out to the other two men as they entered, not stopping as they made their way straight through the room to the messdeck doors.

"Alright alright." Jake huffed, leaning up heavily from his seat as Connor hopped down from his.

"Captain too?" The latter asked curiously, tugging his boilersuit free of creases as he stood, watching as Dean began pushing open the door.

"Aye." Dean smiled at him as they disappeared ahead of them into the hallway.

Rolling his eyes to himself at the unrequited excitement of his own appearance in the rec room, Law blew across the surface of his coffee, gingerly taking a test sip of the hot fluid as they made their way towards the loud room.

He knew she was there. It's where she spent most of her evenings now. He could already hear the softer chime of her voice mingled between the deeper, gruffer ones of his own men, her lighter laughter floating effortlessly atop their boisterous chuckles.

It was disheartening to enter a room where she was or sit at a table she did or anything similar. She was never impolite enough to ignore his presence, she was never abrasive or unresponsive, she showed him respect, with and without his crew present…but it just wasn't her. That lippy, sarcastic, teasable and teasing, annoying little woman wasn't there anymore. That part of herself, that playful, outspoken, truly engaged part of her was no longer given to him. All she gave him was an uninteresting and superficial wall to interact with now, then immediately turned to a crewmember and gave _them_ the privilege of her true personality. Her wit, her humour…her thoughts, her feelings…her smiles, her laughs…He was envious of them, to still be on such good terms with her. To be able to interact with her as freely as he'd once been able to.

Not sure whether he should feel anxious or more dispirited as the door opened, Law decided it should be neither. This was his vessel, his crew and his rec room. He shouldn't feel uncomfortable or daunted in any way by the presence of one woman in _his_ space to relax and spend time with his own men, his own friends.

Resolved to promptly quit and scold himself for his prolonged inner moping, he strode in confidently behind Dean as he held the door open for him and stepped aside, eliciting an eruption of happy greetings from his crew as they turned towards them in curiosity to see who had joined the room.

"Yooo, Captain!"

"Heya Cap!' Bout time ya took a break."

"You tried the ale from the last isle yet Captain? It's amazing!"

"I'll pass." He declined casually, catching Nayla's gaze briefly as he made his way over to the sofas they had gathered on, scanning for a free seat and taking note of the messy pile of overturned playing cards on the surface of the central coffee table. She was sat between Jeff and Penguin and seemed to be enjoying the much favoured local ale from their last visit he noticed briefly, making his way to the seat beside Shachi as he moved over for him.

"Yo!" Connor greeted happily, making his way into the room with Jake close behind.

"Yo, about time." Jeff returned, arm slung casually over the back of his seat as he balanced his own hefty helping of ale on his lap.

"Was putting up a couple of the pics from last week." Connor gestured behind him with his thumb to where he'd just come from as he made his way over to the bar in the corner. "Ale, fatty?"

"Yeah, ass." Jake shot back nonchalantly helping himself to a bean bag, though there was no real malice in their exchange. "So, what we doin' tonight?" He asked the room.

"Truths or truths." Ichirou droned from his seat.

As equally as unimpressed with that as his chef apparently was, Law rest his nodachi against the arm of the sofa before leaning back and crossing his legs comfortably. This, amongst others, was one of the ridiculous and usually drink-related games his crew had come up with to pass the time.

Like most of them, this one relied on a deck of cards and drinking participants. One person would start the game by overturning a card and then counting that number clockwise through the players. Whoever they landed on either had to take that many sips of their drink or answer a question asked by that person who had flipped the card truthfully, with varying additional stipulations, bets and rules depending on their moods. It was little more than a lazy man's version of truth or dare when they didn't have the energy or remaining sober brain power to come up with dares.

It was a game that was often out of favour, considering the crew naturally grew close enough to know most everything about one another over time, to the point that questions often descended into bizarre and disturbing hypotheticals as all the 'regular' facts about one another was already common knowledge. The last one he could recall overhearing was something along the lines of 'Would you have sex with one guy once to guarantee yourself a lifetime of nothing but the world's most beautiful women thereafter?' which got serious, contemplative responses of 'Well, would I be top or bottom? Is the guy ok looking or is he like, obese, hairy and smelly or something?'

Nearly physically shaking his head of the repulsive thought, Law lifted his coffee to his lips blowing gently over it as he watched Jake immediately turn to look at the woman in the room sympathetically.

This game always grew in popularity whenever someone new joined the crew, so it wasn't difficult for Law to guess what, or who, had made the crew eager to play it again.

"Ah, so you guys are grillin' poor Nayla-chan again, are ya?" Jake chuckled.

"Pfft, you say that like she hasn't been asking _us_ any awkward questions either. Way dirtier than anything we've ever asked her - she ain't half as innocent as _you_ think she is." Shachi scoffed, making Law pause with the rim of his mug at his lips as he looked over at her with a raised brow.

Jeff was quick to agree. "Yeah, cheeky little minx asked me if I'd ever-"

"Nooot important. Where were we?" Nayla interrupted swiftly with an innocent smile, feeling Law's displeased stare on her.

Lowering his raised brows at her nervous smile, Jeff grinned devilishly, only too happy to remind her as he glanced up at the man sitting on her other side. "Actually lil lady, we were just waiting on Pen to come up with one for ya."

As if reminded himself that he was supposed to have been thinking of something to ask her, Penguin lifted his finger and thumb to his chin in thought as he looked upwards.

"If you haven't got any ideas Pen, I got plenty." Jeff offered.

"I bet you do, filthy pig." Shachi muttered, taking a sip of his drink as some of the crew snickered.

"You're not one to talk, panty thief. You better hope it doesn't land on you when I flip 'cause I'll be asking you what you did with them." He shot back, making Shachi splutter his mouthful, blushing heavily as the snickers escalated into howls at the reminder.

"Oi oi, that was ages ago! At least _I_ can keep my hands to myself - literally!"

Ignoring his friend's embarrassment and the laughter in the room, Penguin seemed to come to an epiphany on what to ask as he cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. "Well, uh…"

Surprised to find the man blushing a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her eye contact, Nayla encouraged him. "Go for it Pen, can't be worse than anything _he's_ gonna ask me."

"Oi…" Jeff grumbled, swatting the hand she'd used to gesture back at him out of his face, only to have her put it back and for him to slap it aside again. Watching the physical play fight between them with interest, Law wondered when that behaviour between them had started.

"Well, I guess I'd have to ask…W-What's your type?"

Looking back at him from the childish slap fight she was having with Jeff, she furrowed her brows slightly in confusion as the man blushed more heavily. "My type?"

"Yeah, like your type of guy, Nayla-chan." Shachi explained, grinning at his embarrassed friend though just as curious.

"The kinda guy you usually go for. Appearance, personality, that kinda thing." Connor added, handing Jake his drink as he took his seat.

"The kinda man that gets ya going as soon as he walks into the room." Jeff winked at her, phrasing it bluntly.

"Oh…" Wondering why she had almost confused the question to mean blood type, she decided that was probably because of the amount of medical tests and results she'd been given lately, plus the hours she'd been putting into her lessons with Kotta. "Mmm, I guess appearance-wise I'm a sucker for dark hair, light eyes - though looks aren't always important…I _love_ tattoos and piercings though, long hair too." She smiled a little as the men in the room subtly glanced at their own tattoos and piercings at their mention, seeming to measure themselves up against her preferred 'type.' "As far as personality goes, I guess I just always fall for the stereotypical badass. The kinda guy that just gives society the middle finger and does his own thing."

The crew slowly, collectively turned to look at their captain, prompting Law to raise a brow at them as he lowered his mug to his lap silently, returning their gaze.

"…So, Captain, but with long hair." Jeff broke the hush in the room cheekily, causing the men to break out into laughter and Law to frown mildly. Unsure of whether the crew were laughing at Jeff's bluntness, Nayla's unintentional near-description of him or the image of himself with long hair.

Realising how closely Law _did_ match what she'd just said and taking in the strangely adorable sour expression he wore now, she laughed a little herself. "Well I think your captain is the type that suits short hair more." She placated, sparing him an amicable but brief smile before looking away. "…but if anyone here matched the description the most, it'd probably be Connor."

Head snapping to her at her suggestively, mischievously purred latter, Connor raised his brows in shock. "Me?"

"Yup. Long, dark hair. Pretty, fair eyes. Tattoos…and piercings." She teased, looking at his chest suggestively as she waggled her eyebrows, causing the men to laugh harder.

"Yeah, but he's missing that whole middle finger to society attitude." Dean snickered.

"Definitely. Conny the mommy's boy here is hardly a badass. But me, for example, all I gotta do is get a piercing and I'm right in the game, huh?" Jeff grinned at her cheekily.

"Oh? And what would you get pierced? - Dare I ask." She quickly tacked on.

"I dunno, an ear or something." He shrugged.

"Get the right one pierced." Connor grouched at him from his seat, causing his friend to knit his brows in confusion at him.

"Why, what does the right one mean?"

"No prizes for guessing." He supplemented, sharing a knowing look with her as he sipped his drink with a small grin, causing another round of laughs from the men in the room that _did_ know what it meant. "So, sweetie, your type is the kinda guy that'd make your momma cry when you brought them home. That's interesting."

"Not really. Typical sucker for the 'bad boy' thing, huh? Lame." Ichirou said bluntly, leaning forward, setting his elbow to his knee and resting his chin to his palm.

"Yeah, 'fraid so. Not that I can help it really. Brain says no, other parts say yes." She admitted, avoiding Law's gaze as both he and the overly vocal counterpart to the more sensible part of her brain crossed her mind.

"The kinda woman that overlooks all the nice, decent, smart, hardworking men around her and purposely goes for the good-looking, rebellious asshole that's gonna end up treating her like shit. Then you go crying to the nice guys when it all goes wrong. _Your_ type is a dime a dozen." Kotta mumbled from his seat.

Shifting his gaze to the medic, Law wondered what had made him decide to venture into the rec room to begin with. Kotta was, by nature, an extremely antisocial person. It was rare that he spent his time here but it would seem that he had visited at least a few times in the past month.

"Hmm, I can't tell if that's your way of saying _you're_ a nice, decent, smart, hardworking man that I'm overlooking and that you've got a thing for me or if that's just your bitter past experience of being friend-zoned as the 'nice guy' talking."

"Ooo."

"Ouch."

"Me-ow."

"Neither. Shut up, idiots." The man fumed at his amused crewmates as they made hissing noises in indication of his 'burn.'

Smiling to herself as his telling them to shut up only made them tease him louder, Nayla leant forward, plucking the next card off of the top of the deck and flipping it over to reveal the seven of diamonds. "Alright so…" Using an index finger she counted from Penguin to her left, around to the next sofa pausing as she got to Connor. "You new guys in or?"

"Yeah, sure." He nodded, looking at Dean and Jake to his left in question.

"Yup." Dean agreed.

"Pass." Jake replied lazily, sinking into his beanbag comfortably as he clasped his hands around his drink over his chest with a smile.

"Aww, come on." She immediately pleaded, making him hum in contemplation. "Please? Pretty please, Jakey?"

'Jakey?' Law repeated in his own head, looking between the two in revulsion of the cutesy nickname, sugary tone she had adopted when saying it and the puppy dog eyes she was now giving him.

"Eh, I dunno. These guys always ask the stupidest things and I don't feel like getting trashed 'cause I don't wanna answer 'em." He said sceptically, looking around at the near-devilish grins of his crewmates.

"…I'll let you teach me a few meals." She offered teasingly, immediately grabbing his attention again.

"Really?"

"Yup, I should really take you up on that before I leave and start missing your amazing food." She replied happily.

This was the first Law had heard of his head chef offering his resident mercenary personal cooking lessons. Furrowing his brows as he thumbed the rim of his mug, Law wasn't sure what he felt about that really but there was definitely a distinctly weird, vacant sensation of not really knowing her or what she was up to anymore that seemed to echo hollowly in his chest. That and the clear evidence of her keeping the fact that she was only a temporary fixture aboard his ship at the forefront of her mind by planning ahead for when she was gone bothered him. It shouldn't, but it did.

"Alright, I'm in." Jake agreed.

"Oi oi, _we_ make the food too, ya know?" Dean added in from his seat.

"So, feel free to give me _your_ time and expertise too then."

"Anytime. You know he leaves most of those deserts you like up to me, right? You wanna learn how to settle that sweet tooth of yours, I'm you're man." He gestured to his chest with his thumb confidently.

"Good luck teaching her how to make any of those fancy tarts you do based on what she's told me about her cooking skills." The jolly chef beside the foot of his sofa chuckled heartily.

"Ah, come on. How bad can she be?"

"Bad." Both Jake and she answered simultaneously, laughing as she continued her count with the new people to the room included and landing on Law. Unsure whether to count him or not she opened her mouth to ask but Penguin beat her to it.

"Nah, Captain never plays these games."

"Then shouldn't we kick him out?" Nayla asked, aware of their rule of either participating in the game or leaving the room. Agreeing with them that it would be unfair to be able to stay, not play and be at no risk of having to spill any deep, dark secrets but get to hear them all.

"Of course Captain's exempt from those rules." Ichirou scoffed.

"Of course he is." Nayla muttered, rolling her eyes before not counting him and landing on Shachi sat next to him instead. Admittedly she was both disappointed and relieved to not have to ask Law a personal question for him to answer in front of everyone.

"Hmm, Shachi…Let's see…" She hummed thoughtfully, biting her lower lip as she leant back and contemplated the high ceiling of the rec room.

"Ask him what he did with your pan-"

"No. I don't want to know." Nayla firmly cut off, holding her hand up at Jeff to silence him and stop him from conjuring any further disturbing mental images. "…What was the most embarrassing thing you've ever said to a woman the morning after?"

Immediately clamping his mouth shut, as some laughed and some leaned in eagerly with wide grins to hear the response, Shachi blushed a deep red in his seat.

"You could always take the seven sips instead." Dean mercifully reminded him, earning a slap to the leg from Jake who was more than happy to hear this answer as the room watched the man fidget uncomfortably beside his now very curious and intently listening captain.

"Actually no, it's shots this time." Jeff clarified.

"Sh-…Are you serious?"

"Yup. Answer. Shots. Or get the fuck out." Jeff counted the options on his fingers.

"Pfft, extortion, alcohol poisoning or miss out on the fun parts." Dean corrected, grumbling as he sat back and soaked in the adapted rules of the game he'd unwittingly joined.

"So, what's it gonna be, Shach?" Connor coaxed from across the coffee table.

Raising his gaze from the bottle in his lap to his captain beside him, Law raised a fine brow at him in amusement as he took a casual sip of his coffee. Nayla could almost read the redhead's thought, 'Is it worth the lecture I'll get in the morning from captain to take the seven shots to keep my mouth shut but stay in the game or not?'

Seeming to make up his mind, Shachi cleared his throat, the room quietening again as he set his bottle down onto the table. "Well…Once, about half a year ago, we'd been travelling between islands for nearly two months straight and the first night we arrived on land we all drank waaay too much in celebration of finally getting off the sub. When I woke up the next morning, I was still kinda out of it. Forgot where I was, didn't even remember that there was a lady in the bed next to me and I uh…" He trailed off a little as he glanced at the man sat beside her awkwardly. "I kinda said 'Mornin', Penguin.'"

Joining in with the chuckles that came from the men in the room at the understandable mistake, Nayla couldn't help but wonder what had made him so reluctant and embarrassed to share it. "That's not too bad, she just thought you were calling her a penguin? Or did she think you'd come up with some kind of weird pet name for her or that you had a thing for birds?"

"No…that would have been better. She'd met Pen the night before, she knew I was saying a guy's name…" Snorting with laughter as she tried to contain it, Nayla gave up on that idea as the room burst out laughing and the man in question stiffened beside her.

"Smooth, Shach!"

"Nicely done."

"And you guys _do_ make such a cute couple."

"What did she do?"

"…I've never seen a woman roll over and give me such an awkward stare before." Shachi grumbled, the thought of the look that must have been on her face making them laugh more. "I mean I tried explaining it was just because we share a cabin and had been at sea a really long time and stuff." He sighed, seemingly exasperated at the memory.

Watching Penguin hold a hand to his face and hearing him groan heavily in mortification, Nayla rubbed a hand consolingly on his arm, giving him a sympathetic smile. "There there, it could have been worse. At least he didn't call your name out _during_." She soothed, only making him groan louder and the crew laugh louder.

Giggling at the poor guy, Nayla chanced a look over at Law, glimpsing the highly amused grin he was concealing around the rim of his mug of coffee as he took another sip from it. It felt like it had been a long time since she'd last seen that smirk on his face, she was pretty sure she was supposed to find that expression annoying not…whatever it was she felt then. That weird, unwanted, nostalgic, warm sensation that she immediately ignored in favour of helping move the two men's discomfort and ribbing along.

"Your turn, Shachi." She prompted, the man thankfully leaning over and picking up a card of his own, tossing it onto the pile of overturned ones before knitting his brows in confusion.

Looking at the second seven of diamonds atop the first one, Nayla ran her tongue over her teeth as she, and everyone else in the room, slowly turned to look at Jeff. "Not rigged, huh?"

"W-Well, I guess a stray card from another deck musta-"

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Me, again. What a coincidence." She said dryly.

"...Sure is, huh."

"You and your 'Oh be sure to sit next to Pen, lil lady, he's been missin' ya!' _And_ insisting that specifically _you_ and only _you_ start the game. You said you weren't cheating you big fat liar!"

"Oi oi oi!...I'll have you know I'm sensitive about my weight and that I haven't gained a pound in months."

Blinking at him before slamming a couch cushion abruptly to his face, she leant onto it heavily, pushing him down against the arm rest with one hand as she smothered him.

"Ah! Ah! No freaky-Haki! No powers!" His muffled voice protested, arms flailing as he guessed her use of it easily from how strongly she pinned him down.

"Why not? Is it _cheating_?" She asked innocently, letting him sit up, cushion dropping to his lap as he panted for breath.

"It's not funny, you bastards! You really just gonna let her suffocate me right in front of ya and not lift a finger to help?"

"Yep."

"Fine by me."

"Serves ya right, jackass."

"You guys should be thanking me! Like you didn't want an excuse to ask her dirty stuff either!" He yelled, tossing the cushion roughly at the last crewmember that spoke, the poor man catching it face first with a disgruntled curse. "I mean uh…get to know her better?" Jeff quickly attempted to amend, catching the warning in his captain's gaze as he took another silent, leisurely sip of his coffee.

"A-Anyway, give us one more then we'll call it quits. Whaddya say lil lady, be a sport." He winked with a nudge to her side, as she tutted and crossed her arms, refusing to look at his huge grin. The one that always said 'let me get away with it, forgive me, I'm no better than a naughty, overgrown puppy.'

Feeling him continue to elbow her, she sighed in resignation. "Fiiine."

"Awesome, make it a good one, Shach!"

"Cheating bastards, you'll owe me big whatever game we play next." She muttered, watching as Shachi rubbed his chin in thought of what would be a worthwhile final question to end the game.

"Alright, I got one…Um…" A little worried about what was on his mind as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously and his cheeks began to tint, Nayla prepared herself for yet another dirty question. "…Have you ever been in love?"

Raising her brows at the unexpectedly innocent but personal question, she suddenly felt a little awkward under the curious stares, in no small part due to Law's presence in the room. Intuitively knowing that despite the fact he hadn't turned to look at her like the others had, that he was probably listening closely; she hummed in thought of whether to answer as she set her empty drink down onto the table. "Well, yes. I have been."

"R-Really? What was it like?"

Turning to look at Penguin beside her at the sound of his almost-awed voice, she smiled widely at his pink cheeks, matching his friend's. "That's a bit of a vague question but um…Well great, I guess. Whilst it lasted. He was my first real love and an amazing man, so, he'll always have a special place in my heart."

"That guy was so lucky, that must be so nice. To have a girl like Nayla-chan love you and remember you fondly forever." He sighed dreamily, starting to go off into his own thoughts as Shachi hummed his agreement, delving into his own.

"What are you guys saying? As if I don't love you guys and won't remember you fondly years from now either." She huffed wrapping her arms around him and giving him an affectionate hug.

"Aww, that's kind of ya to say lil lady but be careful with Pen, you're melting him. Don't wanna have to try scrubbing Penguin-puddle outta the fabric." Jeff teased, grinning at the man's growing blush teasingly over her head.

"S-Shut up!" He snapped at him, seeming to find his voice again.

"Practically got steam blowing out ya ears." He grinned wider.

Laughing a little at that and at Penguin's expression, Nayla pulled back, settling for holding onto his arm comfortably instead. "Never woulda figured pirates to be the type to be interested in having a special girl to call your own. Can't imagine it's gonna be easy as part of a crew that's constantly on the move though."

"Him and Shach have always been lovey-dovey idiots." Ichirou sighed dismissively from his seat, sitting up and resting against the back of the sofa again.

"Yeah, gotta imagine most pirates are the 'love 'em and leave 'em' type. Comes with the job, ya know? Least that's how _I_ see it anyway." Jeff shrugged.

"Well yeah, same with my kinda job too I guess. Just move around too much to be able to get to know someone well enough really." She agreed, curling her legs up onto the sofa with a tired yawn as she snuggled against Penguin comfortably. The poor man still blushing up a storm under the subtly envious glares of his crewmates and avoiding looking at his captain altogether.

"Yup, sex is all we need anyway. It's all the same, right, lil lady?"

"No way, sex with someone you love is on a _whole_ different level. In my opinion anyway."

"How so?" Jeff asked, looking at her curiously as he lowered the ale he'd almost taken a gulp of.

Humming as she pressed her lips together in thought, she tried to think of the simplest, least explicit way to describe the difference, settling on an analogy. "Well the best way I can think of to describe it is to compare it to something like hunger. If you're really hungry, you _could_ just eat any old thing to satisfy it. Let's say…a plain slice of bread or something. It's alright but not amazing, it's as indistinct as the others in the loaf and it gets the job done. You don't feel hungry anymore after you've eaten it."

" _That's_ how you see casual hook-ups? Wow, those poor guys." Jeff chuckled, lifting his drink to his lips.

"Pretty much." She laughed. "But then instead of eating a slice of bread, imagine eating the most delicious thing your mom - or dad-" She quickly amended, remembering that Jeff had lost his mother early. "-or whoever, used to make for you as a child. That one _favourite_ meal that no one ever made quite the same way as they did, that you never grew tired of no matter how many times you had it. All the times you ate it and where, all the memories of that special person making it for you, the anticipation of tasting it, the sight of it, the thought of it, the smell of it, all of its flavours, how every mouthful was _so_ worth savouring as you satisfied your appetite."

"Damn it, Nayla-chan. You're making my mouth water." Dean complained, rubbing the back of his lips with his wrist.

"Making _me_ hungry." Shachi added, chuckling.

"Sorry." She smiled, turning back to Jeff. "So, how much more enjoyable of an experience, in every way possible, would it be to eat _that_ meal to satisfy your hunger than it would to just have a piece of bread instead, even though they both fill you up?"

"Well…yeah. If there were something special and familiar about a person, then I guess I can see your point a little." Jeff hummed in thought, somewhat convinced.

"Plus, when you're with someone over and over again, you learn everything they like, everything that drives them wild and vice versa. You're really driven to making them feel so amazing, because you care about them and _want_ them to feel good from a really genuine place. When you're with someone you don't know that well, everything's a learning curve and you're either more interested in pleasuring yourself _or_ pleasuring them just to stroke your own ego or save face as a 'decent enough' lay. Not because you really want them to enjoy themselves." She added on with a shrug, making Jeff snort with laughter as she dropped her analogy in favour of her sudden, casual bluntness.

"I guess so. Never really thought of it that way – but I will add that I've personally never had any complaints. I make sure all my ladies enjoy themselves." He clarified proudly, lifting an index finger from around his bottle at her.

"I'm sure they do." She laughed.

"Man, now I'm even more jealous of that ex of yours…" Shachi sighed, turning to look at his other side as he felt the sofa cushions shift beneath him. "Going back to work, Captain?"

"Yeah, I've finished my coffee." He said, picking up his nodachi as he began striding towards the door, thankful that he'd finished it when he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wondering what it might be like if you really did bring Law home to your parents if he were your boyfriend? I did, which was why I decided it'd be fun to write a short, simple side-story about it under the name of: 'The Boyfriend.' It's purely silly humour so check it out if it sounds like it's something you might get a giggle out of too.


	59. Lawless

"I'm telling you I don't."

"But why though?"

"I _keep_ telling ya it's because you're still a prisoner here 'til _Captain_ says otherwise." Ichirou sighed in frustration.

"…Doesn't mean you don't secretly like me." Nayla replied, clasping her hands behind her back and looking away from him nonchalantly.

"I-! Annoying, little jerk, Jake tell her to leave me alone already!" He yelled back over his shoulder at the man who was still making his way up the ramp to the deck.

"You're a big boy Ichi, I'm sure you can tell her that yourself." He chuckled, always amused to no end at how easily she worked up his grumpy fellow chef.

"Leave me alone." He stone-faced at her as they walked through the main entrance of the sub.

"…I like _you._ " She said sweetly, smiling up at him from his side, trying not to laugh at his completely thrown off expression.

Grumbling unintelligibly under his breath he lifted his hands to his face, rubbing it in his frustration.

"Ichi _wants_ to like ya hun, he just doesn't wanna get too…" Nayla looked back at Jake as Ichirou did; seemingly in warning of not saying too much as the larger man paused, rolling his wrist as he carefully searched for the right word. "…'invested,' I guess. Captain never _did_ change your status aboard. Even if we all know it's a crock, we still have to take it seriously until he does…and prisoners don't usually last that long. One way or another." He explained with a sympathetic smile.

"Oooh, I see…" She furrowed her brows in thought quietly as she mulled that over for a moment before turning back to the grouchy man beside her with a wide grin. "So you like me _that_ much that you'd miss me if your captain decided to kill or get rid of me? Is this some kind of emotional defence of yours so that you won't get hurt? Aww, that's too cute! It makes me like you even more." She cooed, wrapping her arms around his and pressing affectionately to his side.

Blinking at her in surprise, he rounded on his friend as he heard a stifled snicker, seeing the jolly man pressing his lips together in an attempt not to laugh at him. "You made it WORSE!"

Bursting out laughing at that and at her glance back at him that told him she _knew_ exactly what she was doing, Jake wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as Ichirou tried shaking her off with an aggravated sigh.

"Damn it, go talk to your _friends_ and give me a break, would ya?"

Following his gesture back behind Jake, Nayla spotted Jeff, Connor and a few other crewmembers entering the sub. Feeling merciful, she released his arm as they reached the descending staircase, smiling nicely at him as he exhaled in relief and adjusted his cap. "See you at dinner." She sang, waving cheerfully at him as he began making his way down, sharing an amused look with Jake at the man's unintelligible muttering under his breath.

"See ya hun, save ya the best-looking desert." He winked at her as he passed by, heading after Ichirou to see to their duties in the galley. Waving him off as well, she waited for the others to catch up, tuning into their conversation as Jeff's loud voice floated down the hallway easily.

"-so she said yeah, she'd heard of people that have the legendary 'D.'"

"And?"

"Told her I got one too, asked her if she wanted _my_ legendary 'D.'" He grinned, earning a mixture of unimpressed groans and snickers from the men around him.

"Stupid ass." Connor sighed aloud.

"Ah come on, made _her_ laugh." Jeff chuckled, elbowing him playfully. "…She got it too."

"I don't wanna know you dirty-heeey, sweetie." Connor finished awkwardly, pulling his gaze off of his friend's suggestively waggling eyebrows as he noticed her up ahead listening in.

"Hey, so what are you guys up to this evening? You on or off duty?" She asked, giving Jeff an amused smile as he grinned at her, growing more and more unashamed of his horndog exploits around her as she consistently showed no offence to them.

"Well, on but you're welcome to tag along with me 'til dinner if you like. Could use some more refined company for a little while." He commented, side-glancing at Jeff unsubtly as they started following her down the stairs.

"Sure, I'll keep ya company." She agreed happily, thankful to have something to keep her preoccupied until mealtime.

The crew dispersed onto their respective floors as they gradually made their way down into the vessel, a few on the top floor, to see to their duties within the medical rooms – cleaning, sterilisation and machine maintenance checks usually. Most, as well as Jeff, leaving on the second to go to their own cabins, the training room or the rec room. A few others, her and Connor included, reached the third as the sub began to move. The usual departure announcement over the intercom accompanying the sound of the engines running and the heavy sloshing of the waters the hull began to divide in its forward momentum.

They hadn't stayed at the island they had just left for very long, they hadn't needed to. The Log Pose only took four days to set and they had been uneventful ones.

Routine inn stay, routine breakfast with the crew before going with them to help out with their routine chores, back to the inn for dinner and drinks in the evening as usual. The occasional venture to another tavern or restaurant.

There had been some decent-looking shopping districts on the island though, she'd been tempted to take a look but the guys had been busy and she hadn't felt like going alone…Law hadn't been taking her money from her to put in his safe, not since she picked up her pay just before leaving for Pugna. There was a large stash of it starting to take up a significant chunk of the drawer he'd emptied for her that she _knew_ he was aware of but he hadn't said anything about it. Satisfied enough with that and that she no longer had to lug it around, she'd eased up on blowing it as recklessly as before but she had still given away a few large sums here and there.

Aside from shopping, a little sight-seeing would have been nice too, seeing as the spring island they had just left seemed to have had many acres of vineyards and orchards by its coast. Stretches of beautiful-looking, full bloom flowers and fruits all along the seaside, but what free time the guys did have had fallen on the same day she'd needed to work that week.

It hadn't been a difficult job, they honestly could have given it to anyone but it seemed she was simply in the right place at the right time to pick it up. A straightforward break-in and retrieval of documents from the corporate headquarters on that island that oversaw the mass manufacture of legally sold weapons that directly competed with Joker's revenue in this area of the Grand Line. Other than the long travel inland to the location, the job had been easy enough and completed within a day. Most of the jobs over the last month or so had been similar in nature; basic information retrieval and an occasional kill.

The call she had made to Marty after returning from Pugna, she'd been extremely angry about the _four_ weeks she'd been there instead of her pre-agreed three. Admittedly a significant chunk of that fury was misdirected at the poor man because of what had gone on between her and Law, but he'd been just as annoyed on her behalf as well, wondering why she had been over a week late to report in from her last mercenary job.

He'd taken care of it though, calling back the guy he received requests for Joker from and making it clear that if he, Joker or anyone else fucked her around like that again, omitted any more information or deliberately prolonged her work or endangered her in any way that the next job would be the last. She hadn't shared that part of the conversation with her agent with Law.

Thankfully, Marty had soon gotten back to her, telling her that things had been dealt with and that it wouldn't happen again. Apparently Joker was either _that_ low on available hands in this area of the Grand Line or she was _that_ promising an asset to him that he didn't want to risk her refusing all future jobs. Either way, time would tell whether he, or at least the people below him that handled delegating jobs on his behalf, would screw her around again.

Despite the aggressive 'negotiations' between her agent and Joker's network, overall and since, she had been receiving positive feedback from them through Marty. They were relatively impressed with her work and how swiftly and efficiently she saw to the tasks given to her. Apparently they were encouraging him to urge her to venture into the New World where there were more prospects; more jobs of greater importance and with much higher pay. That part, she had shared with Law and he'd seemed pleased to hear it, though he told her that they as a crew would still be hanging back from the New World for the time being.

They were on their way to Burlenta now, apparently a winter island but extremely close to the previous one and with the sub at full speed, they could easily be there by as soon as that evening.

It was so close in fact that some crews even tried skipping the four day wait of the previous island for the Log Pose to set and attempted to set sail immediately in its direction – which was obviously absolute suicide. Considering that she'd heard from the crew and ashore about how dangerously saturated these waters were with volcanoes, storms and Sea Kings, she guessed that the impatience and recklessness of those crews probably contributed a significant proportion of the reported losses between there and the next island.

It was horribly dangerous, The Grand Line in general. She was still inwardly looking forward to the day she'd finally leave it and dreading the one she would step foot into the New World. Even just regular seas with regular bad weather and unfavourable geography was bad enough but Grand Line level seas and weather that was worse than usual? Sea Kings as well? Shuddering at the thought of the near-drowning she'd almost fallen to the last time she had encountered one, Nayla could safely say she was not their biggest fan.

"Here, sweetie."

Pulling her mind off her thoughts of that day, of the flooding brig and everything that had occurred after, she looked back as she realised she'd walked past the entrance to the boiler room Connor had stopped at. "Oh, sorry."

"Miles away again, huh. You do that a lot lately." He commented neutrally, earning a stern look from her as she slid past him and through the doorway.

"Knock it off or you'll get the first tool you ask me for up your ass."

"Whoa whoa, just an observation." He exclaimed 'innocently' following her in, as if he weren't about to pry into what it was she might be thinking about, insinuating yet again, that it might just be his captain…It was really annoying that he was often right.

Walking straight over to the left side of the room, she tugged the 'creeper' out of its securing wall bracket. She'd always wondered what the things mechanics lay on to roll beneath machinery was called; Jeff had been the one to let her know, implying Connor to be a 'creep' quite happily as he did.

Setting it on the floor and pushing it over to him with her foot, she watched him stop it with his own as it rolled close enough. "You coming by the rec room again tonight after dinner?" He asked, lining the wheeled board up to the front of the large, industrial boiler he'd stood beside and deciding to swiftly change the subject, lest she make good on her threat.

"I think Kotta said he'd be free tonight, I wanna pass his stupid 'pre-reading required' thing as soon as I can so that he'll finally teach me something more hands on, like basic examinations and manoeuvres or something." Placing the second creeper she pulled from its braces to the floor, she rest a foot onto it, lifted the toolbox set against the wall and rolled over to him in a manner similar to using a skateboard.

"I told ya not to use 'em like that." He scolded, tutting as he lay back onto his own and began wheeling himself beneath the large contraption.

"And I told ya that I'm way lighter than any one of you beefy bastards. I could jump up and down on one of these all day and not put a dent in it, let me have my fun." She pouted, coming to a stop beside the machine he was under and setting the box down. "Honestly? I dunno how you guys are resisting the urge to skate these things up and down the hallways by now."

"Captain. That's how." Connor reminded her, making her pause in popping open the clasps on the toolbox as she looked at him from beneath the edge of the machine.

Pursing his lips at his absentminded, automatic response, well aware that she was more than a little touchy these days of them finding excuses to discuss his captain with her, Connor cleared his throat delicately. "Pass me the wrench please, sweetie?...Preferably to my hand and _not_ up my ass…"

Rolling her eyes at his outstretched palm and sheepish smile, she flipped open the lid of the large, metallic container, pulling out what he needed and slapping the tool to his hand.

"Thanks."

Sliding the box aside a little, Nayla set herself down onto her own creeper, lying back and resting her clasped hands over her chest with a sigh as she looked up at ceiling, listening to the gentle clanks of Connor diligently checking the tightness of every nut and bolt the boiler had to offer.

It was routine, room by room, section by section, system by system; someone was assigned to check each and every piece of equipment aboard the sub regularly. Nothing on this ship went untested for longer than a day, Law was strict about that and rightfully so she supposed. The incomprehensible strain on the machinery of a vessel like a submarine that had to withstand such tremendous pressures, on a violent sea like the ones of the Grand Line and she could understand his insistence on it.

During her time aboard and in tagging along with the others, she'd come to realise just how much work maintaining a ship like this was. The professional shipwrights on the crew took more control over its structural integrity and sailing functions, the mechanics like Connor saw to virtually every piece of machinery on board with focus on its submersion functions, then there were members dedicated to maintaining its electricals and some only to the plumbing – the boilers were shared territory between Connor's and their team. Though those members often doubled as mechanics as well, there was a lot of crossover and collaboration between them. She'd been genuinely impressed with how knowledgeable, qualified and well trained they all were at what they did and how fluidly they all came together to seek each other's expertise to ensure the smooth and safe running of their home…It had never once crossed her mind that pirates of all people could be this diligent, hardworking and talented…Law really had skilfully put together an amazing and capable crew.

This room was one of the highest priorities when it came to daily checks, not because of the three large boilers lining and taking up the majority of the right wall but because of the water filtration system that was housed along the back one. Although there was some stored water in cargo, it was obviously limited and for emergencies only. That system allowed them limitless supply from the surrounding sea, filtered, purified, sterilised and stored for use. It, its control panels, adjoining boilers and its storage tanks were absolutely vital to their survival when between islands. Connor would be checking underneath and inside each machine here, then running functional and stress tests on every component, as he always did.

"Ratchet please, sweetie." Reaching into the box, beside her she pulled it out, handing it to him in exchange for the wrench he held. "You're getting good at this, you didn't even know what one was a few weeks ago." He chuckled.

"I still couldn't tell you what it's for, I just know what it looks like now." She said, smiling at him before he turned his gaze back up to the machine above him.

"Barely knew what a screwdriver was. Not much for DIY back when you lived alone then I guess."

"Nope, definitely not…Did I ever tell you that I showered in the dark for about eight months because I couldn't change a light bulb?" She asked, giggling quietly to herself as he whipped his head back to her.

"You. Are. _Joking_." He deadpanned, making her laugh a little louder.

"No, 'fraid not. Though to be honest, it was more of a height issue than anything. Our home was a really old house with high ceilings. I could barely reach it with my fingertips, even with the stepladder I had. Couldn't find anything else high enough in the house to stand on, couldn't afford a real ladder, house was isolated so no neighbours. Gave up in the end, decided that I'd probably be more likely to fall and kill myself if I kept trying to reach it then die slipping in a dark bathroom."

"Geez…" He muttered, shaking his head in disbelief, guessing that she'd had no family or friends around at the time that could have helped either.

"It wasn't too bad, got used to showering by candlelight. It was almost like having a romantic shower with myself."

Snorting in amusement at that as he finished tightening the slightly loose bolt, they fell into a comfortable silence as he meticulously checked each and every other one beneath the machine.

Sighing in content, Nayla smiled to herself as she listened to the hum of the engines - louder here on the third floor, and to him as he worked. Both the sounds of the ship she rode and any made by the people on board had become little comforts.

Overall, life was pretty good right now. She was enjoying day-to-day living more than she had in a very long time. There hadn't been a single day that went by since she'd returned that she hadn't smiled or laughed. She adored the crew, she loved their company and she learnt something new every day from them. She always had a roof over her head, she always had a delicious meal to look forward to, she had a place to keep her belongings and money, income was never an issue these days…

Although she was happy, for the most part, she still felt so…sad when it came to Law. It was honestly amazing that what had happened between them still bothered her, it really should have gotten much easier by now but as the days went by she found herself getting sadder and sadder as her anger with him cooled off.

It was by her own choosing to avoid him as much as possible. To help dampen the fury she'd felt towards him, to help the hurt she felt to subside, to help the attachment she'd formed to him to dissolve and to help ease the humiliation of her falling for his stunt.

It had been far from easy to do when this was his ship and they shared a living space but she had managed. She had been so sure that if she could keep a little distance from him for at least a few weeks, that she'd feel better about everything. Just as it would for any other person you were mad at…or any ex you tried to get over – not that he was one…but life without Law had unfortunately only seemed to make her feel worse.

Maybe that was because it wasn't possible to cut him out entirely. Invasive thoughts of him kept intruding on her daily when she saw him or heard him or heard him _mentioned_ , which, on his own ship surrounded by his own crew, happened a lot.

Every time it did, unwanted memories and thoughts of him kept dredging up in her mind at even the slightest provocation. Everything from the night he had visited her in that hospital on Sabaody to the way he had tasted her on his desk, from how he had knocked her out cold to the way he had held her at night when she had been ill, from the way he had threatened to kill her if she so much as breathed a word of him to Joker to the way he refused to lift a finger in offence at her on Pugna…and that kiss.

Over and over again she found herself re-examining his and her own actions, questioning how things had gotten so way out of hand between them in the first place and scrutinising every little detail of everything that had gone on between them now that she could look back on them in calmer hindsight…It was the constant going over of things in her mind that had made her so eager to keep preoccupied, with the crew, with learning, with training, with anything. Just anything to not leave her alone with her own thoughts…but it was unavoidable…

It was the crew's fault. Their steady poking and prodding about what was up between her and their captain and the frequency they discussed him around her was what constantly had her reflecting on him. It wasn't as though it could be helped but it was definitely dragging out the apparent heartache she felt about the whole thing…It really was a major emotional overreaction to the crush she had developed on him but she figured it probably stung this badly because of how much she had divulged to him, how much trust she'd given him. Which was her fault, not his.

She spent most of the time she did think of him, focusing on that confrontational night in Pugna and the more she did, the more she was sure that there was something wrong with how things had played out...but as the events grew further and further away, she began to wonder whether her recollection was accurate or questionable, considering that night had been over a month ago now.

"Wrench again, sweetie."

"Sure." Handing back the tool she'd never replaced into the box, knowing that he'd need it again soon, she took back the ratchet from him as he slid a little further under the boiler.

The crew had been driving her crazy since she'd come back. They meant well, they really did, but a lot of the things they said to her hadn't really made her feel any better.

Amongst the things they'd told her was how Law had been so quiet after she'd left for Pugna, convinced that it was some sort of proof of him missing her…but they only knew half the story, they didn't know he'd stolen her heart. His quietness was only proof that maybe he had been reflecting on that action, or been doing his best to keep his mouth shut so that they wouldn't find out about it…Then again, maybe it was a good thing that he'd had any behavioural change after that at all. If she'd heard that he'd been his usual self right afterwards that might have made her feel much worse…It wasn't clear to her what he'd been thinking of exactly during her month away but if nothing else of significance happened around the time she left then…maybe his apparently solemn behaviour really had been because of her? It was hard to believe that he'd spent much time thinking of her though, let alone enough for it to have affected his conduct to a noticeable level with his crew.

They'd mentioned how Law had been so restless each day they spent in Pugna waiting for her to come back, that he'd more energy that week then he'd had the prior three weeks combined, that he'd almost seemed excited about getting her back…but they didn't know how much the information she was bringing with her meant to him for his goal. They didn't seem to know about his goal at all. Maybe all that proved was how anxious he was to make sure she returned with what he wanted.

They'd also said that he seemed even more down since they returned to the ship, that they'd expected him to be back to his usual self once she was on board…They didn't know what had happened between them – and honestly she didn't want them to. What would they think of her if they knew she'd attacked their beloved captain? Would they hate her? Would they turn on her? Was that why Law hadn't explained the bloodied hole in his chest or mention anything about it to anyone? Was he protecting her?…The thought of him issuing a warning to his crew because of her violence towards him and to be on even higher alert around her had crossed her mind, but he hadn't done that. The thought of him tightening his iron-like grip on her and her freedoms after her behaviour had crossed her mind as well, but he hadn't done that either.

If anything, he'd done the opposite. He'd slackened his hold on her considerably…and she couldn't really understand why. Did he believe her when she'd told him she'd stay and help? Or did he just not care if she stayed or went anymore?...In that case, would she be better off leaving? Maybe before they entered the New World and it became even more difficult for her to get off of the Grand Line?...No, that stubborn, _stupid_ part of her still felt as though she owed him for what kindness he _had_ shown her…Even if she did question its authenticity now, he'd still done it. Saved her life, homed her, fed her, treated her meticulously, trained her, educated her, given her information about herself and her ability that she could never have gotten otherwise. Even if his motives were selfish, he'd done a lot for her…and that would be how she justified still wanting to help him in a way that didn't make her feel like a fool.

'…Is he really that selfish though? – Oh no. No no no. Do _not_ question whether Law is really as much of an ass as he seems again. We just went through this. We gave him the benefit of the doubt already. Don't do it again. - …But – Don't. Do it. Again.'

She wanted to though, to give him the benefit of the doubt. To give in to that nagging voice in the back of her head that kept trying to explain things away with 'well what if he…' or 'maybe he just…' or the niggling feeling in her gut that told her that she hadn't been wrong to trust him, that he wasn't the bad guy that she had mistaken him for. She _wanted_ it to be ok to like him again…Well, she said 'again' but, she didn't really feel as though she'd ever managed to _stop_ liking him.

Sadly, she missed him. She missed talking to Law and spending time with him, even if they were just half-jokingly sniping at one another...

Those moments of feeling like she meant _something_ , to someone like Law who by all means wasn't an approachable person, had made her feel…privileged. To feel like she was worth that man's time when it was obvious that he felt so few people were, to be held in _some_ sort of regard by someone so clever, handsome and difficult to befriend had made her feel special...A feeling that another person had probably been lucky enough to experience by now.

It was understandable, predictable, that a man like him would have had no trouble attracting someone else, that he would have had no issue bedding some other woman in no time. Unlike her…Although she had met some good-looking men with pleasant personalities that had done their best to win her over, her usually rampant libido seemed to have left her entirely. The dirtier part of her mind that never seemed to stop its tirade of filthy thoughts, no matter what she tried, had apparently lost its voice entirely as of late…She'd dreamed of the day but, it didn't feel as good as she had imagined it might.

There was just no genuine interest, in any of those men. Though she'd never dare say it out loud; going from successfully winning the attentions of a man as gorgeous, seductive and enthralling as Law to…some ok-looking guy with an alright personality in a dive bar was such a huge, disheartening, off-putting downgrade.

…She'd seen the women that had sat with Law though. A lot of them had been supermodel-grade bombshells. Beautiful...with long legs – an asset _she'd_ never have…She'd seen them flirt with him, get treated to drinks by him…kiss him, touch him...she'd never seen him go upstairs with any of them but, he probably had…She was so envious of them…Some days she swore she could still feel the softness of his lips on hers from that night as though they had never left her skin.

Even now, his touch still sent tingles through her. It was so annoying to both want to avoid it as much as possible and crave more of it at the same time. Thankfully the only time he touched her now a days was when he had to - to examine her, and those sessions had become much less frequent since he'd concluded his working theory on her health. When he seemed to come up with a new question about her ability that he wanted to answer he'd ask for another but what he was trying to find out now, she didn't know. If it were anything of importance then he'd eventually tell her.

The sound of his voice bothered her too. The smooth, dulcet tones that had once purred her name so seductively was now back to the same neutral, minimal speech as when they'd first met…He'd started adding that –ya suffix to it again too. He'd stopped calling her by just her name, like he did with his crew – with the people he was more familiar with and closer to. Admittedly, it kind of hurt, though after how she had treated him on Pugna, she couldn't really blame him for demoting whatever status it was he'd had for her…or maybe it was just the result of deciding to drop the act of liking her altogether.

If it really had all just been an act to manipulate her then it was had been an excessively elaborate one. Everything from protecting her from Kid and Kessinger, the way he'd come between her and Miles, every heated moment they'd shared, how he'd looked at her that night in the snow and held her as she slept when she was shivering…and that kiss…Was it really more likely that everything he'd ever done and said was all just part of some convoluted, long term plan of his to keep her under control or more realistic that those moments had been genuine?...If he really _had_ just been playing with her to keep her on his sub until he was done with her, then he was a far crueller man than his reputation would ever suggest and she had a hard time believing that was true.

"So how are the lessons going with Kotta?"

Called out of her deep reverie, Nayla looked at the man beside her on the floor. "…Pretty good I guess, how come?"

Sparing her a raised brow from beneath the machinery as he tightened another nut, he scoffed. "Do you really gotta ask? You and Kotta get on like cats and dogs. Was just wondering how you two could manage to be in the same room together that long without someone ending up a splatter on the wall."

"Oh…Well yeah, he has his moments. Gets as good as he gives though." She shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me if he doesn't like me. Having to work with people you don't like sometimes is just life. As long as you can get the job that needs to be done, done, then it doesn't really matter."

"Surprisingly thick skin for such a lil lady."

"Happens. Should I weep girlishly about it when he's mean to me instead?"

"Got me there." He chuckled, sliding himself out from the underside of the boiler in one push. "Though, if ya did. The crew would probably pummel 'im for making ya cry."

"…Then I should give that a try next time." She grinned, sitting up as he stood and dusted himself off.

"Let me know up front, I'd love to get a bet in on that."

Laughing at the practically devilish smile and glint in his amber eyes as he said it, she stood as well, closing and lifting the box as she followed him to the next boiler, skating behind his long strides. "What kind of bet and more importantly, can _I_ get in on the action?"

Chuckling as he set his creeper at the foot of the next machine, he held his hand out in indication for the ratchet she held, grasping both tools in his palm as he sat himself back down. "Course ya could and well, I'd probably run a bet on who'd beat the shit out of him the hardest."

Tucking her skirt between her thighs, she knelt onto hers as she set the toolbox down, pursing her lips together in amusement at the thought. "Is that right, so who would _you_ be putting money on?"

Humming in thought as he slid into the shadows beneath the second boiler, Connor positioned himself to do his next series of checks. "I'd put big money on either Jeff or Jake."

"Really? Jake?"

"You wouldn't believe how angry that guy can get _or_ how strong that pudgeball really is. I mean I know you saw what happened to him with those bounty hunters a while back but-"

"Oh, nah. I'm aware he's totally badass…Heard he kicked yours and Jeff's pretty damn good." She purred teasingly, laying front first onto her creeper beside the machine, smiling widely as he stopped what he was doing and deadpanned at her.

"You knew about that? How?"

"Jakey told me."

"Pfft, 'Jakey' my ass." He muttered. "…I was drunk ya know." He added on in his defence.

"I know." She laughed, enjoying the pout on his face as she rest her cheek to her folded arms, watching him work.

She loved moments like these. The simple pleasures of light banter and humour with a friend and the content of enjoying their company. It had been years since she'd stayed with the same group of people long enough to develop these sorts of relationships again.

…The banter she had shared with Law had been on a different level though. There was always some kind of underlying tension between them. Something dark, intense and exciting, unspoken between the lines of their teasing that hovered between an underlying threat and sexual tension at the same time. The uncertainty of pushing the boundaries of a dangerous man that she felt so attracted to at the same time, despite her better judgement…those days had been fun. Discovering what he would and wouldn't let her get away with, the repercussions of her actions, how unexpectedly playful he was in his own dark, twisted, sinister way and how she could find herself pressed against a wall or pinned to his bed within a split second…

Closing her eyes with a quiet sigh that she hoped was concealed by the sound of the surrounding machinery; Nayla pushed that small throb of arousal away roughly. There was really nothing more infuriating then finding someone attractive that you shouldn't. That stupid man and that stupid unbelievable body he had and that stupid handsome face of his.

…More and more often, she kept thinking of the expression he'd worn on those ridiculously attractive features in Pugna when she had finally lost it with him. Although she hadn't really noticed it at the time, too blinded by her own upset and anger, the more she replayed that night, the more she thought of his reaction, or lack of, to everything she had screamed at him. The more she questioned the expression he'd worn when he'd listened to her words and the more she shook her head and decided it simply couldn't be right. It had been night time after all, and she had been tired and emotionally stretched…but the more she thought about it, the more his expression seemed to reflect a sense of hurt and guilt…

'Is it really so hard to believe that Law isn't _that_ heartless? - … - Get it? Because he was _literally_ heartless at the time? - … - Really? Nothing? - … - Ba dum tss? - I'd sincerely like it if you'd would pack up your things and leave my head.'

Hearing a deafening boom echo loudly throughout the mostly metallic room, Nayla lifted her head, looking up at the ceiling and walls in worry as Connor halted his work to listen to the alarming sound as well.

"…What was that?" She asked in a half-hushed voice.

"…That would be what thunder sounds like in this room, sweetie. Looks like we've hit a storm." He replied solemnly, none too pleased by it.

"But we literally _just_ left the last island, I mean it was just sunny outside. Now? Really? That fast?"

"Yeah…that's The Grand Line for ya." Connor muttered, resuming his work with an unhappy sigh. "Don't worry about it sweetie, Bepo's been on this for over a week already. We all knew this stretch of sea was gonna be super shitty and unpredictable already."

Trying to relax a little at his reassurance as another loud crash rang overhead; she leant back down to the board beneath her to look at him. "Are we gonna submerge to get out of it, or?"

"Well, normally we would but there's a lot of underwater volcanoes on the route they picked. No one's ever been able to map out exactly where or how many because of the weather around here though, makes it pretty risky to dive. They'll probably ride it out on the surface for as long as they can so, be prepared for a bumpy ride." He warned, glancing down at the wheeled board she was on.

"Then why did they pick this route?" She asked irritably, having to slam a hand down to the floor on cue to stop herself rolling away when the ship lurched suddenly.

"Much fewer Sea Kings. It was either Sea Kings or volcanoes, which would you pick?"

"…They both suck." She grumbled, steadying herself as she got up from the creeper.

"Exactly."

Swearing under his breath as the ship rocked roughly again, Conner picked up the wrench he had lay to his chest and held out both it and the ratchet he was using for her. "Looks like I'm not gonna be able to get this done before dinner."

Taking them from him she rest a hand to the side of the thick, steel casing of the industrial boiler to steady herself as she placed the tools back into their box and as he slid out quickly before the next high wave came along. "Hopefully this crappy weather will pass and I can come back after." He sighed, resigning himself to having to use what was supposed to be his evening off to get his job done.

Watching her stoop down to pick up the creeper and toolbox, he caught her wrist to stop her from toppling forward when the floor seemed to tilt violently. "Careful, I got it."

Pressing her back to the machine, Nayla used it to help ground herself more securely as he quickly picked up both items; the ship's swaying seeming to escalate rapidly in its severity and frequency. "Where should we go?" She asked worriedly, slamming her foot down onto _his_ runaway creeper as it tried to escape him.

"The rec room, best place for turbulent conditions 'cause it has the most soft furnishing." He yelled over the next deafening roar of thunder, quickly scooping up the second creeper and making his way over to the wall to secure them and the toolbox to it again.

Raising her brows at that, it very, very belatedly dawned on her why Law had placed her in the rec room to begin with on the first day she had boarded the sub on her way to see Luffy. He'd made sure she was put in the safest room in case things got rocky at Marineford…She'd honestly never given any more thought to it other than just assuming it was better than his own quarters or a crew cabin.

"Come on, sweetie. I gotcha."

Looking up at him as he made his way back over, leaning himself against the neighbouring boiler, he held a hand out to her in offering as the sub shook violently again. Taking it and letting him pull her over to him, she quickly looped her arm through his, allowing him and his far more seasoned sea legs to help support her without falling as they made their way towards the door.

"Thank you."

"No problem munchkin, careful not to bump into the doorframe." He grinned down at her, pushing open the door and letting her leave first.

"You better not make that name a habit, _Conny_." Laughing at that, he let the door slam shut behind them as he left the room as well, leading them down the corridor to the staircase. "Um…hey, this is gonna sound like a really stupid question but…what happens if lightning hits the sub? Regular ships are mostly wood so, aren't we just one big massive conductor sailing on the surface right now?"

Finding the obvious apprehension on her features a little endearing, he smiled reassuringly at her. "It's actually pretty rare for vessels to get hit by lightning ya know, and if we do? Same as other ships-" He pointed the index finger of his free hand upwards. "-there's a 'lightning protector' on the main mast-" He pointed down towards their feet. "-and the hull acts as a grounding conductor. The current will pass through a pre-determined path and just disperse into the water."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, don't fret about frying in this hunk of metal." He chuckled, watching her grasp onto the railing with her other hand as they began making their way up the stairs.

"That's pretty clever…" She thought aloud.

"Well, Koush actually just picked up a learner-level marine electrician book a few weeks back actually. I could probably ask him to lend it to you, has some stuff in there you might find interesting."

"Marine electrician? That's a thing?"

"Sure is." He laughed, tightening his hold on her slightly when the ship swayed. "I know how you like to fill that pretty lil noggin of yours full of random junk, I'll ask if he's done with it next time I see him."

"That'd be nice, thanks." She smiled, stepping onto the landing of the second floor carefully beside him.

"Yo, saved ya a beanbag lil lady! Best seat in the house during a storm, let one of the other poor bastards get thrown off a bolted down sofa." Jeff called down the hall as he spotted them, ignoring his crewmates slightly annoyed grumbles at his callous disregard as he waved her and Connor over.

"Thanks." She called back, laughing at the scowls he got from the men that were walking past him into the rec room he stood by.

"'Course, the _real_ best seat in the house is my lap so, if you need someone to hold ya tight and break your fall then I'm…Well don't you two look cosy." He said, eyeing their linked arms with a raised brow as they neared him.

"Rather I let her go flying into every floorboard and wall on the way up here?" Connor grumbled, shoving past him in annoyance of his suggestive grin to enter the room.

"Course not, course not." Jeff held his hands up in mock surrender, following them in.

"Hey, Nayla-chan! Come take a seat." Shachi called, patting the beanbag beside the sofa he and Penguin sat on.

"Sure, I-" Silenced by the sudden blaring overhead of the emergency alarm, Nayla glanced up at it placed in the top corner of the room as Bepo's panicked voice rang out of it.

"Sea king! Sea king!"

…

Collectively listening numbly to the repeat announcement and unpleasant screech of the alarm, barely audible over the next crack of thunder, Nayla gulped silently. A terrible feeling of nausea and dread turning her stomach.

"A-Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"What the hell..."

"Didn't we take the route without those damn things?!"

"We took the route with least _chance_ of those fucking things."

Heart rate only increasing at the worrying round of shocked cries from the men in the room, she wondered what it mean for them to be unable to submerge to escape the storm and unable to remain steady enough to fight off the Sea King in this weather.

"Jeff, turrets." Shachi spoke up authoritatively, getting up from his seat with a stern expression.

"Yeah, got ya." He agreed seriously, immediately running out of the room with Shachi in close pursuit, calling back over his shoulder. "Pen, go-"

"Help Captain. On it." The man finished for him, getting up and adjusting his cap with a grave expression of his own as he made his way over to the door, steadying himself against its frame beside her for a moment as the ship thrashed violently again.

"Is Jean Bart already with Bepo?" He asked, looking over her head at Connor as he waited for the floor to level out enough for him to move.

"Yeah, they've been in the cockpit together since we left." He replied, holding onto the opposite side of the doorframe with one hand and Nayla with the other as she struggled to maintain her own footing.

Nodding in approval at that, Penguin looked out the door as they just about heard the faint echo of hurried footsteps over the raging storm, glimpsing movement at the top of the staircase down the hall. Launching himself out the door towards it, Penguin called up ahead. "Captain! Wait up!"

Watching him go and leaning heavily against the wall, Nayla bit her lips with worry. She hadn't seen the men this serious since they'd gone to retrieve Jake from Nefari.

Turning to look back into the room as she saw some crewmembers get up, she glanced up ahead at the portholes they were struggling to stumble towards, nothing but a wall of wildly rushing water visible through them.

"We're riding waves like a surfboard..."

"No wonder we're tilting this much."

"What is Bepo doing? Can't he get us off these so we can level out?"

"Don't you think he woulda if he coulda? Idiot."

"We should get prepared for a submersion." Connor spoke up loudly from above her head, getting their attention.

"You think Captain'll order us to dive?"

"Yeah. If we're riding this badly with both Bepo _and_ Jean Bart at the helm, it's not gonna get any better. Chances are Captain'll think it's less dangerous to try diving and order it soon - as soon as that Sea King is dead and not gonna follow us. So let's be ready for it."

"Beats sitting around here being useless. Come on lads, let's go get things ready just in case."

Confused as to what they intended to do, seeing as they didn't normally do anything special before submerging, Nayla glanced up at Connor as the men agreed and began moving painstakingly towards the door, using the bolted furnishings to help keep them upright as they crossed the room. "Like what?" She asked quietly.

"We'll shift some cargo to help manoeuvrability, get torpedoes loaded and ready - 'case we need 'em, man the cannons upstairs - the hatches have been modified so they _can_ be used underwater though it's not ideal. Still good enough to blast any rocks we careen towards because of waves, that overgrown trout outside, et cetera." He replied, pulling her away from the open doorway gently as the men piled out to go man their stations, ready for their captain's probable order.

Taking up where he had gripped the doorframe as he gestured for her to do so, she watched him let go of it and start to make his way out of the room as well. "What should I do?"

"You stay here and stay safe, sweetie. That's all you need to do." He called back with a smile before following the other crewmembers as they made their way carefully towards the staircase on the tilted flooring, some descending and some ascending to go see to their preparations.

"…Be careful." She called after him reluctantly, feeling useless, uncertain and abruptly alone as she looked around the evacuated room; books beginning to spill onto the carpeting and the bottled drinks clanking against one another noisily within their railed shelves and cupboards at the bar.

Just as she decided to attempt to cross the slanted room to try to take a seat and wait it out she found herself slamming back first into the doorframe again as the sub was thrown nearly onto its side, the high rising wave they were caught on rushing heavily and loudly against the porthole glass as another roar of thunder echoed out above.

More of her weight on the wall than on the floor, Nayla pushed herself up, too worried to even entertain the idea of trying again to reach the bean bag to sit around and do nothing. Biting her lower lip in thought, she looked out into the hallway, unsure of how to be useful or at least keep herself distracted from fretting too much.

Feeling the sub level out just a little more, she swallowed anxiously as she made her way out into the hall. Trotting over towards the staircase quickly before the sub decided to sail sideways again, she grabbed the railing, supporting herself as she began making her way up.

Maybe she could at least be on the same floor as the men manning the cannons; she couldn't help but feel a little immature at needing their company to feel reassured. The sensation she felt as she reached the first floor landing akin to what a scared child might feel during a bad storm as they ran to their parent's bedroom for a false sense of security. Though maybe she shouldn't be too hard on herself, she never had been good at coping with sailing or all its drawbacks, she'd never once claimed to be a seafarer and this situation right now would be a good example as to why.

Just as she was about to make her way down the corridor, she caught a glimpse of a characteristically slightly-blue tint in her periphery. Looking up the staircase leading to the main deck, she contemplated the edge of Law's Room before tentatively beginning her ascent.

She didn't have the training or expertise to be able to help with the vessel's turrets, torpedoes or cannons and would probably only get in the way of the men who knew what they were doing…If she _were_ able to be useful anywhere than it'd probably be with the Sea King…maybe. She'd never fought one but doubted she could effectively reach it with any of her attacks and was pretty sure she'd probably just end up throwing her blades into the ocean for naught, which was why she didn't bother going to Law's quarters first to retrieve them...But maybe this would be a good opportunity to watch _him_ fight one. To learn something, come up with a plan of her own that suited her attack style so that she would hopefully be less useless than she was now should this ever happen again. She was already planning on talking to the guys after this to teach her how to use some of the battle equipment on board as well.

Feeling a sudden draft hit her as she reached the top of the steps, her hair was whipped back in the forceful, icy gusts as she began entering Law's Devil Fruit's space. Spotting the unlocked metal hatch of the main entrance up ahead, Nayla squinted her eyes against the chilly air that threatened tears, holding her hands over her ears to soften the deafening roar of the tumultuous waters outside, the pelting of sheets of rain as they battered the sides of the ship, the thundering overhead and the piercing howls of the storm's winds as it blasted past the opening of the doorway. The combination nearly completely smothering the sound of Penguin's voice as he strained it in his efforts to yell above it all.

Unable to make out what it was he was saying, nor the sound of his captain's reply, she ran down the rest of the hallway to the entrance quickly, feeling the floorboards beneath her beginning to tilt as they started to ascend another swell in the ocean. Only just reaching it in time, she climbed into the space between the two doors that made up the sub's main airlock, stumbling over clumsily to one of the portholes on either side of the external hatch and gripping onto its slightly protruding windowsill as she looked outside onto the deck.

It was difficult to see anything through the torrent of rain sliding down the glass but the most alarming and obvious sight was the high curve of water towering dozens of feet in the air above the surface of one side of the deck. The crew had been right, the ship was near enough being pulled up into the violent waves, riding them side-on, just like a surfboard would. That definitely did explain the extreme inclines they were suffering.

Penguin wasn't far out onto the deck, he sounded as though he was barely a foot away from the outer door calling out to his captain, but it was still difficult to hear the words intelligibly over the incredible amount of noise. What she _could_ hear was the frantic voice of Bepo and the deeper, calmer though not calm, voice of Jean Bart echoing from the voicepipe beside the inner door.

"We need to get off this wave! Hard to starboard! Starboard! We'll sail down it!"

"That's a losing fight, we've tried that already, the water is being pulled up into the wave too fast for us to out sail!"

Squinting a little more, Nayla searched for Law until she finally saw him at the far end of the deck, barely visible through the tremendous amount of rain pelting down outside and the faintness of the daylight as it struggled to pierce through the thick clouds overhead that had seemed to have come out of nowhere so suddenly.

"We should try sailing directly into it, break through the waters and ride down the back of the wave."

"We can't do that! Captain's on deck and the main hatch is open! He'll get swept overboard and we'll get flooded!"

"After Captain's dealt with the Sea King of course!"

Tuning out the distressed back and forth between the navigators in the cockpit as they deliberated on the best course of action, she took in the sight of Law eagerly. Despite the constant movement of the surface beneath him, he was admirably holding his own on the wet, slanting deck, nodachi drawn and glinting proudly, even in the dim overcast outside. Unashamed to admit her own awe at his bravery to be out there in those conditions alone, she found some of her own shakiness at the situation subsided, reassured by his strong, steeled stance and powerful presence.

He was facing the opposite side of the high-rising water behind him. Apparently the Sea King that had picked just about the most inopportune moment that it possibly could have to attack was on that side of the ship, though she wasn't able to see much of it off the side of the railing from the porthole.

Only just making out the movement of Law's lips as he seemingly slashed at the air, she heard Penguin yell an affirmative before running back inside, straight towards the voice pipe and double-taking her in shock as he ran past her.

"Nayla-chan! You should be downstairs! It's dangerous up here!" He scolded, before rushing to the inner door, not waiting for a reply from her before relaying his urgent message. Not that she was going to offer one, it'd be a waste of precious time to argue about whether she should be there or not in such a dire situation.

"Oi, Bepo! Captain wants you to dive!"

"B-But he's-!"

"He's nearly done, he's gonna port himself back inside. He wants you to start diving – now!"

Making her way back to the inner door carefully, she peered around the side of it, impressed with how astutely Law's crew had predicted his orders and had already begun preparing for them. Taking in Penguin's appearance properly as she caught his eye, she realised he was absolutely soaked, even by just standing near the doorway for the short amount of time that he did.

"A-Aye aye! Seal the hatches!" Bepo reluctantly agreed.

"Right!" Penguin affirmed, running back into the airlock beside her to pull shut the heavy, steel outer door. Its violent slam as the rabid winds outside assisted its closure echoing sharply in the small room they stood in.

"W-Wait, you aren't _really_ closing the door on him are you?!" Nayla stuttered out walking back over to him, eyes wide as she watched him quickly turn the circular handle to seal the entrance closed.

"We don't have much choice, Nayla-chan. The thing's nearly dead and the ship's gonna go under or hit one of the rock formations around here if we keep getting tossed about like this, every second counts."

Staring at the metal as an inexplicable sensation of dread nestled in her chest, she numbly felt him grip her arm and hurry her back towards the inner door of the air lock. "B-But-!"

"I'm not happy about it either, but it's Captain's direct order." He cut off, his tone harsh and his face uncharacteristically troubled as he walked back into the hallway.

Feeling as though stepping over the threshold after him to allow him to close the inner door as well would somehow seal Law's fate, she hesitated, looking back at the shut half of the hatch unsurely.

Noticing her resistance to his tug, Penguin looked down at her worried face as she turned to face him silently again. Sighing a little at that and at his slightly abrupt behaviour, he let go of her, resting a hand to each of her shoulders instead. "Don't worry, you know how fast Captain can move himself. He'll be back inside before we even get downstairs." He smiled, attempting to ease her obvious concern a little.

Opening her mouth to reply she felt her shoulder slam harshly into the side of the airlock as the ship tilted suddenly and completely onto its side. "Pen!"

Narrowly missing the hand she reached out to grab him with, he fell down the hall, planting his hands and feet to the wooden floorboards in an attempt to slow his slam to the wall at the end of the corridor. Grunting as he landed, he scrunched his eyes shut tightly in pain.

"Penguin! Are you ok?!" She called down to him, kneeling onto the wall of the airlock, finding the sudden shift in the direction of gravity disorienting.

"I'm fine, are you al-…" His yell back trailed off as they both watched the slight blue-ish tint in the air around them flicker than disappear. There was a moment of pregnant pause between them, her heartbeat suddenly so much louder than the storm outside or the alarms ringing out overhead that signalled the start of their submersion.

"...He-He's probably teleported inside."

Numbly taking in the uncertainty on his face and in his voice, Nayla got up on shaky legs and ran further back into the airlock towards the external door.

"O-Oi! Nayla-chan!..." Struggling to climb up the smooth, now vertical floorboards back up to her, he grit his teeth in frustration trying to call after her again. "Nayla-chan!"

Ignoring his frantic yell after her, she stumbled over the piping and other adornments of the wall she was now walking on, tripping and catching herself on the windowsill of the porthole as she reached it. Panting in her panic and efforts as she looked through it, she frantically searched the deck outside.

She wasn't sure what she was hoping to see. If she didn't see him, then maybe Law _had_ used Shambles to re-enter the sub - not seeing him could be good news. If she did see him, than for some reason he no longer had his Room up - that could be bad news, but at least she'd be able to _see_ he was alright.

Nervously scanning over the empty deck, over and over again her heart leapt to her throat as she barely caught sight of the sheath of his nodachi at the railing through the near-whiteout of the heavy rain. Feeling the engines of the sub roar more heavily beneath her feet as it struggled to begin plunging into the waters below them, she quickly reached for the door. He wouldn't have teleported in and left his weapon behind on deck; something was very, very wrong and they were already submerging.

"Nayla-ch-NAYLA! DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! WE'RE DIVING!"

Nearly losing her grip on the thick steel as the wind blew it open for her, she turned back at the sound of Penguin's much closer voice, seeing him struggling to climb up the floor and back into the airlock with her.

"Law's still outside! I'll close it, seal it behind me! He can teleport us both back in!"

"He's-?! WAIT!"

Stepping out onto the wet deck, Nayla fought against the gale force winds to shut the hatch behind her, having to use her ability to overpower the elements and their efforts to keep blowing it open. Almost immediately soaked through by the downpour, she glanced over at the sheath, its black colour thankfully standing out against the white paint of the railing or else she may never have seen it.

Pushing her wet hair out of the way as it whipped around her face she squinted at it, trying to quickly piece together the situation. That side of the ship was the lower one, close to the water in its current slant. Maybe Law had dropped it and it had fallen and caught itself horizontally against the vertical columns of the railing?

Just as she was about to turn away and look for him in the opposite direction on that theory, her eyes widened in panic as she faintly made out the tattooed hand gripping the sheath tightly in its middle. He had fallen over the side of the railing. He was holding onto the ship by his trapped sheath. Worse still, he was touching the water.

Realising that for his Room to have faded that he must be significantly dipped into the sea, she rapidly eased herself to the severely inclined deck, trying to make her way down to him as quickly as she could, wondering just how much of him was in the ocean, how weakened he was right now and how much longer he would be able to hold on.

"LAW!" There was probably no way he could hear her over the storm. The wind was probably carrying her feeble, panicked voice away.

Her inward prayer for the ship to miraculously right itself so that he would be pulled out of the water went unanswered as she felt the ship beneath her beginning to descend into the wave it was currently stuck riding on.

"LAW! HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER I'M-!" Losing the rest of her sentence to a scream, Nayla slid down the near-vertical deck as she lost her grip, slamming harshly knee-first into the railing beside the tip of his sheath with an agonised hiss.

Ignoring the pain and lending herself entirely to her adrenaline to keep her moving, she quickly crawled and scrambled over to the two columns his hand was reaching between. Summoning her ability, she gripped his wrist securely, looking down through the space in the railing at his shocked face as he gaped up at her. He was nearly waist deep in the sea below him.

"NAYLA?! A-ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" He shouted up at her angrily as she reached her other hand over the top of the wood dividing them to try to grip his clothing – to use it to pull him up and over the railing and out of the water so that he could utilise his Devil Fruit and get them both back inside safely.

"ARE YOU?!" She screamed back, annoyed by his furious greeting. "Yell at me later! Just ge-!"

Trailing off in horror as a dark shadow suddenly loomed over them, she read the situation on his face without needing to turn around; his features betraying his own shock as he looked past and above her. The enormous, towering wave that was about to break over them and wash them into the ocean reflected clearly in his steel grey eyes.

"NAYLA! W-?!"

Able to snap from his momentary paralysis as he saw his friend unknowingly put himself in harm's way, Law yelled past her at Penguin as he peered out from the hatch. "CLOSE THE D-!" Was all he was able to get out and was the last thing she heard before feeling the cold, wet weight of tonnes of sea water crash over them both.


	60. Laughter is the best medicine

Stifling a pained cry as the waves forced her to collide back-first into another grating mound of coral; Nayla struggled to push off of it, trying to make use of what was left of the wave's momentum to help keep moving them in the right direction. A few more and they could get close enough to the drab rock formation up ahead to finally get out of the water.

She was unsure of how long they had been in the cold, numbing sea but even the slightest additional exertion now was exhaustive. It would seem that it was still a little too early to use her ability properly; she'd had to use much of her _own_ stamina and strength to fight against waves that grew higher than the sub, the violent winds, the downpour of rain and try to stay head above water in the torrential, chaotic ocean. It had been hard enough to do for just herself, but to do it for two had drained her completely.

At first, it had seemed disastrous to have been swept so far from the ship by just the one wave that had knocked them overboard, but she soon realised it to be a blessing in disguise as she thought of how easily they could have been dragged down to the stormy depths had they been beside it during its submersion.

She'd lost sight of it quickly after it entered the water, they had been turned and tossed around so much that she couldn't even tell which direction it was in anymore. If Penguin had told the navigators what had happened, she wasn't sure whether they had chosen to resurface or not in the storm. If they had, it was likely she and Law had simply been too far away between towering waves to have possibly seen it even if they had been facing its way. Whatever happened after they'd been forced from the railing, she knew the crew would be looking for them, that they were probably focusing all the equipment they had on board right now to detect them and search for them in the surrounding water.

Wrapping her arms more tightly around Law as another wave came, the hard edge of his nodachi's sheath beginning to wear painfully against her ribs between them, she cradled the back of his head protectively as they were swept past more of the fragmented coral reef surrounding the shallow shoreline of the makeshift island. It was extremely difficult to see them in the choppy water and dim overcast and even harder to avoid them.

Releasing him with one arm as the worst of it passed, Nayla tried her best to paddle and kick towards the coast, to get them onto land. They'd been overboard for at least an hour, but with the tiring struggle against the elements to stay afloat it had felt like the longest one she had ever endured. Her muscles were beginning to seize and cramp, the crippling chill of the water not helping in the slightest. For an area renowned for having so many underwater volcanoes, she couldn't understand how the water could still be so icy. It made her wonder if island they were heading to had anything to do with it. It must be bitterly cold if its climate's effect could outweigh that of multiple hydrothermal vents this far out.

Glancing up at the sky as she awkwardly swam whilst holding onto Law; she noticed the rain had gotten much calmer now. It had been so dense earlier that it had been genuinely difficult to tell they'd successfully resurfaced after each wave that swept them under. Either they or the storm had moved a significant distance; it was hard to know which out on the open sea.

Panting in her long, tiring efforts she coughed as a small splash of water sloshed up her chin and managed to get into her nose and mouth through her ragged breathing. Looking down at Law, his head pressed silently to her chest, she wondered how much water _he_ had taken in if she had managed the amount she had. She didn't want to imagine it, she hoped he was alright. She'd done her best to keep his head above the waves.

Although he'd been holding onto her in the beginning, he was completely limp now. It had terrified her when she'd felt his hands slip from her back and begin to trail by her sides loosely, but the feel of his struggled breaths and coughs against her chest had let her know he was still ok, just incredibly weakened by the prolonged immersion. It was equal parts frightening and distressing to see a man she knew to be so strong in such a vulnerable state.

Biting her lip as she looked down at the wet mess of his black hair beneath her chin, she pulled him up higher, held him tighter and pushed herself to use every ounce of energy she had left and to endure the burning sensation her ability was currently causing her arms and legs to get them to shore.

The rock formation wasn't very big, but it'd do, anything would do. There seemed to be a lot in this area of water; she could see a few others a little further off around them. On this one, she could fortunately see a very small amount of flattened, slightly sandy beach, some sparse incidental foliage that had miraculously been able to plant and thrive in the shallow, fertile dirt that had collected on it over what could only have been years and the steep, ocean-worn rocky walls that would make up their sanctuary from the harsh ocean of The Grand Line.

Blinking the splash of stinging salt water from her eyes, she felt another tug on the ocean surrounding her feet; the sea pulling up to form another small wave. Turning to face it, she held Law securely, waiting for it. "We're nearly there, Law. Hold your breath for a sec if you can." She managed out quietly against his scalp, even the effort of talking taking too much of her breath.

This one should thankfully be the last they needed to give them the final push all the way to land. Holding her breath as it washed over them, she shook her head free of the surface, pulling Law up with her as the strong momentum rapidly swept them to the rock formation.

Stumbling as she felt her heels begin to touch sand, Nayla was unable to stand, her weary legs failing to bear any of her weight against the force of the water still pushing against them. Rushed clumsily off her feet, she washed ashore with the wave, Law still in tow as her back beached onto the cold, wet sand.

Her body finally giving in to its fatigue as the water receded around them to rejoin the ocean, she rest her head back, eyes closing to the rain still drizzling down on them from above as she panted for air.

Hearing Law groan quietly against her chest as he rest his hands to the beach on either side of her, she opened her eyes again tiredly, looking down at him as he started to shift.

Relieved to see him painstakingly lean himself onto his forearms to lift his head, she watched silently as he breathed heavily for air as well, eyes closed and skin drained of its usual bronze hue – though she wasn't sure if that was because of the weakening effect he'd had to endure for so long or because of the chilly waters. He looked as exhausted as she felt, making her wonder just how terrible submersion must feel for a Devil Fruit user.

Feeling another wave break upon the shore, it ran past them, the frigid salt water rushing past her ears and swirling through her hair but she was too tired to care or to move, what little energy she still had remaining was spent observing the man hovering above her carefully, blocking the rain from reaching her face though the drops from his saturated locks dripped freely onto it instead.

Finally recovering enough breath to speak, she slid one of the hands she still had loosely around him up to his face, pushing back his soaked, overhanging bangs from his forehead gently. "Hey…" Stilling as he felt her fingers run through his hair, he opened his eyes to look down at her. "Are you ok?"

Seeming to contemplate her intensely for a moment as his laboured breathing eased, he closed his eyes again, lifting his weight from her as he rolled onto the beach beside her tiredly. "…I'm fine."

Satisfied with that, she closed her own eyes too, sighing deeply in relief and feeling the rain patter in delicate drops over her skin as another wave churned around them, moulding and remoulding the sand beneath their backs in its motion.

…

"Two to one." She rasped out exhaustedly.

Furrowing his brows at that, Law turned his head to look at her. "…What?"

"Two to one. If I save you one more time, we're even."

Slowly recalling his mild teasing about their 'score' after saving her from the flooding compartment of his sub, he blinked in disbelief at the growing smile on her face as she lay there, eyes still closed. He couldn't decide whether he should be annoyed or relieved to hear her stupid sense of humour. "...Idiot."

Hearing her laugh at his abrupt insult, the sound almost music to his ears, he decided it was the latter. A small smile making its way onto his own face too as he sighed at her silly, inappropriate giggle. "I thought you said you weren't counting the second time I saved your life."

"I lied." She said simply, drinking in the sound of his quiet chuckle past the gentle roar of the water that ran over the sand beneath her head. "…Hey."

"What?"

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate the sea? Or how stupid I think Devil Fruit users are for insisting on sailing it?"

"You might have mentioned it." He humoured, watching her open her eyes and turn her head to face him.

"Good, just making it clear."

Taking in the small, playful yet pure smile on her face as she gazed at him, he couldn't help but feel an incredible sense of ease. For her to be talking to him like this, to be looking at him like that…for him to be the person she was wearing that smile for and laughing like this with.

Eyes drifting to the reddened, tender-looking lines on her arm, the curved, swirled pattern matching the tracks he was more familiar with seeing her ability course through, he furrowed his brows.

"It's still a little early to use my ability." She offered before he could ask. "Shouldn't have been surprised. One month or so of rest is enough for three weeks using it, might take a little longer for four."

"Are you going to be alright?" Recalling how she had said she'd sooner kill herself than Kuma would have if she'd chosen to use it against him on Sabaody; he glanced back up at her face.

"Yeah, it's just a little sore. The redness will be gone within the hour…The sooner I try it again after a prolonged use, the more severe the damage. It's been long enough since Pugna now for it to not be too bad." She added on, seeming to read his inner question.

Watching him firmly press his lips together into a frown as he looked back down at her arm, she laughed at his concerned, disbelieving expression. "I swear its fine, it just burns a little to use it at the moment. That's all."

Taking that and the reassuring smile she wore for his benefit in, he felt his fists clench as a sudden, unpleasant, overwhelming amount of emotion and guilt swelled in his chest. Closing his eyes, he gave in to his need to say something to her that he had wanted to say for the longest time. "…Nayla…I'm s-"

Stopping and reopening his eyes as he felt her delicate little fingers slide into his palm, he looked at her questioningly as her features softened. "…It's ok…I always did say you were an awkward weirdo with a crush."

Brows lowering as her smile widened playfully, he squeezed the hand she had slipped into his gently as he closed his eyes and scoffed quietly. The weight that he'd been burdened with for over a month, the gloomy shadow that had seemed to overhang him relentlessly, the dull ache that he'd carried around in his chest, the longing and the regrets, all gone, as if they had never been there, in a matter of a few sentences and the simplest of physical gestures. He never thought he'd feel so grateful, so thankful for another person's forgiveness and understanding; or so relieved to be understood without words by someone he'd never anticipated it from.

"…Still waiting on that apology for knocking me out cold and dragging me on board your ship though, pirate." She giggled quietly to herself as she watched a small grin appear on his face.

"Then you'll be waiting for it for a long time."

"Aww come on, I think you owe me that one too." She pressed, enjoying the gentle amusement in his gaze as he looked at her again, one of the kindest, softest smiles she'd ever seen gracing his lips.

"I already told you, I only apologise for things I'm actually sorry for."

"And you aren't?" She asked, setting the nodachi that had been resting on her stomach to the sand on her other side.

"If you're asking me if I'm sorry I brought you aboard my ship, then I'm not. You'll never get an apology for that…" Watching the playful expression on her face fade and her brows rise in surprise, he chuckled at her rare, stunned silence.

Huffing at his laughter, she slid her fingers between his. For once, happy to embrace the warm, fuzzy sensation that enveloped her as she gazed quietly at him. Neither the waning storm surrounding them, nor the physical discomfort of her cold and exhaustion could possibly dampen the joy and contentment she felt in that moment.

"Aren't you at least sorry you whacked me in the head?" She muttered half-heartedly.

"Considering how much trouble you've given me since? No. I wish I had enjoyed it more at the time."

"Ass." She pouted, enjoying the deep, smooth rumble of his chuckle as he squeezed her hand gently.

Feeling some remorse of her own begin to surface as they looked at one another, she chewed her lower lip guiltily, tasting the salt on it before deciding that she probably owed him an apology as well. "…I'm sorry I assumed the worst of you. You probably deserved better…considering all you've done for me."

Not anticipating that, he thought over her words for a moment, wondering where they had come from before responding. "No, you were right to. I am a pirate after all. That should say enough about my character to you…Don't expect much of me, Nayla."

Reading between the lines of the seemingly out of place latter part of his sentence, she smiled. Finding his kindly spoken, small, subtle, honest admission of his emotional ineptitude incredibly endearing but moved graciously past it. "Hmm, if occupation dictates character then I wonder what mine makes you expect of me."

"I expect to have my decapitated head impaled on my own mast the next time I upset you and let my guard down." Despite his remnant annoyance at her behaviour on Pugna, he felt his half-grumpy expression lessen as she laughed at the thought. "…Did you _really_ feel that much better after punching me like that?"

"Yes."

He blinked at her complete lack of hesitation as she grinned widely at him. "You're supposed to say 'no.' You could have put a hole through my gut." He muttered.

"You never heard the saying 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?' Maybe I was just expressing my affection for _you_ as awkwardly as you did for me." Pursing her lips together tightly, she tried not to laugh at the way he narrowed his eyes and deadpanned at her.

"That's not even funny."

"About as funny as telling me to 'come back in one piece' right after splitting me into two of them." She retorted.

It hadn't been something she'd processed at the time, but it _had_ been what he'd said to her that night as he'd walked away with her heart. It was initially a meaningless thing she'd remembered in the days following but the more she thought of it, of the way he'd said it, the near-sorrow and gravity in his tone, the guarded look he'd had on his face as he'd walked away, the more meaning it had held.

"Only _you_ would find the poor humour in that phrasing…" He mumbled, his mood sobering somewhat as she brought up that moment. He thought about that night, about all the things he'd wanted to ask her and decided to ask the one thing he'd most regretted missing his opportunity to. "Nayla…"

"Hmm?"

"What did you mean that night, when you said you wanted to remember me and the crew as we are?"

Sensing something very personal occupy her thoughts, he watched her seem to deliberate whether to trust him with something close to her heart a second time. He wouldn't be surprised if she decided not to, he would understand her reluctance. Perhaps he'd need to rebuild that level of trust with her again and he honestly wouldn't mind doing so.

Just as he was sure she wouldn't answer, she spoke. "This will probably sound like the coldest, most horrible thing I have ever said…but I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, wish that my father had died instead of walking out on me."

Not expecting his question to have had anything to do with that man in the least, he listened intently as she allowed him to let that seemingly dark statement sink in.

"If he had died that day instead, I could have still loved him…I could have kept and treasured all those wonderful childhood memories I had of him. Looked back on them and felt some kind of peace, comfort and joy in knowing that although he was gone now that he had been a wonderful man, a caring and doting father, someone who had loved me unconditionally."

Already foreseeing her reasoning Law remained quiet, anticipating she was about to give him the last piece of the puzzle to her that he hadn't been able to make fit on his own.

"I look back at those memories now and question them all. Everything feels so tainted and fake…because if any of that had been real, then he would never have been capable of doing what he did…" Sighing sadly, she turned away from Law choosing to look up at the fading drizzle instead, knowing he was already connecting the dots as to why she was telling him this without her needing to spell it out. "…It would have been easier for me, if he had just died. As a 'good father,' without me knowing any better and with me being able to draw strength and happiness from all the times we'd shared for the rest of my life…He left me with nothing to hold onto."

Falling into quietness, he mulled that over, drawing the parallel that she had intended to answer what he had asked. Inadvertently, he also finally had the answer to the one question about her behaviour that he hadn't been able to discern before. Why she had constantly attempted to leave, despite being happy aboard his vessel. Why she insisted on isolating herself in life, despite obviously being so lonely by herself.

She was frightened. Not of becoming too close to others, her relationships with his crewmembers denied that notion. She was scared of other things. Of them turning their backs on her when she needed them, of thinking they cared for her when they didn't…staying too long only gave them more opportunity to finally let her down.

"You really believe we'll betray you in some way?"

"…I think that even nice people, with the best of intentions will eventually disappoint you. Whether they mean to or not. It's just inevitable…Which is why I try to enjoy things whilst I can and move on before it's spoiled…I like you and I like your crew and I want to feel the same way months or even years from now when I look back at this time in my life. I want to still be able to laugh when I think of those goofs…I want to still be able to smile when I think of you…"

Although a part of him felt flattered and pleasantly surprised she felt that way about him, he couldn't help but feel it was all incredibly sad. How many times over had she done this?...He wondered how long she would carry on living in such an unsettled and restless way. Constantly travelling, continually forming relationships and memories with people then running away immediately, clutching onto them in fear of losing them.

"…I wouldn't underestimate my crew." Earning nothing but a noncommittal hum of disbelief from her, he said nothing more.

Even if he wanted to, it wasn't his place to say anything about how she lived her life or to point out that no one could live off of memories alone – that memories couldn't give her company, that they could never truly be there for her, support her or protect her, as real loved ones would. He didn't need to point out the glaring flaws of her twisted logic, her sombre expression and avoidance of his gaze as she continued to look up at the sky told him that she already knew…but _knowing_ something and _feeling_ something else was a sensation he'd grown all too familiar with himself over the last month or so.

Sighing under his breath, he looked up at the fading light of the late afternoon overcast. Out of everything that had happened to her, everything she had witnessed and been through…It was her father that had left her with the worst wound. It was a far deeper emotional scar than Law had ever imagined.

"…I never did get to ask _my_ one last question that night ya know."

Pulled from his own inner thoughts, he looked back at her, recalling that he'd agreed to answer one more in exchange for the last thing he had asked her. He'd correctly assumed she'd wanted to use her last question to know who the target of his goal was and had denied answering it. "…You actually remembered that?"

"One 'free answer' card from the infamous scoundrel Trafalgar Law? How could I forget."

Smirking at the sleepy amusement on her face as she looked back at him, he did fairly concede that although he'd refused to answer her question, she never did ask another in its place and she'd answered more than her fair share of his. "What do you want to ask me?"

"I'd like to keep it, for later. I just wanted to remind you of it."

He thought about it for a moment as he watched her nestle her head to the side again, her blinks growing longer as her tiredness began to overcome her. "…Alright, Nayla." Feeling his own smile grow as hers did at hearing his response, he chuckled. Relieved, happy and satisfied.

Seeing her breathing starting to slow and her eyelids beginning to fail to reopen, he pushed himself to sit up. She was absolutely spent, he needed to get them out of the water and further ashore. The mock-paralysis of numbness making his movement difficult, he suppressed a groan as his muscles objected. Forcing himself to move, to ease them and warm himself up, he leant over her, reaching for the nodachi on her other side and glancing down as she spoke softly.

"Hey, Law?…You can have my heart whenever you want it, all you have to do is ask."

Grip slackening on his sheath, he felt his jaw drop slightly as she smiled up at him. Before he could even contemplate whether her double meaning had been intentional or whether it had been in his own head, she thankfully derailed the train of thought altogether as she spoke again.

"…Could even say that you're a 'man after my own heart.'"

"Idiot." He reiterated, though he couldn't help the tug at the corner of his lips as she laughed again. "Don't you have any jokes besides ridiculous idioms and puns?" He muttered, mildly annoyed at how easily the slightest of words from her could make his breath catch in his throat as he lifted his weapon from the sand.

"Plenty, wanna he-?"

"No." He cut off, resting his sword to the crook of his neck securely.

"Fine, but if you ever remove my heart again, could you at least be more careful when you do it next time?"

Looking at her in surprise, he momentarily halted sliding his hands beneath her lower back and knees. "More careful?" He was sure he had done it slowly enough for her not to have passed out or experienced any severe discomfort.

Not fighting or questioning his help as he lifted her from the sand bridal style and stood, she looped her arms tiredly around his neck. "Yeah, you have any idea how difficult it was for me to try to make my boobs look even when you took such a massive chunk out of one like that? Geez, I swear it was the most annoying part of the whole thing."

" _That's_ what you were worried about?" He scolded, looking down at her incredulously as he began to walk up the short beach.

"Don't say it like it wasn't a big deal. No amount of padding could freaking fix that. You-oh." Seeming to remember something, she released his neck to reach her hands beneath the hem of her top, causing him to raise a brow at her. "You left me lopsided for a damn month, it was a complete pain." She grumbled pulling a familiar, flattened, soaked wad of white fur out from its secure tuck into the waistband of her skirt.

Surprised to see it, assuming it to be long gone with the wave that had knocked them overboard, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that she'd spent even an ounce of her energy saving it, considering the dire situation they had been in. "Really, Nayla?"

"What? It seems important to you."

…

Narrowing her eyes at his unimpressed stare, she stopped holding it out over her side, deciding _not_ to wring it out of its excess moisture and plopped it heavily onto his head instead.

Sighing as the sodden material hung lowly over his eyes, fresh drops of sea water streaming down his face, he watched her look up at him in satisfaction as she resumed her hold around his neck.

"…Thank you." He grudgingly mumbled, admittedly grateful that he hadn't lost it.

Laughing quietly at his defeated expression, she leant up. "You're welcome,-" Kissing his cheek she smiled as she felt his pulling at the wet, salty flesh beneath her lips. "-jerk." She finished, earning a chuckle from him as she rest her head tiredly to his shoulder, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of his long, steady strides and warm hold.

* * *

Rushing water was the first thing she heard and the severe chill that seeped deeply into her bones was the first thing she felt as Nayla sluggishly stirred.

There was an echo to the sound and a rhythmic, delicate clinking accompaniment. Looking around tiredly in confusion, she realised that the darkness wasn't due to her sight taking too long to adjust or her exhaustion, that it and the echo was being caused by the craggily, rock walls around her.

Pushing up from lying on her side she grimaced, looking down at the soggy sand beneath her fingers. There was a sticky, uncomfortable sensation of dried and drying sand scratching over the back of her body as she moved; she didn't even want to think of how much she had in her hair. Groaning under her breath at the chore of trying to get it all out that she'd have later, she sat up, looking over at the wide mouth of the small cave she was in.

It was only mildly higher than the shoreline, she could see the small beach down slope from there and the now-calm sea stretched out to the horizon. The large, steep, towering walls of the rock formation they had landed on extended out from the sides of the entrance, sea-carved layers upon layers of sedimentary rock that she would have liked to have gotten up and take a look at but didn't feel as though her legs would comply.

Settling for briefly admiring the natural beauty from where she was and the way the dying daylight made the moist, fragile plant life that had so delicately implanted on its surface shine she pulled her gaze away to inspect the inside of the cave instead.

It was shallow, the end of it visible as the sandy floor gradually descended towards the back, disappearing beneath a stream of sea water that ran through the gaps of both side walls. The sound of the waves flowing beneath and through the fissures of the rock formation was strangely soothing. The sound of the water that ran down the cave's walls from above to meet it, even more so. The rainwater that had landed upon the higher parts of the stony faux-island they had beached on was making its way down, wearing the rock walls away in its own stunning and musical way.

Captivated by the flickering shines of the water in motion over the grey rocks, she was reminded of the equally captivating glint of a certain pirate's stunning, blue-grey irises. More awake at the reminder, she looked around more actively, wondering what had happened to Law and spotted his nodachi resting against the wall behind her, his hat hung on its hilt.

Pushing off of it, she looked down at her legs as they struggled against the crippling numbness and noticed how saturated her clothing still was in sea water; she can't have been asleep for long if they were still this wet. Failing to get to her tired feet, she settled for her knees, wincing at the bruising on them as she recalled her fall to the railing and shuffled the short distance she needed to get to the mouth of the cave. Resting a hand to the cool, rough rock beside her, Nayla scanned the beach, relieved to find that Law wasn't that far, walking back towards her in fact, and carrying a small bundle of wood in his arms.

His brows rising as he saw her, he returned the slight smile she gave him as she rest her other hand to the wall, waiting for him to get close enough to hear her. "Are we going to be ok? This island doesn't look inhabitable."

"That's because it isn't. It's a rock formation, barely any life on it at all. There was hardly enough dry tinder for a fire." He replied levelly, dropping the load he was carrying to the ground beside her as he came to a stop at the cave's entrance.

Obviously sanded, waxed, painted and carved planks wood, some still with nails in them. Scraps of wreckage from less fortunate crews that had perished in the surrounding waters, a grim reminder of how fortunate they had been to survive the storm they did.

With no fresh water, no animals, hardly any plants and barely enough resources to start a fire, it didn't look like they'd be able to survive for long. Even the shelter they had taken was no good. The fact that the sea cave even existed meant that the water rose to this level, its presence a testament to many years of gradual erosion by the surrounding ocean.

Swallowing uncomfortably at the thought of their fate now, she wondered how long they'd be able to live like this as she watched Law crouch and dig a shallow hole into the sand. She'd been so thankful to have made it to land earlier and even more relieved to know that Law was ok, that they were ok, that she hadn't even dwelled on what would happen now.

"If we don't have enough for another fire, maybe we should make this one a little deeper inside the cave. Further away from the entrance to keep it safe from the wind and rain?" She suggested, looking up at the sky at that thought, a few scarce drops still falling here and there.

"If I did that it would make it more difficult for the submarine that's searching for us on the next rock formation over to see it."

Glancing up at her as she whipped her head back down to him in excitement, he smiled at the wide grin on her face. "Seriously?!"

"Yeah. They'll be here soon."

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she closed her eyes, resting her head to her hand against the wall. "Thank goodness…"

Relaxing against it, she watched him with interest as he formed the small tepee of the fire with what he'd managed to find, nestling it within the hole he'd made to protect it from the wind before moulding the sand around its perimeter into a makeshift barrier to prevent the fire from spilling where it shouldn't; a clever alternative to lining it with rocks instead. He'd done this before, many times by the looks of it. Admittedly, she was terrible at building a fire from scratch, though she had tried a fair few times.

Just as she was wondering where and when he had picked up the skill, he chuckled, looking at her as he stood and dusted his hands free of the wet sand on them. "What's so interesting about me being able to build a fire?"

"Well…" Trailing off as he walked to the other side of the cave and picked up a couple of stones, she watched him inspect them in his hands. "Just can't imagine a pirate _captain_ ever needing to make one himself, I guess."

"That would be because it was something I'd had to learn how to do _before_ I was a pirate captain." He replied neutrally, leaning down to exchange one of the rocks he held for another.

"…As a kid?"

"Yeah." But he offered no more as he inspected the new stone he picked up, seeming to approve of it as he made his way back over. "You don't know how to make a fire, Nayla?"

Crouching by the tinder, he leant by the small amount of dry kindling he'd found; some old, dry, dead plant life that must have been thankfully sheltered from the rain.

"I know how I just, don't seem to be very good at it." She mumbled quietly, watching as he struck the two rocks together, a few sparks flying as he did.

"Which part?" He asked in mild amusement.

"That part." She pointed out, as he tried again.

"If you have one of your daggers on you, then you'd probably find it easier to create a spark using _it_ instead of rocks. We're fortunate this is a sedimentary formation, there's plenty of flint available."

Setting the stones aside as the kindling successfully caught a small spark, he leant down, blowing the tiny embers gently to encourage them.

Finding herself smiling again as she watched him, she couldn't help but be impressed by his seemingly endless variety of skills and knowledge. Smart, strong, reliable…unbelievably handsome…The sight of the soft, growing glow beginning to highlight his features, his wet hair hanging low over his forehead, his muscles arms as he leant his weight on them and the way his soaked clothing clung to his lithe body nearly made her inadvertently swoon…Maybe it was just the weird elation one got after narrowly escaping death, the exhilaration of being alive that made everything seem so much more amazing than it perhaps would have otherwise…Maybe she had just swallowed too much saltwater and was deliriously dehydrated…

Peeling her eyes off of the fabric that stuck to the defined crevices of his muscled back as he stood, she watched questioningly as he made his way over to her. The small flames he'd managed to ignite, growing slowly over the wood behind him as he settled down beside her against the wall.

Without words, without reservation, without awkwardness or question, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her back to meet his chest and held her warmly.

"…What-?"

"Keeping you warm." He murmured into her hair.

Although he'd never actually said it, he hadn't needed to and she didn't particularly feel like she had to hear it. She knew he was grateful for today, she could feel it in every gesture he made, in the way his hands held her, in the way he rest his chin atop her head and in the strong, steady heartbeat she felt pressed against her back. He didn't have to say thank you in words to know he was saying them.

Smiling at that she leant against him more comfortably, relaxing in his hold and trying to seep some of his warmth into her flesh.

A slight breeze that drifted in caressed her wet clothing in the most unpleasant way, causing her to shudder a little and press more firmly into him in her retreat from it. Though without hesitation, he turned them away from the entrance slightly, taking the brunt of the chilling wind on his back as he rubbed her arms.

Biting her lower lip, she wriggled free of his hold, turning to face his questioning look before wrapping her arms around his chest tightly. "Keeping _you_ warm." She answered before he could ask, sparing him a smile before nuzzling affectionately to his neck.

His body slowly relaxing, he lowered his arms back down, wrapping them around her again with a sigh as he squeezed her to him more tightly, pressing his head to the side of hers, not trusting himself to speak anymore as they waited patiently for their rescue.

Feeling her little hands rubbing his back in her attempt to warm him, he did the same, glancing out of the entrance at the sea as he caught sight of his brightly coloured vessel beginning to enter the waters surrounding the rock formation they were on. It was only a matter of time before they or their fire were spotted. The sea was calm now, the skies were clearing. They'd be ok. Everything would be ok.

Shuddering again, despite the warm embrace and the slowly increasing heat of the growing fire behind her, Nayla couldn't wait until they were picked up, even if she would miss the excuse to hold onto him like this. It had been an unexpectedly long and strenuous day, the thought of a hot shower or even a long soak in the impressive tub in Law's bathroom was an inviting one.

…It had been a nice day though. It almost sounded crazy to her own ears, considering the storm and the near-death they'd both experienced…but the fact they had talked again, like they used to, that they had said more to one another, verbally and non-verbally today than they had over the last month, almost made the horrific experience worthwhile.

Lifting her head slightly as she caught sight of the yellow submarine over Law's arm, she smiled as she watched it sail closer to the shore, so thankful to see it. They were probably scanning every beach or every nearby formtion with the periscope, looking for signs of them.

She couldn't even begin to imagine the panic on board. How frantic and upset the crew must be with Law missing. Bepo was probably beside himself with worry; it was obvious he and Law were extremely close. Penguin and Shachi too. She wondered if those two were stoic-faced and trying their best to keep the crew together, adamantly declaring that their captain wouldn't die that easily, that he was fine and to keep looking or if they were bawling like babies right about now.

"What's so funny?" Law murmured into her hair tiredly, following her gaze as she giggled quietly and watched the vessel weave its way carefully and slowly around what she guessed was the coral her back had had the pleasure of making firm acquaintances with on their way there.

"Your crew must be sobbing their hearts out without you right now, wondering if you're ok." Feeling the huff of amusement he gave through her chest she laughed again as well.

That was an understatement; he could only imagine how much of an emotional, frantic wreck some of them were about now even though he was sure they were trying their best to remain calm. "Yeah." He quietly agreed.

"They're gonna be so happy to find you. They really love you, Law."

Glancing down at her face at the almost wistful tone of her voice, he furrowed his brows slightly. "…You don't think anyone on board has given _you_ a second thought?"

"No, don't be silly. They're one hundred percent grief-stricken over the potential loss of their beloved captain right now…That's ok though, their loyalty and thoughts will always and _should_ always be focused on you, first and foremost. Some woman they've known a few months? Please."

"…You really think that?"

"Of course." She answered firmly, glancing up at him.

"Like I said, I wouldn't underestimate my crew." He said sceptically, looking back at the sub as he heard the faint echo of a familiar alarm carried on the wind, reverberating loudly within his vessel. They were preparing to approach the beach; it looked like they had already managed to spot them.

Relieved, he turned his side back to the entrance to watch their approach as well, resting his cheek to the top of her head comfortably again as she settled and humming to himself as he watched the sub weave through the shallow waves.

"There are a lot of little coral reefs." She supplemented, as if reading his thought as he wondered what was causing them to take such a peculiar, convoluted path.

Falling into silence as they waited patiently for the crew to find a way to approach the island, he glanced down at her, content to watch her as she watched the sub. He focused on the feel of her hands still idly rubbing his back, sharing what little warmth was in them with him…and here he thought he'd never see or feel her hands on him again.

Hearing a particularly familiar sound of metal slamming against metal – his main entrance door slamming against the outside wall; an annoying pet peeve of his that he had _told_ the crew to be careful about (how many times did they have to keep touching up that part of the paintwork?), he frowned mildly as he looked back up at his vessel. Tiny figures indiscernible from this distance pouring out onto the deck as the open doorway allowed the alarm to resonate more loudly in the open air.

They were running over to the railing, talking animatedly amongst each other, though nothing was intelligible from that far, over the alarm blaring behind them or with the breeze carrying their voices in the opposite direction.

Sighing as he guessed what his probably very excited men were going to do, he almost grudgingly let go of Nayla, getting up and grabbing his sword.

Immediately missing his hold as his arms left from around her, she followed suit, leaning onto her palms to push up to stand and stopping as she saw a tattooed hand reach down in front of her face.

Looking up at him, at his gentle expression, she couldn't help but be reminded of the day he'd first held his hand out to her when she had boarded his ship all that time ago and just as before, she'd found she'd already lifted her hand to meet his without realising, silently mesmerised by his grey gaze.

Closing his fingers around hers warmly, he helped her to her feet, resting his weapon to his shoulder before sliding his other hand around her waist as she stood stiffly. Bruised, tired and cold. Patiently, he helped support her as she held onto him and gingerly walked, trying to thaw out her frozen, aching, overused muscles.

Looking up from her unsure feet as she heard the faint yells of his title, accompanied by splashes, she watched as some of the crew hopped down into the shallow water with noisy splashes, landing and running onto the beach towards them as they exited the cave. Apparently far too impatient to wait for rafts or rope ladders to be laid down for them to come ashore properly in their eagerness to reunite with and make sure their captain was alright.

She couldn't help but laugh quietly as she saw more and more men hopping down into the water to meet them, their calls for him becoming clearer as they neared. Penguin and Shachi were heading up the handful of pirates running up the sand, soaked from the waist down from their jump.

"Captain!"

"Captain! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I-"

"CAPTAIN!" Two big, white paws slammed onto either of their cheeks and parted the pair from behind, pushing the men aside roughly as Bepo sprinted through the gap towards them.

"Bep-omph!"

Losing her grip on his arm as he was tackled cleanly to the ground by the large, crying bear, Nayla turned to watch as Bepo rubbed his face affectionately against Law's cheek, nearly crushing the man in his death grip of a hug on the beach.

"CAPTAIN! I'M SO SORRY! IT WAS MY FAULT! WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE OTHER ROUTE! IT'S MY FAULT! FORGIVE ME! I'M SO SORRY!"

Pursing her lips together, she tried not to laugh at the expression on Law's face, as he attempted to pry his sobbing navigator off of him, failed and instead patted his wailing, guilt-ridden friend on the back comfortingly with a sigh. "It's ok, Be-"

"IT'S NOT OK! I'M SORRY!"

Resting his head back to the sand with another defeated sigh as the bear tightened his hold on him, Law's gaze slid over to Nayla as she failed to suppress a giggle at the adorableness of it all. Bepo a tearing, snotty mess, manhandling Law in his distress and the cuteness of their closeness that she rarely got to see, it was too difficult not to laugh.

Narrowing his eyes at her obvious amusement of his predicament, he parted his lips to reprimand her but was cut off as Penguin and Shachi caught up.

"Captain!"

"Bepo! Get off of him, he might be hurt! You're smothering him you big baby!"

"Ah! S-Sorry, Captain!" Immediately releasing him in a panic, he jumped to his feet, watching as Law took a deep breath into his freshly released lungs and sat up.

"I'm fine." He assured, taking the paw Bepo offered to help him up but as soon as the words left his mouth and he got back on his feet, Penguin and Shachi threw their arms around him from either side.

"Thank goodness!"

"We were so worried, Captain! I'm so sorry, I didn't make the right move. I-I didn't know whether to tell Bepo to stop submerging or come get you guys or seal the doors – I panicked." Penguin apologised, obviously torn up about being right there but unable to help.

Brows raised, Law held his arms out awkwardly, looking down at his two snivelling, sniffling friends hugging him from both sides in discomfort, obviously unsure of how to handle this.

"Hey! You can't tell _me_ not to and then do it yourself!" Bepo protested angrily.

"At least we made sure he wasn't injured first, damn bear!"

"S-Sorry!" He immediately sniffed, wrapping his large arms around all three men with ease as he started bawling again, tears streaming down his fur as he squeezed them all tightly.

"Oi!"

"B-Bepo! You're crushing us!"

"SORRY!"

"You're doing it harder!"

"Don't just apologise and carry on doing it, dammit!"

Holding a hand over her mouth, she watched Law's face go from pain at the two man – one bear pressured hug, to annoyance, to one of bored acceptance as he deadpanned into space. A deep sigh leaving him as he seemingly resigned himself to his fate and his closest argued over him wedged in the middle.

It really was so nice to catch a moment like this; the Hearts at their most…well, heart-warming. Not the badass pirate crew led by their infamously callous, sadistic and cruel captain but the emotional family that were relieved to see their loved one ok. It made her chest ache in the most wonderful way to see them like that.

"Captain!" Jeff called, holding a towel in his hands as he and Connor jogged to a stop beside them.

"You're ok!" The latter exclaimed happily, both adding to the dog pile and to Law's frustration as he groaned at the additional pressure.

"You had us worried sick!" Jeff almost scolded releasing him, ignoring the unimpressed glare Law was giving him as he unfolded the towel and tugged it around his shoulders as a parent might tug a child's coat on for them whilst telling them off for going outside without it.

Tuning out their fussing slightly, Nayla shifted her weight uncomfortably on her numb legs as she looked down the beach, smiling widely as she saw the sheer number of crewmembers hopping ship to come welcome back their captain. Anxious faces lighting up into big grins of joy as they spotted him, safe and sound. 'Hmm, that must be nice…'

"-and you!"

Startled by the hand that had woven its way around her waist she yelped as she got yanked roughly into the hard mass of sopping wet, near-sobbing men.

"What were you thinking?!" Jeff tutted, unfolding the extra towel he'd brought ashore and draping it over her head and shoulders.

"I-" Pushing back the thankfully warm, thick cloth over her head she didn't have a chance to respond as Jeff tugged her into the hug beside Law by the ends of it, giving her a firm squeeze.

"Glad you're alright too, Nayla-chan." Shachi offered kindly, wrapping an arm around her as well.

"You little idiot! Didn't I leave you in the rec room! What were you doing?!" Though he sounded angry, Connor pressed a cheek to hers as her gave her a big hug of his own.

"Um…"

"Why did you open the door, dammit?! I told you not to!" Penguin yelled, pressing against her other cheek as he squeezed her hard.

"S-Sorry?" She offered unsurely in his hold, uncertain of whether he was more angry or relieved.

Hearing a quiet chuckle over the half-cried reprimands, she glanced up at Law beside her. His expression a mixture between a very obvious 'I told you so' and pure amusement at watching her suffer the same fate as him.

Looking away with puffed out cheeks, she hoped he would buy her pouting at his smugness as her excuse for breaking their eye contact and that he hadn't seen the tears she could feel welling up in hers. Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked up at the last embers of daylight, blinking – willing them away and wondering how long it had been since she'd last felt that annoyingly, girlishly, emotional and happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm guessing from that scene from Law's past when he was travelling with Corasan and making breakfast for him before he woke, that Law at least picked up the basics of making/sustaining/using a campfire (and cooking) as a child and probably had to get a lot better at it once he was alone.
> 
> Also, might just have been me but when Monet lifted her top to look at the hole Law left in her chest after taking her heart, I thought 'Well geez Law. You took more boob than organ. Poor woman's all uneven now' (though it was more pronounced in the anime than in the manga)…Side note, considering how 'well endowed' all the One Piece women are, why is no one ever wearing a bra?


	61. Change of Heart

"If you change your mind, just call down and we'll bring something right up, ok? A hot meal will do ya both a world of good." Jake called out, seeing them off at the first floor landing.

Glancing at Nayla beside him, Law watched her pull the towel draped over her shoulders around her more tightly, her tiredness and coldness obvious and showing no signs of second thoughts on the chef's kind offer. "I think we could both just use some rest for now, Jake."

"Aye aye, Captain. Rest well, glad you two are ok." The man smiled warmly at them, he and the others waving them off, relieved and happy that things had worked out, though disappointed they were too exhausted to feel up to joining in the jubilation of the late dinner and likely loud celebrations to come in the rec room below.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry?" Law asked her quietly, pushing open the door to his quarters and letting her in first.

Shaking her head with a shudder, the towel wrapped up to her nose, she shuffled inside, glancing down guiltily at his carpet as her sodden boots trod onto it before looking around at the room.

Books littered the floor, the neatly stored files of his vessel's running were spilling from their tossed folders and the papers and stationary from his desk were strewn around it. Everything misplaced from the violent storm the ship had weathered.

Sighing at the wreckage as he surveyed it as well, Law closed the door behind him before making his way into his bedroom.

Leaning down Nayla undid her boots, sliding them and her soaked socks off to carry with her, not wanting to add to the unholy mess that already had to be cleaned up…though she did take guilty pleasure in how the warm, dry carpet felt on her icy feet as she padded across it, following into the bedroom.

Stepping carefully over Law's fallen belongings, she looked through the archway, inspecting the bedroom which was thankfully much less worse for wear as it had fewer loose amenities to be shaken astray.

Noting the nodachi leant to the usual cabinet next to the side of the bed Law slept on as she walked past it, she glanced over at the man through the open doorway of his En Suite, his towel discarded to the floor as he tugged his soaked top over his head, belatedly realising they were both heading for a hot shower.

"Oh…" Tossing the wet fabric in his hands and his hat into the sink beside him with a soggy slap, Law turned to her as she spoke up. "…I know the boys need to wash up too but I'm gonna go ask Bepo to clear out the bathroom downstairs, I won't take long. Sorry, but I'm not gonna wait for you to finish up here first, I can't." She would have liked to have said that with more conviction or demand he give her the 'ladies first' treatment as a gentleman would but she simply didn't have the energy for it. Especially not when she was expecting him to pull the 'these are _my_ quarters and I'm not going to accommodate you any further than I have already' bit.

Setting her footwear down to the tiles by the door to deal with later, she turned to shuffle away before he could protest, stopping when she felt his hand on hers. Looking back up at him tentatively from the grip he had, they locked eyes as he tugged her silently into the room with him.

Her heart raced unfairly at the action and as he took a few steps back, leading her closer to the bathtub. Coming to a stop, he released her, reaching up to peel away the hand she was still clutching the edges of the towel together with before sliding it from her shoulders and letting it drop to the floor around their feet.

Swallowing around a sensation of shyness she wasn't familiar with, she felt his hands, warmer than her own, slowly glide the straps of her wet top down her arms, taking her bra straps with them. His eyes never leaving hers as he began pushing the clinging fabric of her tank top slowly to her hips, his fingers sliding over her moist skin sending shivers through her that she hoped he'd attribute to her coldness. Allowing him to push it down over her skirt, she felt it slide loosely down her legs to the tiles.

Wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled her in closely, reaching a hand up her back to pinch her bra clasp together. Releasing the unhooked ends and allowing it to fall from her to join her towel and top, he then pressed his chest to hers as he leant in and kissed her softly on the lips.

Closing her eyes immediately with a soft exhale as their bare bodies contacted for the first time, she rest her hands to his chest between them. There was no rush; no hurried, heated passion and lust. His kiss was simple and chaste, a silent show of affection and gratitude rather than an attempt to entice her sexually…but all the same, it suddenly felt as though her head had lightened, so easily lost to the simplest of his touches. Had it really been so long since they'd last kiss? Something she'd secretly been yearning for for what seemed like so long but just like that, it felt as though his lips had never left hers. The depth of the ache from her month's worth of pining for his physical contact, gone with even the barest brush of his skin to hers.

There was a guarded tension as their heads tilted instinctively. Both tempted to take the other's lips fully, to part them and kiss intimately but both wary of crossing that bridge again and unsure of what the other really wanted.

Pulling away, he seemed to assess her face quietly as he slid his hands around her sides, reaching the short zip on the back of her skirt and pulling it down. Returning his cautious gaze, she tried to read what thoughts were going through his head or what he was feeling just then. Whatever it was, it was sincere, she had no doubts about that now.

He returned her small smile as he gently tucked his hands into either side of her skirt, beneath the straps of her panties and start pushing them both down over her hips. Although her heartbeat had become steadier, slower and stronger as they'd kissed, it still couldn't help but skip a beat at that and at the sight of his smile. His tan, chiselled features under the soft glow of the bathroom lighting, his hair in a wet, shiny disarray…and those soft lips pulled into the most gorgeous, genuine smile…It widened as she cupped his cheek and ran her thumb over his lips, soaking in the rare, private and heartfelt expression he wore for her.

Finding her fixation on his smile both amusing and endearing, he pushed both layers down her thighs until the material fell loosely to the floor of its own accord before moving her hand away gently and kissing her again with a quiet chuckle. Reluctantly, he leant over to turn the faucet of the shower before pulling her towards tub, keeping his hold on her hand as she carefully stepped into it one leg at a time.

Eyes fluttering shut in bliss as the water touched her skin, she let out a sigh, stepping beneath the warm, soothing spray fully as he released her. Drenching her hair beneath the showerhead eagerly, she wiped the water from her eyes and turned back around at the sound of Law drawing the shower curtain partially. The brief wonder of whether he was joining her or going downstairs to use the other bathroom was answered as she saw him reach for the fly of his jeans.

Sweeping back her re-soaked hair she watched unashamedly as he undid the button and unzipped the fly of his pants, her eyes only drawn back up to his when she saw the small, humoured smirk on his face in the upper periphery of her vision.

Smiling at him as he chuckled, she watched him lean down and unzip his boots, treading on their heels to leave them on the bathroom floor before pulling down his pants, stepping out of them.

Closing the gap between them, he joined her in the tub as he pulled the shower curtain the rest of the way over its railing behind him, his eyes never leaving hers as he stepped under the spray and wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

A little surprised by the embrace but quickly relaxing in it, she weaved her arms beneath his, resting them around his broad, firm back and her head to his chest comfortably. Eyes focusing on the flowing streams running over the black lines that adorned his bronze skin.

Humming in content, Law rest his head to hers, turning and leaning his back against the cool tiles as they stood beneath the running water, gently thawing out the chill that had seeped into their flesh.

Smiling into her hair as she leant more of her weight to him, he watched her start to lose her struggle to stop her eyelids from dropping. Reaching a hand up to the back of her head, he thread his fingers through her hair, soothingly stroking her scalp as she closed her eyes.

The tranquillity that came with holding her, with feeling her affectionate embrace under the relaxing, massaging heat of the shower and the enjoyment of their rare moment of unspoken understanding, satisfaction and contentment…He smiled wider at the childish notion that crossed his mind then. His silly, unattainable want for that small, fleeting moment to last forever.

* * *

Rubbing the towel in his hand against his wet hair haphazardly, Law tossed the last pieces of his and Nayla's sea-soaked clothing into his sink before turning the tap and rinsing his hand clean of the salty water. They could wait until morning.

Glancing down at the stray grains of sand and dirt on the tiles of his bathroom floor where they'd been he frowned in disapproval…but that could wait until morning too.

Hitting the light switch on his way out, he followed after Nayla, glancing up at her by his bureau as he entered his bedroom and heard her switch on the hairdryer. Watching her run her free hand through her locks to rapidly dry them as he made his way over to his bed he figured she was probably as eager for sleep as he was.

Adjusting the towel around his waist, he sat himself down on the edge, drying his own hair as he watched hers flutter finely across her upper back, exposed above the rim of the towel she'd wrapped around herself.

Scratches and bruises across her shoulder blades, he noted. Another bruise blooming on her shoulder, more on her legs…her skin had been flawless - entirely unmarred just this morning. He did notice that she tended to bruise quite easily and quite badly, particularly after long training sessions with his crew. Something he attributed to her sluggish blood-clotting time; another of her mild biomedical abnormalities. Yet another thing her ability negatively affected…though at least the sore-looking red streaks from its earlier use were now absent from her limbs.

Stopping the rough tousling of his hair, he laid the towel in his hand aside with a sigh, resting his other loosely across his lap and looking at the bruise peering from beneath the fabric on his thigh as it caught his attention. Where he had hit the railing before toppling over it. He imagined a lot of her bruises had occurred in a similar way. The whole crew were probably sporting some of their own after that horrendous storm and the turbulence it caused.

Pulling his gaze from his leg back up to her, he couldn't help but feel as though he may have just missed an opportunity in that shower with her…They were toeing that fine line again, teetering on it, not sure whether to cross it once more or not after how things had gone last time…Pushing past it or not probably wasn't a decision he should make right now, not after such a dramatic and emotional day.

In that moment when the ship had tilted so drastically and so suddenly, when he had finally lost his footing and slid down the near-vertical, soaking wet deck, he'd seen his relatively short life flash before his eyes. The happier part of his childhood, those days where it had all gone wrong, his losses, his lonely survival and the faces of those he had formed bonds with - his crew with, had all flown through his mind in the moment he'd gone over the railing and felt the cold, draining embrace of the sea below.

Feeling the strength in him fade, the very life in him sucked into the swirling water around his waist and watching his fingers loosen against his will around his sheath, he'd started to mentally succumb to the sad fact that he may really die another meaningless statistic. Like many others before him, sailors, merchants, marines, pirates and the like, he'd simply and insignificantly fall to the sea itself. A common death and a common denominator amongst men of all walks of life that braved the open seas. An inconsequential end of no importance. A mockery of his ill-famed stature and proof that even a Supernova was no exception to the harsh reality of the perils of seafaring.

He'd begun to yield to the notion that maybe he really would die without accomplishing anything of any real worth, that he'd die without completing what he'd dedicated his life to. Ironically, just as Corasan had. He'd begun to think it was some sort of poetic justice, some form of karma coming into play.

As he had clung on for dear life he'd been cursing himself, for his stupidity, for his weakness. He'd been inwardly asking for forgiveness from Corasan for promising so adamantly, so surely, that he would take his place and do the good that he'd intended and that his death wouldn't go unavenged – no matter what it took…Only to have made the slightest of miscalculations that had nearly cost him his life. It was _that_ easy to lose it on The Grand Line.

It wasn't Bepo's fault, it wasn't Jean Bart's fault, it wasn't Penguin's or anyone else on his crew's fault. He was the captain. It was him that was the one out there on the deck, coordinating the situation, making the calls and giving the orders. It was his responsibility to have generated and carefully selected other options.

He should have ordered submersion the second the storm kicked up – if he had, the Sea King may not have found them at all. He should have left it half-dead, followed Penguin inside and ordered the crew to finish it off with the sub's armoury if it did attempt to follow them – it may not have even tried with the injury he had dealt it or may simply have died before being able to.

It was unbelievable, how even the smallest misjudgments or errors on these waters could truly mean death. They were brutally cruel and unforgiving…unlike her.

…If it hadn't been for her, he wasn't sure what he would have done. His only hope had been for the sub to be knocked level again, for him to have left the water and be able to use his Devil Fruit to move inside the vessel as planned.

Unable to pull himself up and getting weaker by the second, he'd been on the verge of losing his grip altogether when she'd called out to him.

He'd been sure it was just his mind playing cruel tricks on him. That the woman he hadn't spared any thought to in what was to be his dying moments would be the last thing his brain would generate for him to hear. One final taunt of the decisions he regretted, paths he wished he'd walked, opportunities he wished he'd taken and things he wished he'd tried, at least once, before the end came.

It was the most clichéd thing in the world to have gazed up at her when he felt her hand grip him to see the only bright partition of the dull clouds in the sky above _her_ head from his point of view. To have compared her calls of his name and her presence in that moment to that of an angel, the work of some merciful, holy deity that he no longer believed in…He could practically hear the 'Angel of Death' pun she'd make if he ever told her as much.

He glanced over at Nayla as she turned off the hairdryer momentarily to swap hands and dry the other side of her hair, paying him no mind as she watched her own reflection in his mirror…She was no angel. Far from it in fact. She was certainly no godsend…he'd have to attribute that moment of surreal euphoria to the extreme emotional swings of a human mind experiencing acceptance of inevitable death to experiencing the elation of a ray of hope that it thought wouldn't come. Whatever he did eventually rationalise that moment to, he knew he'd remember it.

It was hard to process exactly what it was he felt when he'd seen her there, hair whipping wildly around her face in that storm…The bare fact that she still cared about him in plain sight, expressed by the panic and concern on her face…He'd almost gotten used to the idea of that not being the case any longer…in fact, he'd grown accustomed to the idea that she probably hated him. Despised him, reviled from his touch and company, hiding it behind a fake air of civility.

It had been something that he hadn't realised had bothered him to such an extent until she had disproved it in the way she had looked at him then. In how she had held him in the water, all the way, no matter how strong the subsequent waves that threatened to part them got. In all the times they went under, not once did he feel her hold loosen, not even for a moment did he fear she'd let go. She'd held him as though her own life had depended on it.

There had been nothing enjoyable about the vulnerability, weakness and helplessness he'd experienced in being entirely dependent on _her_ strength and mercy to survive…but the comfort and reassurance he'd felt by the way she absolutely refused to let go of him today and the way she held him so tightly - so dearly, to her own chest for so long against the elements, her own pain and her physical limitations…

Although he'd like to consider himself an articulate man, he'd probably never be able to put into words what he'd felt in that long, long hour being held by her, having his life solely dependent on her will to keep her stubborn, resilient hold on him...and he'd probably never be able to find words meaningful enough to express his thankfulness for what she did today.

…That image of her, lying on her back beneath him on the beach, her hair swirling in fine twists and twirls in the water around them as she ran her fingers through his affectionately, looking up at him with that doting gaze…Another imprint she would leave him with. Another beautiful image added to his growing collection. The way she had spoken his name then had cast that memory in iron, a permanent fixture in his mind for the rest of his life.

Everything that he had felt today, in summation, had been overwhelming. The adrenaline, the fear, the acceptance of death, the anger at her for endangering herself, the gratefulness that she did, the elation of survival, the relief of her forgiveness and understanding, the return of the open affection between them...but despite the extreme amount of thoughts and feelings to sift through and digest, he couldn't help but feel a great sense of inner calm.

There was an emotional stillness when, by all accounts, there really shouldn't be. One that he hadn't felt in a long time, not since before he had met her. A sense of certainty and an odd mental silence, even though he had such a tremendous amount of things still left to process…

It took him a long moment to put his finger on what the silence in his own head was; it was the absence of his constant, nagging counterpart. That voice in his head that had been consistently telling him to be wary, to be careful, to remember what she was, to not trust her, to not go down that road, that getting involved physically would be a bad idea, that getting involved emotionally would be a horrendously bad idea, that reminded him he wasn't exempt to her manipulation, that told him that she would drop him at her nearest opportunity without a second thought or care, that told him to suck it up and use some willpower to resist temptation, that scolded him for making decisions about her based on his gut or worse, his loins…It was gone. Where was that continuous voice in his head that doubted her? That rationalised what he wanted as something he shouldn't have? That made it clear that the actions he wanted to take shouldn't be taken?...It was gone now…

The odd stillness and calm; it was certainty. There was no guilt, no shame, no 'what if's and no 'but's congesting his thoughts. His mind wasn't busy at work convincing himself to think and feel things he didn't want to and ignore the things he did…That's what the strange inner silence was; his lack of doubt.

"Hey, Law?" Looking back at her as she called him, he watched Nayla set the dryer down to his bureau, her brows knitted as she looked him up and down in concern. "Are you ok?"

Realising he had been sat on the edge of his bed this whole time, seemingly doing nothing other than staring at the carpet between his feet and stealing glances at her back, he could understand why she felt he was behaving strangely.

"Fine." He replied quietly, eyes following her as she tilted her head to the side, making her way over to him.

"…You sure?" Watching her come to a stop between his parted legs, looking down at him with the same soft look on her face that she'd worn on the beach and using the same gentle fingers to push his damp hair back from his forehead, he felt his thoughts cement with finality at her compassionate contact. "You're awfully quiet…"

Closing his eyes and breathing in the sensation of her tender touch and the genuine concern that she held for him that he had to wonder if he deserved, he felt even more sure in his conviction. That it was what he wanted and had begun to need, that nothing bad would come of it…but even if it did, that it would be well worth whatever price he may pay for it later.

Her worry only grew as he wrapped his arms around her and rest his head to his chest without reply, sighing silently into her towel as he pulled her closely. Surprised and a little alarmed at his abnormal behaviour, she lowered her arms, wondering what was wrong. Wrapping them around his head as she held him to her chest, she searched his face for an answer, finding none. His expression calm, his breathing even and his eyes still shut.

Knitting her brows together in confusion, she stroked her fingers over his scalp soothingly, unsure of what that moment meant. What this quiet, vulnerable, open side of him was…She couldn't understand everything that went on in his head. She imagined she probably never would either. He was a complex man whose mind worked in ways she'd probably never be able to keep up with…but whatever it was, whatever comfort or reassurance he was silently seeking, she didn't mind giving it or whatever it was he was expressing right now, she didn't mind listening to it, even if she couldn't fully comprehend it.

Relaxing at that thought and as his hold didn't waver, she cuddled him patiently, running her fingers through his drying hair and focusing on the feel of his warm breath as it reached her through the fibres of the towel around her chest. She couldn't help but feel…happy, trusted, to be able to even see this side of him. That sorely missed sensation of feeling special and privileged and that feeling she got whenever she was reminded that he _was_ human too…she liked those. She liked feeling as if she were one of the only people in the world that would ever get to experience it.

Resting her cheek to the top of his head as he'd done to her so many times, the comforting gesture so enjoyable, she sighed quietly, content to give him all the time he wanted like this.

Maybe it was the near death experience. She wondered when the last time someone as strong as Law had had one before today, knowing that he _must_ have faced some as a child…A few of hers had been traumatic. The emotional rollercoaster of seeing your end coming, the adrenaline and panic - the most intense primal distress humanly possible, that brief moment of resignation when you lay your head down to your fate…only to survive. It was a difficult thing to work through and she'd done it more than her fair share of times…She inwardly scoffed at the thought that she should probably get a mortality loyalty card, the grim reaper could have stamped it enough times for her by now to have owed her a free cup of coffee on his next visit.

Opening his eyes as he felt Nayla shift her weight tiredly between her feet, Law pulled away, enjoying the small smile she wore as she continued to run her fingers through his hair soothingly, as if it were the most casual action in the world. As if they hadn't been behaving as distant strangers only hours ago. It had been so easy to fall back into the comfortable closeness they had begun to develop. Maybe because of what they had been through together that day or maybe because it had just always come so naturally to them.

As natural as fulfilling his desire to lay his lips to her skin felt as he pressed them to the centre of her chest softly, pulling her body more tightly against him and meeting her eyes with his own.

Her fingers stopped as she watched him kiss the flesh between her breasts and her breath hitched a little as they locked gazes. Unlike before their shower, this kiss and this eye contact carried clear, smouldering sexual intent. She wondered if he could feel how strongly he had just made her heart beat beneath his lips.

The relatively light, amicable, sweet air that had been between them shifted into something much heavier and thicker, though not unpleasant. A sense of restrained, prolonged attraction slowly bubbling to the surface through his touch and his gaze, something they both knew they were about to give in to.

He pulled her closer between his thighs until her shins touched the edge of his bed, a strong wave of lust coursing through her and a small gasp leaving her as she felt his tongue lap the crevice between her breasts.

Resting her hands to his shoulders to steady herself, she watched his tongue delve deeply between them as his hands glided over her sides, reaching for the front of her towel and prying the damp material open. He placed gentle kisses over her chest as he undressed it, taking gentle sucks of the full curves, teasing the flesh around her nipple before finally sucking it.

Exhaling audibly in pleasure as he wrapped his lips around it, she bit her own as she felt him swirl his tongue, the heat and moisture so pleasant on her skin. Lavishing it with attention, he alternated between full, flat licks and teasing, tantalising trails of the very tip of his appendage over the flesh in his mouth as he used his hands to slide the towel she wore further down her body.

This was unlike any arousal he'd provoked in her before. This was a gradual, building one - not like the sudden sparks of primal need that had been setting them off before. This was searing in its deep intensity, a slow and almost agonising burning - not like the quickly ignited and cooled flames of passion they'd experienced before. Her heart wasn't fluttering rapidly as it had in the past but was instead pounding more forcefully; it was beating so painfully hard for him.

Lips never leaving her skin, he moved to her other breast, kissing and licking his way to it. Sucking her other nipple into his mouth, he hummed around it in satisfaction as he felt her back arch in reflex to his touch, pushing her chest closer to his face.

The pleasant feel of his voice reverberating around the sensitive nub making her grip on his shoulders strengthen as she bit back another gasp. Watching his cheeks hallow slightly as he increased the pressure of his sucks slowly, she found herself unable to stifle the small moan that left her at the wet sounds of his mouth on her flesh and the way he looked up at her with a mouthful of her breast.

Tightening his hold on her waist he released the nipple in his mouth with an audible pop, exhaling over her wet skin in a quiet growl as he immediately lapped and sucked the underside of her breast, pulling another sharp inhale from her as he moved to her other and grazed his teeth against her, playfully taking a light, pleasurable bite before beginning to trail gentle kisses down the centre of her chest.

Pulling the towel down her sides further, he licked and sucked the flesh beneath her ribs, above her belly button, around the piercing of her navel but stopped and looked up at her when he felt her hand press to the back of his, holding the towel that was sliding down over her lower right stomach from going any further.

Shifting a little uncomfortably at her own self-conscious, reflexive gesture and under his assessing gaze, Nayla looked away unsurely. Of course, he'd already seen the scar she had there a few times when he'd treated her, during examinations, even just now in the shower…but it had always been briefly, in passing, never at such close proximity to his eyelevel. Never did she have the thick, hideous, discoloured, jagged lines of her old wound so close to his face for his scrutiny. It only made it worse that he was a surgeon, that he could visually and intellectually dissect the revolting, poorly healed mar to her body at such a detailed level.

Feeling him grip her fingers, she watched uncertainly as he pulled her hand away, letting the towel slide from her body on that side as he openly examined the distorted flesh…before placing a gentle kiss to it. He took his time, planting kisses side by side along the full length of her scar as he held her hand, his gesture and his gaze letting her know he wasn't in the least disgusted, disturbed or put off by its presence.

Others had been…and she could feel something practically melt in her as she watched his unspoken reassurance, reaching her other hand to cup his face, running her thumb over his cheek affectionately as he kissed a trail along the path of her gravest injury. His lips caressing her from her right hip, over her stomach to rest beneath her left breast, sucking the small, scarred tissue there tenderly as he revelled in the feel of her heartbeat beneath his lips for a long, leisurely moment.

Lifting his other hand away from her allowed the towel that was trapped beneath his palm to fall to the floor completely as he lifted his head, unashamedly looking over her bare body, unable to fathom why she thought for even a second that something as trivial as the ass she apparently felt was too big or a simple scar could possibly spoil her appeal. She'd always been beautiful, he'd never thought otherwise…but somehow what he felt for her now had painted his vision of her into something even more appreciable. To him, she was so close to perfection in his mind and it felt as though he would always feel that way, that there was no amount of scars or anything else that could ever change how attractive she was to him.

Lost in the view of her naked before him, he heard her laugh softly as she released his hand to rest hers on the other side of his face, leaning down with a smile as she pressed her lips to his.

A little surprised by her sudden forwardness though not minding it, he lowered his brows, smirking into their kiss as he rest his hands to her bare hips, tilting his head and parting his lips as she did the same, their tongues meeting for the first time in what had felt like forever.

The flush of sentiment that came with it was expected this time. The emotional swell that came with the unhurried, deep strokes of his tongue over hers hadn't been a surprise to either of them. The same blissful, content pleasure that they had experienced together during that kiss that night was still there, as strongly as it had been before.

Feeling as though she were drowning deeply in it as he delved leisurely into her mouth, exploring every part of it as their lips smacked together, she ran her fingertips through the hair of his sideburns, tilting her head eagerly to allow him more access to her as she moaned quietly.

Feeling some of his patience chip away at the sound of it, he slid his hands back from her hips to rest on her ass and squeezed the soft flesh of each cheek firmly, causing her to moan more loudly.

Pleased with the sound, he hummed against her lips, gliding one hand down the back of her thigh to lift her leg, resting her foot onto the bed beside him as he broke their kiss.

Standing straight, she watched as he immediately lowered his head back to her stomach, sucking the flesh beneath her belly button briefly before running his tongue in one long line down her body. Her breathing seemed to suddenly get faster as his lips reached her entrance, the memory of how he had pleasured her in this way before rising to the forefront of her mind and her body responding eagerly to the expectation of feeling the intense sensations he could provide her with.

As he paused above her clit, she wondered if he would tease her as he had done before but no sooner had the thought crossed her mind did she feel his tongue stroke over it fully, her head tilting back with a small gasp at the unexpected jolt of pleasure it caused.

Growling lowly against her flesh at the strong, pleasurable response that got and at the taste of her on his lips once more, Law took her clit into his mouth fully, sucking the sensitive bud firmly without hesitation.

Moaning loudly at the stimulation, Nayla closed her eyes, savouring it as she rest a hand to the back of his head, clutching his shoulder with her other.

Curling his arm around the back of her bent leg, he pushed her thigh outwards more, spreading her legs wider as he leaned lower and hummed lowly at the pleasurable amount of moisture that met his lips. Her slick lust for him, her body's desire for his penetration, tasting as sweet and as arousing on his tongue as it had last time.

Sucking and releasing her most sensitive bud repeatedly, he increased the strength and speed of his mouth on it, building a gradual rhythm, his tongue taking occasional detours between her folds before returning to his target.

Feeling the fingers on the back of his head hold onto his hair more strongly and her back beginning to arch, he tightened his arm around her thigh, gripping her ass with both his hands and pushing her hips to his face more firmly, earning another breathy moan from her as he took more of her flesh into his mouth.

He looked amazing, the way his muscled arms were wrapped around her thighs - holding her tightly to prevent the squirming her hips so wanted, how he was nestled so snugly between her legs, his lips sealed to her clit, his tongue occasionally plunging inside of her so deeply that it made his nose meet her mound and the way his quiet hums felt against her as he tasted and swallowed her eagerly…

Moaning as his invasive tongue stimulated shivers of pleasure through her, she watched him close his eyes; his breathing increasing and coming out in audible, palpable breaths against her skin as he kneaded the flesh of her ass under his palms firmly. It was too much to bear any longer, this blissful torture. He was so focused on pleasing her when it was obvious he wanted to feel himself inside of her as much as she did.

Opening his eyes to look back up at her as he felt her kneel the leg he was holding to the bed, he watched her lift her other from the floor to rest it to his other side, kneeling over his lap as he sat up straight, his hands gliding naturally from her ass up her back as she lowered herself over him.

Leaning down to kiss him, she ran her hands over his chest, her fingers catching against all the grooves and crevices of his defined muscles on their way down to the towel still wrapped firmly around his waist.

Kissing her back eagerly with a small moan, he ran his hands over the smooth skin of her back as he felt her rub against his painfully hard erection through the thick, damp fabric. Her fingers soon leaving it to untuck the material and pull it open beneath her, letting the loose ends fall carelessly to the bed on either side of him.

Breaking their kiss with a sharp inhale, he pulled back to look at her as she nestled her weight to his bare thighs and wrapped her hand around his freed member, lightly stroking his hard cock between their stomachs as she used her other hand on his shoulder for support.

His eyes lidded a little as she circled her fingertips teasingly over his wet tip before stroking up and down his thick, heavily throbbing shaft. Lifting a hand to the back of her head and tilting it, he took her lips passionately as she tightened her grip and began pumping him in a strong, slow rhythm.

Feeling him rest his other hand atop hers to still it, she pulled away from his lips, sure there was the same amount of raw need in her eyes as she took in how much there was in his. The sight of his lustful, darkened gaze enough to give her goose bumps and set her skin tingling in anticipation.

Without a word needing to be spoken, she leant up on her knees over his lap once more as he guided his shaft, her hand still trapped between it and his own, to rest his tip at her entrance. There would be no more games, no more teasing, no more foreplay. There was only one last taunting stroke of his tip to her soaked lips before he released his cock, resting his hands to her hips as he allowed her to be the one to guide it in at her own pace.

As she started lowering her weight onto him, he found himself honestly torn between wanting to watch himself slide inside of her and wanting to watch her face as he did. He decided on the latter as she gave a breathy moan, as his thick head pushed past her lips and entered her. Resting her weight to her knees, her slickened walls took the rest of his shaft effortlessly, a loud, satisfied moan leaving both of them as she sat on his lap, taking him fully inside of her for the first time.

The way his firm chest felt on hers, the rock hard muscles of his arms around her and the feel of his raw, hot, erection filling her, pressing and throbbing against her most intimate flesh, pure bliss.

The way her bare breasts felt pressed against him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, the soft pressure of her weight resting on the plump, soft ass on his thighs and the feel of the warm friction of her tight, wet walls as her flesh took in every inch of him, heavenly.

Her lips pulling into a smile as he made eye contact with her, the faintest flush of colour on her cheeks, her hair cascading over her bare shoulders as she gazed at him…he couldn't help but think that somehow, she looked even more gorgeous with him inside of her.

Closing the gap between them, he kissed her softly, leisurely indulging in their first truly intimate encounter, wanting to seal this memory, amongst the many others he had begun building with her, firmly to his mind.

Meeting his gentle strokes with her own, she melted into his kiss, rotating her hips around his hilt as her body adjusted to him, causing him to break their kiss with a sharp inhale as she did.

She giggled quietly against his lips, his eyes snapping open and looking at her in mild annoyance at her amusement. Smiling apologetically, she kissed him chastely before raising herself on her knees; withdrawing him slightly before pressing back down and pushing him inside fully once again.

Humming in pleasure, she repeated the motion, pulling more of him from her before lowering herself back down to his lap, his thick girth gliding pleasantly over her inner walls as she began a relaxed, comfortable pace. The intensity in his eyes as he watched her beginning to ride him nearly as pleasurable as the act itself.

Growing accustomed to their position and his size, she gradually increased her speed, relishing in the incredible feel of his solid flesh penetrating her and resting her hands to his shoulders again, needing more support as her movements grew faster.

He slid his hands down her back, resting them to her ass before pulling her sharply towards himself, forcing her hips into his roughly as she descended, pushing him inside of her more deeply and causing a pleasured moan to leave her lips. Repeating it as she continued to ride him, he met her next descent with a strong upward thrust, plunging himself even further into her as she moaned again.

Hands moving to her hips, he held her there, still fully impaled on him as he ground into her from below. Gasping sharply, she closed her eyes, nails digging into his skin slightly as he rut inside her for a few deeply penetrative strokes before withdrawing and thrusting inside of her completely. His strong hips and her weight driving him into her forcefully as he started to take over their motion.

Feeling her start to clench on him, he let out a deep, quiet groan as her tight, wet walls gripped his every inch in craving.

Her breathing had started to become a little laboured, her breaths beginning to come in quiet, short pants between her parted lips. Finding the invitation too tempting, he leant up brushing his own against them before gently sucking her lower one into his mouth as he started pumping into her faster.

Lowering her head a little she kissed him fully, wrapping her arms around him and threading her fingers through his thick, black locks as she rode him more eagerly, earning a deep hum of pleasure from him as she started slamming herself down to meet his upward movements.

Pulling back from her, he placed his lips to her neck, laying long, firm licks to her skin before sucking it, his rapidly increasing breath dancing over the moist flesh he left behind as he slid his hands down her thighs, hooked the backs of her knees and pulled her harder onto him.

Moaning, she gripped his hair more tightly, closing her thighs around the hard muscles of his slender waist as he wrapped his arms back around her, his embrace so demanding that there was no space left between their chests, their naked bodies pressed so tightly together that she couldn't even savour the sight of their union.

She felt so deliciously lightheaded at the pleasure rippling through her body, at the pleasure rapidly building in her very core, her every sense so thoroughly consumed by him that it left her feeling dazed. Eyes fluttering open, she gazed down at what little of his face she could see so closely nuzzled to her neck, his cheek and jaw moving as he sucked and licked her skin, his earrings glinting against the wrist of the hand she had placed to the back of his head, her fingers lost to the soft mess atop it and her other clutching the tattooed flesh of his shoulder.

Looking across the room at the darkness of the night sky through the porthole, she looked at their reflection, soaking in the sight of the large Jolly Roger tattooed across his shoulder blades, the way his muscles rippled it over his back with his movements and the sight of her bare thighs on either side of him. The view was so surreal, the whole thing was so surreal…but she was really there, in his room, on his bed, naked. He was really holding her, kissing her, inside of her, fucking her. Even the thought of it alone was enough to cause a deep flush of arousal to heat her cheeks.

Feeling his teeth sink into her flesh and the rough graze of his goatee against her collarbone, she gasped at the rough contact, suddenly feeling as though she needed more of him. More of his touch, more of his lips and tongue, more of him inside of her. Holding onto him tightly, she began moving herself faster on his erection, grinding against him as she felt the deep, pleasurable churn of the start of her climax.

Reading her growing lust and building desire, Law lifted her and turned to lay her on her back on his bed, his body never leaving hers.

Resting her head to his pillow, enveloped in and breathing in his incredible scent from him above and his soft sheets below, she felt his hands rest to the bed on either of her sides, the mattress dipping beneath her back as it burdened his weight and he positioned himself more comfortably between her legs.

Loosening her hold on him, she slid her hands from around his neck, over his shoulders, down the hard ridges of his tattooed muscles to rest on his forearms, soaking in the sight of him as he hovered over her, his blue-grey steel locking with her as he withdrew and pushed himself deeply inside of her.

Head immediately tilting back, her eyes closed and a gasp left her as she felt the increased power and penetration him being on top of her afforded. Holding onto him more firmly as he pulled out again, he drove into her deeply, keeping his full length inside as he ground his body roughly against her clit, drinking in the lust-soaked moan that elicited before setting a slow but intense pace. Focusing on burying himself fully between her wet folds, reaching as far inside of her as this position would allow. An unspeakable desire to feel every part of her, to leave no amount of her flesh untouched by his shaft, to feel her moisture coat and soak him to his base.

Withdrawing all the way to his tip, he plunged into her in one long, fluid stroke, revelling in the feel of her walls hugging him tightly all the way in and all the way out, repeating the motion again and savouring it.

Looking between their bodies, she glanced down at his leisurely thrusts, at the sight of his swollen tip pushing past her lips, of his hot, bare cock – his shaft slicked and glistening with her own arousal and watched him penetrate her fully. The sight of his body pressing against her lips as he sank into her and of his coarse hairs meeting her bare mound, over and over again was a maddening turn on.

Following her gaze, he felt a rush of arousal as he realised she was watching his entries and as he did so himself. Hearing a loud, breathy moan, he glanced back up as her attempts to remain grounded started to fail and as she started to truly lose out to her pleasure and lust. With her cheeks flushed and her glazed over blues looking back at him from beneath her long lashes like that, his body started to ache for more and he immediately began thrusting inside her more quickly.

Watching her eyes shut tightly as she moaned aloud for him again, her nails beginning to inadvertently dig into his forearms as she held onto him, he increased his pace. Each and every penetration seeming to knock more and more coherent thought from her as her moans began to stream between her breathless pants.

He felt incredible inside of her. His lengthy, thick, hard cock; every inch of him stroking against every inch of her as his large, warm hands moved to hold her hips, holding her steadier as he leant down closer. The fronts of his thighs contacting the backs of hers and his stomach pressing against her own - his abs clenching and unclenching against it with his thrusts felt clearly against her flesh.

It was such a complete sensory overload. What little part of her mind that was still able to function began to wonder if sex had always felt so unbelievable or if it was just that it had been so long or if it was just that he aroused her to such intensity that everything was so heightened, so sensitive.

Lowering himself further, her hands slid back up to rest on his shoulders as he lay more of his weight on top of her and as he drove himself in deeper, pulling her hips against him as his thrusts grew faster.

His larger, heavily muscled body atop her lungs combined with the overwhelming feeling of him pumping inside of her began to make it hard to breathe. Listening to the bed as it started to creak, as its headboard began to slap against the wall behind her, she panted heavily as her pleasure started to increase dramatically, her orgasm building as he continued his hard pace.

Lowering his face to the crook of her neck, he kissed and sucked her flesh as he started to hear her struggling efforts not to moan with every other of his increasingly intense thrusts, music to the ear her breath danced across. Listening to her sounds of pleasure finally begin to escape her parted lips against her will, feeling her nails beginning to dig into his shoulders and her beginning to tighten further around him, he strained not to fall into the abyss of orgasm with her.

There was still so much he wanted to do to her, to do with her. He wanted her in every position he had ever thought of, every position he had ever heard of, ever fantasised of taking her in - he wanted her in every way he could even imagine, twice. Minimum. To hear her pant and moan and scream his name over and over and over. He'd wanted this moment for so long but he couldn't find any possible way to do everything he wanted in one night and it was too hard to choose. Even harder when he felt the beckoning of his own climax. His prolonged want of her and lack of sex for so long was making it difficult to stave off his own orgasm as it was…and he wanted to please her. To give her a night she would always remember…just in case he'd never get another opportunity to.

Closing his eyes tightly as he pulled a particularly loud cry from her, he moaned against her neck as he felt a strong ripple of contraction around his shaft, trying to focus on a different pleasurable sensation instead, on how her breasts cushioned their contacting chests, as her pleasure built steadily.

The sound of his moan against her flesh, the feel of his breathing beginning to get laboured against her skin only drove her further into her lusty haze. Peering over his shoulder dazedly, she watched his muscles in motion, his bare lower back and ass descending rapidly with every hard thrust between her parted thighs and the soft sheen of sweat on his smooth skin that painted the contacting flesh of their bodies with heat and moisture as well.

Clenching her thighs tightly around him in reflex, she gasped sharply as he brushed just the right way against an incredibly sensitive area inside of her. Shifting his weight between her legs, he adjusted himself slightly before thrusting straight into that same part again immediately, causing her to tilt her head back and moan as he relentlessly zeroed in on her sweet spot. Tuning in to her body's responses, to the every increase in volume of her cries, he attacked the area that caused her to squirm beneath him – that caused her to involuntarily grind her hips to meet his, without mercy.

She felt as though he'd suddenly robbed her of all her senses. She'd suddenly lost the ability to speak; nothing but moans and mewls could leave her lips. She suddenly couldn't even begin to form a thought, nothing but his name occupied her mind, everything else was too complicated for what she was capable of then. Blinded and deafened by her own pleasure, she listened to the moans that she couldn't believe were coming from her own mouth. Her head felt dangerously fuzzy, all she could think of was him, all she could feel was him, nothing else existed but him on top of her and what he was doing to her, how he set her body ablaze.

Lifting his head from her neck as he insistently glided against the g-spot he had found once before, he gazed at her face. Fully flushed now, her eyes closed, her full lips parted as she struggled to catch the breath he wouldn't allow her to, her long, silken hair splayed out all over his pillow - as he'd always imagined it would. Those same petite features that had so often expressed her annoyance with him, that had given him playful, taunting smiles, that had looked so sweet and innocent in her deepest slumbers, all expressing nothing but unadulterated sexual pleasure now.

If he weren't struggling so hard to maintain his own sanity and focus, he'd liked to have smirked in satisfaction of the hard-earned view. Smiling a little at the thought, he felt his somewhat smug pride halt as she reached a hand to the side of his face and opened her eyes. The way she looked up at him then, her expression a mixture of her being so utterly lost in her lust and her open, honest adoration for him…That gaze that he thought he'd never get to see again, that told him she cared even if it hadn't left her lips as words, made his breath catch in his throat.

Kissing her without hesitation, he plunged into her with as much force and speed as he could muster; causing a cry to rip from her lips almost immediately as he quickly pushed her to her nearing climax.

Resting his forehead to hers, he watched her, listened to her come completely undone beneath him, her sweet melody of moans driving him as he felt her thighs, her arms, her walls – everything tighten around him. The powerful, rapid throbbing around his shaft buried so deeply inside of her telling him how close she was.

Gripping her hips with bruising strength, he gave her the one last hard, heavy stroke she needed to push her over the edge she was teetering on, a strained groan leaving him as she cried out in her moment of deepest, darkest carnal pleasure as it sent the most incredible wave of arousal through him.

Her strong rhythmic contractions squeezed him inside, her nails dug into the flesh of his back and her thighs clenched his sides tightly as she writhed in pleasure beneath him - her hips grinding against his as he thrust into her through her orgasm. His own eager to follow as he felt her cum hard for him, hard _on_ him.

Watching her so consumed in her climactic ecstasy, he kissed her as her moans began to grow breathier and her body began to relax in his hold. The tension in her thighs slowly reduced, the grip on his back lessened and the pressure around his shaft eased, though small ebbs and aftershocks of her orgasm carried on causing occasional contractions around it as he slowed his motion.

Moaning softly as she started to come down from her high, she ran her hands soothingly up his back to the base of his neck as he thrust inside of her more gently, embedding her fingers deeply into his thick hair as his kiss intensified in its passion.

Although he wanted to bask in the afterglow of his handiwork, he couldn't help but immediately want to build her to her next orgasm. To hear and see all of that all over again. And again afterwards. The desire to indulge himself in hearing those beautiful sounds nonstop, to feel her clench around him like that again, too strong for him to keep his slowed pace up any longer. It almost felt as if watching and feeling her cum like that had just intoxicated him beyond thought and that it could easily become his new and most addictive drug.

Humming against her lips, he ruthlessly rubbed against her sensitised, unrecovered bud with his increasingly rapid thrusts, sending sharp, tingles of overstimulation and pleasure through her body. The smaller, post-orgasmic waves rippling over his shaft pleasantly as his own moan broke their kiss.

Feeling him lower his lips to her throat, she lifted her chin for him, holding onto him strongly as he started pounding into her with more force. Whatever small amount of lucid thought that had begun returning after her climax was fucked straight back out of her as he moaned against her neck and pushed her thighs apart. The world dimmed around her again as all her senses focused on the way his hard cock felt moving in and out of her soaked flesh, throbbing heatedly and threatening to spill inside of her.

Sure that he was coming closer to his own climax than she was to hers, he growled lowly in frustration against her skin, clenching his eyes shut as he focused on pleasuring her, on numbing his own to give her the night he wanted to give her. It was difficult. This day, this emotional rollercoaster of a day, of this whole month, how long he had wanted this, how long he had wanted her…he wasn't sure he could give her everything that he wanted to…

Her moans were getting louder again, his merciless stimulation of her most sensitive spot and his rough grinds against her clit as he thrust whilst embedded to his base, driving her dangerously close to her brink. Wrapping his arms around her, he leant his cheek to hers kissing, licking and sucking her ear lobe as he continued to plunge inside of her.

As soon as she moaned his name into his ear, his rhythm faltered, his body threatened to betray him altogether as she uttered his name for the first time like this, in the throes of her delirious pleasure. That word had never sounded better, his name had never sounded sweeter. Breathing it out like that, saturated in her lust and need, his body nearly gave out on that alone.

Groaning heavily as he stemmed the orgasm that nearly came against his will, he bit her ear lobe in retribution of nearly undoing him. Didn't she know what saying his name like that would do to him?

Tightening his hold as she gasped at his harsh bite, he sucked her tender flesh into his mouth as he thrust harder, faster, the sound of the creaking springs of his mattress nearly drowned out completely by her incontrollable moans and their heavy breathing.

She was starting to clench around him tightly again as she neared the verge of another climax. Burying his nose to the crook of her neck, he panted heavily into it, trying to ignore how incredibly good she felt wrapped around him.

Feeling her rest her cheek to his, she laid her lips to his ear "Law…" Knitting his brows, he clenched his jaw in concentration. He swore his name had never sounded so damn arousing to his own ears. "Cum with me."

Groaning against her neck, he moved his hands to grip her hips tightly again, with bruising strength, as he aggressively picked up his pace and thrust into her hard. Pounding into her with enough force for them to both be able to hear the sinful slaps of their flesh meeting over her loud moans and his distressed bedsprings. Completely unable to stop himself after her provocatively whispered request.

He moaned fully as he took her in unrestrained strokes and her orgasm practically hurtling towards her at the sound. It sent the strongest shivers down her spine to hear the honest gratification he felt as he fucked her. The sound of his pleasure was so arousing, there was so much satisfaction in knowing he was on the verge of cumming for her, of cumming inside her, that she aroused him to such a level. It sounded even better against her skin; she could feel the hum and breath of it through his lips pressed to her.

His hold became crushing, his slams into her body crescendoed in their forcefulness and his breathing came in long audible exhales against her neck before she felt him halt momentarily at full thrust with a loud guttural groan. His abs clenched tightly against her stomach and his cock throbbed wildly against her walls before she felt the hot, wet spurt of his orgasm deep inside of her, the sensation immediately triggering hers.

Pushed beyond redemption by the sound of his moans and the most primal pleasure of him filling her with his cum, she moaned loudly. Waves of sweet climax crashing over her heavily as he rut inside of her, buried to his hilt as he spilt his every drop and they only intensified tenfold as she heard him groan her name quietly against her neck. The way he called her name in his moment of ecstasy for the first time, his silken voice caressing it, coating it deliciously in his sated lust, sent ebbs of pleasure through her that were nearly as strong as the ones between her thighs.

Her ripples of orgasm finally beginning to lessen, she came back down to Earth with him, resting the head she hadn't realised she'd raised back to his pillow as she sighed in utter contentment at the increasingly wet sensation between their most intimate parts. Her arousal, and now his, soaking her and leaving her with the most satisfied sensation.

His weight on her chest increased as he leant more heavily on her, panting against her neck as he rode them increasingly more gently through the last tremors of their orgasm; his spilled seed oozing warmly in her and around him in the most incredible way.

Humming in content as his thrusts gradually came to a stop, she lazily opened her eyes as he rest his head fully to her shoulder. His brows unknitted, his eyes closed, his lips parted and his warm breaths gliding quietly, softly and pleasantly across her skin as he caught it. The engorgement of his erection pressing hard against her inner walls beginning to subside slowly.

Smiling at his relaxed expression and how spent he seemed, she wrapped her arms around him, cradling his head as she'd done for so long earlier that day. Resting her forearm against his cheek, she tangled her hands into his hair and rest her chin to his damp locks as they lay there quietly, letting the world come back into focus around them and their breathing settle.

This had been so needed; it had been too long since she'd last felt so sated. The break of the sexual tension between them had been such a long time coming…though come to think of it, it was almost hard for her to believe that she ended up having sex with the tall, imposing man that had so frightened her with his piercing gaze back on Sabaody, that he was the same man that was currently holding her tightly, curled up on her chest.

Nuzzling her nose affectionately into his hair, she quietly mused to herself about how odd and unpredictable life could truly be. Something she had rued many times for how drastically it could turn her world upside down and ruin all of her best laid plans for herself…but just this once, she was thankful for it.

Feeling her chest heave with her sigh, Law tuned out of the idly soothing, mesmerising sound of Nayla's heartbeat settling from its racing pace as he realised he was resting his full weight on top of her.

Reluctantly lifting his head, he looked up at her as she gazed serenely down at him, a small smile on her face, her eyes lidded tiredly as the endorphins of their satisfaction and the strenuousness of their day began to descend on them both.

Leaning up, he returned her small, content smile, truly taking in the sight of her. With him still inside of her, knowing she was filled with him, knowing that those soft lips had just called his name in her most intimate pleasure, she'd never looked more beautiful.

To her, with his wilder than usual tussle of hair, the fine sheen of sweat over his muscles, the feel of his softening cock shifting inside of her as he leant up and the way he gazed at her as he cupped her cheek and kissed her, he'd never looked more gorgeous.

The soft, gentle, explorative mingle of their tongues said everything that hadn't been said. Something deep, affectionate and genuine. Something private, intimate and unspoken. Even without words it had become obvious and undeniable to them both that the other obviously cared for them. Though how much, what it meant or where it would go - if anywhere was still an unknown, the presence of emotional investment in one another had become too difficult to ignore and impossible to explain away as something else.

Gasping softly against his lips as he slid from her, brushing against her sensitive bud and swollen lips, she reluctantly felt him leave her as he knelt up, his hands reaching for the edge of the covers she lay on. Tugging them down beneath her body, she arched her back as he reached it, letting him pull the blanket out from under her and down to her feet.

Crawling over her, Law leant over to his bedside cabinet; turning the lamp that had been illuminating his bedroom softly off before lying on his side next to her and pulling the covers back up over them.

Smiling softly at him as he settled his head to his pillow beside hers with a gentle smile of his own, she tiredly rolled over to take the next one and leave his usual side of the bed to him, not anticipating the arm he immediately snaked around her waist beneath the covers that pulled her back to rest against his chest. Exactly as he had held her here before, when they had been ill.

Surprised by the clear insistence of his hold as his other arm curled around her and he nuzzled his nose to the back of her hair, she relaxed, huffing quietly under her breath as she rest her arms over his.

'I thought you said you weren't much of a cuddler,' her last thought as she shut her eyes and slowly drifted off in his arms, smiling whole-heartedly at his warm, comforting embrace.


	62. Surgeon of spooning

Inhaling a familiar scent but feeling an unfamiliar tickle beneath his nose, Law sleepily opened his eyes, initially confused by the dark locks that met his face and the woman in his hold but his brows shot up as the previous night came back to him.

Leaning up slowly he peered over at Nayla's peaceful expression as she slept soundly beside him, the morning sunlight filtering into the room through the open curtains of the porthole painting her serene features with its warm, golden glow.

Gradually convinced that it hadn't all been some pleasant dream, he relaxed his head back down to the pillow they shared gently, trying not to wake her from her much needed rest.

They hadn't moved an inch since they'd fallen asleep, his arms were still wrapped firmly around her slender waist and hers were still over his, holding one of his hands softly in her deep slumber.

Opting to be patient and content to continue holding her for as long as she'd allow he nuzzled more comfortably to her.

He didn't regret it, but she might. He couldn't rule that out…though he hoped she wouldn't.

Although he may have had a moment of clarity on how he felt and what he wanted last night, she may not have. Although he had been certain _he_ wasn't acting out of irrational elation following a near-death experience and an emotional day, she may have been.

Though, to say his actions hadn't been affected by all that had happened yesterday would probably be a lie. He'd been far more…tender, with her than he intended. Hopefully she wouldn't think too much of it or get the wrong idea about this, or of him…or of them…Whatever 'they' were.

Sighing into her hair quietly, he soaked in the moment, wondering if it would soon come to an end when she woke.

Looking up at the skyline visible through the porthole, he tried to guess what time it was now and what the crew were up to. The clouds were relatively stationary, the usual soothing hum of his vessel's engines was absent and he could just about catch sight of the distant buildings of the portside town as the sub bobbed gently on the waves. Though he couldn't hear the shrill calls of waterside birds, he was certain that they must have arrived at Burlenta and would put their absence down to the temperature of this brutally cold island.

They had been due to arrive the previous evening but considering the unforeseen rescue efforts that had taken them off course and Bepo's likely avoidance of the area they had been travelling through that had contained the wild storm, it had probably taken a lot longer than anticipated, they'd likely arrived during the early hours of the morning.

…

As his minor attempt at distraction waned and failed, Law's eyes drifted back down to the bare shoulder of the woman in his arms. He didn't know what to do now, what to say or how things would be between them…this undefined thing between them needed some clarity. Some definition, lines, boundaries, realistic expectations…Admittedly, he for once hadn't thought this far ahead. He hadn't had time to, considering he hadn't expected what happened last night to have happened.

Closing his eyes with a poorly restrained grumble of annoyance he forced his thoughts to stop where they were. There was nothing he could answer without _her_ input. Racking his brains alone and trying to guess, calculate or assume how she felt, what she wanted and what she expected of him now wouldn't yield him an answer, only she'd be able to give those to him.

…He could barely attempt to answer those questions for himself, let alone her as well. Did he care about her?...Well, yes. That was easy to answer. He'd cared about her long before they'd had sex and before he even saw her as a potential romantic (or sexual) interest. Initially, he'd only cared enough to acknowledge it'd be a shame if she were to die on Sabaody, then there had been a slightly vested interest in her safety for her potential with Joker, then it had been a plutonic liking of her…then that had only seemed to have strengthened over time…It had been so gradual he hadn't even realised how much he'd grown to like her.

How much exactly did he care about her?...That was much more difficult for him to place…Would he care if she died today? Yes, absolutely. Did he care about her, as a person? Yes, of course. As a friend? Yes, he valued her in that way. Would he help her as he would one of his own crewmembers? Yes, he would...Though he didn't value them in the same way. If it came down to it, if both she and a member of his crew were in trouble at the same time…he'd choose to help them first. He didn't care for her _more_ than one of his own; she didn't outrank them on his very short list of people he cared for. That helped to put what he felt for her in perspective, a little.

At the moment, the depth of what he felt for her didn't trump what he felt for his closest friends, though it seemed to be beginning to come dangerously close to beginning to equal it…He found himself frowning mildly at the 'at the moment' phrasing his mind had used, as if it anticipated her importance to him to escalate as time went on…It was probably true. She'd slowly weaselled her way into his life and thoughts so far and it was probably safe to assume she'd continue to do so the longer she was around him.

It was a worrying thought. How much more would he grow to care about her? When would it…'stop' or reach its peak? Did it ever?

It also begged the question; in what _way_ did he care for her exactly? Obviously as a person and a friend but, what to call his romantic interest in her…a crush? He hated to use the immature-sounding word, but considering how often she had half-jokingly used the damn term, it seemed to be what his mind readily offered…He guessed what he felt for her could be considered a crush. It was definitely attraction and an unfortunate infatuation but there was some solace in knowing that 'crushes' are infamously fleeting in nature…at least he hoped that would be the case. If it weren't and his feelings for her continued to grow as they had been, then where would that leave him?...He didn't dare let his mind so much as breathe the 'L' word...

He struggled to place the depth and nature of what he felt for her because he had nothing to compare it to…unlike her. She would know exactly where to place whatever feelings she had for him. She would easily be able to place him on the scale between a meaningless physical attraction to full blow love, seeing as _she'd_ experienced both ends of the spectrum before. He couldn't help but wonder where she placed him on that scale…wonder if what she feel for him even _remotely_ compared to what she had felt for the man she'd talked about in the rec room before. He probably didn't want it to; it'd probably be too daunting if it did…

How many times had she been in love, just the once or were there others? When did it stop being a crush and start being love? How did people know? How did _she_ tell the difference?...

He hoped it didn't develop into anything too serious. That'd only be troublesome…Well, more troublesome than it already was to be in this deep…It was a little frightening…but maybe a little tempting…It definitely piqued his curiosity and made things he'd only ever heard of but not felt firsthand seem much more forgivable and understandable. It was easy – much easier than he'd ever thought, and far _too_ easy, for one woman to inadvertently start slipping beneath defences he didn't know he should have had up to begin with.

The sex had been something different though…he'd never had sex like that before. Not in the way that it was unbelievably mind-blowing or the best he'd ever had, it was just that the whole...'atmosphere' surrounding it, what he'd felt during it and what he'd thought during it had been completely different to what he was used to.

Not once had he ever put any real thought into it but, Nayla had been right. Although he'd pleased more than his fair share of women, it really hadn't been about _their_ pleasure for _their_ sake. It had really been more of a common courtesy and an 'ego stroke' for his own benefit, as she'd described it. Something he hadn't ever thought twice about or even realised he'd been doing until she'd mentioned it.

It _was_ different with someone you cared for…He'd felt the strongest desire to want her to feel good, from that genuine place she had mentioned and her pleasure had truly driven his. That blissful, satisfied smile on her lips after, knowing that she was happy, content and satisfied…and she did look so beautiful whilst being pleasured, more than he'd imagined.

Finding himself smiling as he recalled her flushed cheeks, parted lips and all the sweet moans that had escaped them, Law chuckled quietly against her skin, causing her to shift slightly in his arms. Although he may not know exactly what he wanted from her in the long run on this personal level, sex was something he definitely did want with her again.

There was no doubt he wanted to make good on every dirty thought he'd ever had of her. He intended to make her pay for every intrusive sexual idea and fantasy she had ever stirred in him, every dark, unwanted desire her presence had forced him to have - and she had a _lot_ of them to pay for.

Chuckling again at the thought as she slowly woke, he observed her carefully, _very_ interested to watch her reaction to her recollection of last night.

Scrunching her eyes shut tighter against the bright rays that shone across them she gave a quiet, displeased grunt at the sensation, peeking an inquisitive eye open at the source of her annoyance…Her brows furrowing as she realised it was coming from the porthole…that was above the sofa she usually slept on…

Watching her eyes squint at it in a moment of bleary confusion, Law felt her body stiffen in realisation as her tired mind finally pieced together last night for her and couldn't help but smile more widely as she groaned, swore under her breath and relaxed again.

"Good morning, Nayla." He purred smoothly in amusement, planting a kiss to the back of her shoulder.

"…I cannot _believe_ you're already smirking about this." She grumbled, feeling his usual, lopsided, lazy smile against her skin as she heard him chuckle quietly.

"I woke up next to a beautiful-" He laid another kiss to her shoulder. "-naked-" Another to her neck. "-woman in my bed-" Another to her ear as he whispered huskily into it. "-what's not to 'smirk' about?"

"…Wipe that expression off your stupid face." She laughed, half-heartedly reaching a hand up to his cheek to push him away as he began tickling her ear with his lips.

"You didn't seem to think it was stupid last night…and I'm sure it won't be bothering you later." He added suggestively, lifting his own hand up to press hers back down to the covers, the tip of his tongue trailing lightly along the edge of her ear.

"You're 'sure?' Presumptuous bastard." She muttered, annoyed that he was right and at how even the slightest brush of his wet appendage made her feel. "Who said that wasn't just a one-time deal? Or that I wasn't just feeling sorry for you for having such a scary day and that it wasn't just pity sex? Maybe you sucked and I don't _want_ to sleep with you again."

"It certainly didn't _sound_ like the latter, Nayla." His lips sealing around her earlobe, his smile easily felt against her skin, forcing one of her own to appear on her face despite her words.

"Obviously just faking it to spare your feelings." She giggled, his goatee grazing her neck gently.

"Even _you_ aren't that good of an actress. Those moans and screams were _definitely_ not fake." The sound of his honeyed tone purred confidently against her ear as he slid his hand back beneath the covers to her bare skin sending the most pleasant shivers through her.

"…I didn't _scream_ , narcissist." She defended, fighting to stop enjoying the pleasurable tingles his lips trailing down her neck created.

"So much name-calling first thing in the morning, your pillow talk really is awful, as is your lying ability." He chuckled sliding his hand over her stomach, tantalisingly lowly. "You're lucky the men were as rowdy as they were downstairs. You were _very_ loud, Nayla. I wouldn't have taken you as the vocal type…" He taunted, openly enjoying her embarrassment as he leant his lips back to her ear. "I'm looking forward to finding out if it had just been too long for you or if you're always that noisy."

Feeling the heat rising to her cheeks as his suggestive, dulcet tones reverberated against her ear and his bare privates pressed against her equally bare ass, she turned to look at him over her shoulder, seeing no attempt to mask his amusement at her expense on his face as he gazed at her unashamedly with a wide, teasing smirk.

"…Go away." She sulked, pressing a hand over his mouth to cover his growing grin.

Allowing her to push him away, her chuckled beneath her fingers, sliding his hand from her to lie on his back as she rolled over to do the same and enjoying the mildly annoyed pout she was giving him.

Resting his released hand behind his head, he rubbed the thumb of his other, still resting on her bare hip, soothingly as he watched her roll over to face him more.

Letting the quiet fall between them, he watched as her expression become slightly more serious as she looked at him. Guessing she was probably starting to go through the same series of thoughts he had when he'd woken, he sighed. "Nayla…"

There was no way to avoid talking about it now, not anymore. Wondering where to start, he inwardly searched for the right words as he watched her rest her cheek to the arm looped around her looking up at him expectantly.

"You're over thinking it." She said quietly, a small smile on her face.

"I'm over thinking it?"

"Yeah, you think too much."

Remaining silent, he assessed her features and her gaze, looking for any sign of fallacy, wondering if she were trying to downplay any sentiment she felt towards him, either out of embarrassment of last night's emotional exposure or to make him feel more at ease…

"You're doing it again."

"How can I not think of it? You can't tell me _you_ aren't."

"Listen, I know you're the type that likes to try to plan and predict every little thing but - I know it's because you have a lot of responsibilities and the weight of your crew's safety on your shoulders, Law." She cut off as she saw his mouth open. "But just this once, don't over think it. You don't have to, just enjoy it."

"Just enjoy it?" He repeated sceptically.

"Yes. Can't you have one thing in life you enjoy and don't have to think about so hard and analyse every little aspect of?"

"…And you think _you're_ going to be that one thing, do you?" He asked flatly, making her laugh.

"It doesn't _have_ to be me, no, but it can be…No pressure, no rules, no strings, no labels and I won't expect anything of you."

Feeling his knitted brows ease as she let that sink in, he wondered if things could really work out as simply as she made it sound...

"Let's just keep things light-hearted and casual…We enjoy each other's company, right?"

The smallest part of him felt like it might have melted at the sweet, almost vulnerable tone she'd used to ask him that, catching his gaze as she sought his honest answer…As if she could even doubt that he did enjoy being around her by now.

Scoffing a little at that and at her subtle, honest admission of liking _his_ companionship he pulled her closer to his side. "…Right." he admitted quietly, returning the smile she gave him.

"Then that's all we need to know. There's not really any need to think about it any deeper than that and it doesn't have to be complicated." Yawning a little, she rest her head and hand to his chest. "Do what you feel like doing, don't do what you don't feel like doing. Let's just enjoy each other, whilst it lasts and whilst I'm here. Ok?"

"…Ok." Though a little saddened at the reminder of her fleeting presence aboard his ship, he rest a kiss to her forehead as she closed her eyes, feeling a lot of the worry and anxiety lift from his shoulders and a lot of the thoughts and questions that had been swirling in his head evaporate as he watched her smile wider.

Rolling back onto his side slightly, he lowered the arm behind his head, sliding it beneath the covers and around her again. Thankful for her casual, understanding approach and reasonable expectations of him and of what he was capable of, he pulled her in closely, resting his chin to her head and closing his own eyes with a quiet sigh of absolute relief.

"…Honestly. Don't you have more important things to be worrying about? What kind of sappy-ass pirate are y-OW! Law!" Scowling into his chest at the harsh pinch he'd given her ass cheek, she reached her hand around to pry his off, rubbing the tender spot as he chuckled deeply and resumed his hold.

Sighing in exasperation at him, she rest her head and hand back to his chest, tucking beneath his chin as she enjoyed the feel of his warm skin against her cheek…She did so love the sound of his laughter, especially when she heard it through his chest…Unable to help but smile as they entered a comfortable silence with one another, she watched the dark lines over his chest as they moved with his breathing beneath her fingers.

"Well…I have _one_ rule."

"Oh? And what's that?" The humour clear in his voice.

"…I don't like sharing."

"So, we aren't a formal item, yet you still want me to be monogamous to you? Are you sure you know how pirates _or_ relationships work?"

"That's not what I said. You're free to go chase some other woman whenever you want to. Just know that _our_ deal is null and void if you do. I'm not sharing."

"Hmm, how very demanding of my not-girlfriend." He mused, almost laughing at her petulant-sounding stipulation.

"Well if you think that's too much to ask, then I suppose I can get off with some other guy and come crawling back into bed with _you_ when I feel like it then?" She challenged, lifting her head to look up at him.

"Absolutely not."

Laughing at the abruptly stern tone he'd taken at the thought, she rest her head back down to his muscled chest. "Then the vice versa is a fair 'demand' too then, isn't it."

Rolling his eyes at the grin on her face that made it obvious to him that she felt victorious with the conclusion of that exchange, he sighed.

Closing his eyes again he wondered how long their casual relationship arrangement would last, how it would end, who would be the one to end it…He wondered if he'd begin to lose interest in her, now that the 'thrill of the chase' phase was over, now that she was attainable…She'd only just told him not to over think things but there he was, doing it again almost immediately. It seemed almost impossible for him not to do.

Forcing the resurface of concerns into silence, he tried his best to take her, not _so_ misguided, advice and instead attempted to simply enjoy lying in bed holding her. To enjoy living in that moment whilst it lasted. To enjoy the comfort and serenity that came with their new standing with one another…and to enjoy the way her naked body felt pressed against his.

Replaying the night over in his head, he wondered something. "Have you given anymore thought to me removing your scar for you?"

Nayla would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about his offer several times since he'd made it…but after seeing him so sweetly kiss the part of her she was most self-conscious about in kind reassurance before their first time together… "I think I'm fine with it where it is, for now." She murmured happily into his chest.

Hearing footsteps in the hallway, she stiffened, hoping that it was the sound of someone going to the infirmary across the hall.

"Captain?" Looking up at Law as they heard the knock on his door that followed, Nayla grew alarmed at his growing smirk. Expecting an 'Enter' to come from him, she quickly tried to scramble out of bed, stopped by his tightening hold and scowling up at him as he started chuckling quietly.

"Ichi sent me up to check on you two, see if you were awake yet. You guys must be starving, coming down for breakfast or want us to bring you both up something?"

"That won't be necessary. We'll be down soon." Law replied, looking down at her in amusement at the clear, threatening 'If you dare…' written all over her face.

"Aye aye, Captain."

Releasing her with another chuckle as her expression softened into one of mild surprise, Law sat up slowly beside her as they listened to Vereck move away from the door and begin walking down the hallway.

"…Are you gonna tell the crew?"

"Do _you_ want that headache?" He asked sceptically, looking at her as he shuffled towards the edge of the bed.

Shaking her head, she watching him as he turned back around and lifted his arms above his head, a satisfying stretch making the muscles beneath his tattoo move pleasantly.

"They'll find out eventually…but for now, I think we can both do without the hassle for as long as we can possibly manage it." He sighed out, releasing his long languid stretch before standing, ruffling a hand through his hair as he got up.

"Yeah..." She trailed off quietly, her gaze immediately dropping to his bare ass.

Her absentminded tone prompting him to look down at her over his shoulder, Law lowered his hand, raising a questioning brow before quickly realising what she was looking at.

Scoffing quietly at her sly smile as her eyes went back up to his, he made his way over to his En Suite. "Don't you have _any_ shame, Nayla?"

"No." She blatantly admitted, making him turn around at his doorway to look back at her.

"If you enjoy the view so much, you're welcome to stare all you want in the shower. If you feel like joining me for one."

Watching a devious grin of his own spread across hip lips as he rest his hand to the doorframe, Nayla bit her lip in contemplation of the extremely tempting, seductively uttered invitation. "As much as I'd love to, I get the impression neither of us would get much 'showering' done and we'd never make it down to breakfast."

"And the problem with that would be?"

"Someone would probably come back up to check on us and seeing as I'm so 'noisy,' apparently-" She shot him a look that only made the lazy grin on his face grow. "-I'd rather that didn't happen. I'm gonna snooze a little more before heading down though, I don't feel like getting out of bed yet."

"Hmm, waiting for me for a change? How unexpectedly sweet of you." He teased, watching her lay her head back down to his pillow.

"Get out."

"Of my own room?"

"Of your own room. Get out."

Chuckling as she closed her eyes, pulled the covers up to her nose and curled up comfortably in the warm spot he'd left behind, he made his way into the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him as she smiled beneath the sheets.

* * *

Making his way downstairs, Law couldn't help but feel good. Refreshed, content, settled, happy…maybe even a little excited to see how things would go between himself and Nayla from now on, rather than apprehensive as he had been.

Though he probably should have guessed she would have been more approachable, laid back and casual about their peculiar…'relationship,' so to speak, seeing as she always had been before whenever things had gotten out of hand between them. Why he thought she may run miles from him in embarrassment and repulsion after waking or spontaneously turn into a clingy, lovesick puppy whose affection he couldn't possibly hope to return, even if he wanted to, was beyond him.

Maybe he really did over think things and worry too much…Plus she was right, he _did_ have more important things to concern himself with than nitpicking and fussing over the finer details and possible future consequences of whatever was going on between them.

Reaching the second floor landing, he tucked his free hand into his pocket, heading towards the mess deck.

Although he hadn't _really_ expected Nayla to wait around for him to finish showering and shaving to accompany him hand in hand down to breakfast after last night, he found he had mixed feelings about re-entering his bedroom and seeing her gone and his sheets made. Part-relief that she wasn't expecting to be by his side all day everyday now but also a smidgen of disappointment that she _hadn't_ been there waiting for him…He wondered if she'd go straight back to avoiding him at meal times, if he was about to bump into her on her way out of the mess deck, as he had been doing for the past month.

Sighing, he pushed open the door but was pleasantly surprised to find she was still at his table, in her usual seat next to Shachi, Bepo on her other side, and that he could already hear her light-hearted, happy giggle from across the room.

Smiling a little at that he started making his way towards them, rounds of jovial cheers and eager greetings erupted from his men as they saw him, all still ecstatic to see him after yesterday's near-miss, despite their obvious hangovers from overdoing their celebration of the fact last night.

Turning at the sound of the commotion, the men at his table greeted him cheerfully as well, though the woman at it simply smiled subtly at him.

"Oh, what's this? No longer running off as soon as Cap comes in, huh? About damn time you two got over your little lover's spat." Shachi teased, catching her expression and elbowing her side, earning himself a warning look from her as Law rounded the table to take his seat opposite them, between Penguin and Jean Bart.

"Mhmm, and all it took was a life-or-death situation, no biggie." Penguin added from around his mouthful of eggs, casting her a taunting look of his own.

"You guys bett-"

"On to more important matters." Law mercifully interrupted her threat as he sat down, though she wasn't sure if it was for her or his crewmembers' benefit. "When did we arrive and what has been done so far?" He asked, pulling his gaze from hers as he rest his weapon to the wall behind him.

"Approximately four o'clock, Captain." The largest Heart Pirate responded, ignoring the glare from the furriest one as he spoke up. "We-"

"We haven't been ashore yet, Captain. We thought it would be best to have our breakfast and wait for your orders." Bepo quickly intercepted Jean Bart, turning to face Law.

Nodding in approval and ignoring the mild territorial spat still going on between his navigators, Law looked up at Dean as he brought his breakfast over for him. "And has everyone used this downtime to work out what they need to prioritise to get done this morning?" He asked, nodding in thanks to the smiling chef as he set his meal down and turned to go back to the galley.

"Aye aye, Captain! I made sure everyone knows what they need to do when we go ashore." The bear responded proudly, grinning widely.

"Ain't that the truth, been pestering us all morning." Penguin grumbled.

"Quit sucking up, Bepo." Shachi added.

"S-Sorry."

'Aww'ing as he sank into his usual, instantaneous, gloomy depression, Nayla set her knife down to reach a hand over to pat him soothingly on the head.

"Lucky bear…" Shachi mumbled, stabbing at the sausage on his plate with more force than necessary.

Rolling his eyes at the display, Penguin turned to look at Law beside him instead. "You coming ashore too Captain or taking it easy this morning? You really should."

"Neither. I'll be finishing what I'd planned to do yesterday before our arrival…and fixing my quarters up." He sighed out quietly, thinking of the mess awaiting him upstairs that still needed to be straightened out as he reached for his coffee.

"Ah, your room got hit hard too, huh? Need a hand with that?" Penguin offered.

"No, it's fine. It'll be faster for me to do it myself." He declined, lifting the mug to his lips to blow over the hot brew as he slid his newspaper over to the side of his tray.

"Well, alright. Let us know if you change your mind." He shrugged, watching his captain take a tentative sip as he skim read the day's headlines in front of him.

"Aww come on, Beppy. Smile for me already, that expression doesn't look right at all on such a cute face."

Brow rising at the distinct tone of 'baby talk' in her voice, Law glanced up at Nayla as she leant a kiss to his first mate's fuzzy cheek in an attempt to cheer him up.

"Stop feeling so sorry for him, he was being an ass to Jean Bart two seconds ago ya know." Shachi reminded.

She blinked at his grouchiness for a moment before speaking. "So, you think I should be coddling Jean instead?" Not waiting for him to answer, she looked up at the large man sat stoically at the table. "Hey Jean, you feeling bad? You want a hug?"

"No."

"See? He's fine." Nayla smiled.

"That's not the point, quit spoiling that damn bear."

"…Are you just jealous, Shachi? If you want a kiss too all you have to do is ask." She purred, leaning closer to him and enjoying the near-instantaneous flush of red to his cheeks.

"W-What? N-No!...Reall-?" Catching his captain's steel gaze as he glanced up at him from the page he was reading he quickly backtracked the thought. "No!"

"Then what's the problem? Let me spoil him, _someone_ has to be nice to him, all the crap you guys give him, geez."

"Trust us, we've known him longer. He's milking your softness for all its worth _and_ he's doing it on purpose to annoy us." Penguin said, setting his own coffee back down to the table and levelling Bepo with a knowing, distrustful look.

"Aww come on, Bepo isn't like that. He's not like _you_ guys." Nayla scoffed, dismissing the thought as she stuffed the last of her toast into her mouth.

"Take our word for it, he's not as stupid as he looks. He knows what he's doing." Shachi warned, pointing past her at Bepo on his other side as she eyed the redhead sceptically. "Acts all innocent and stuff but – see!"

Turning to look at the bear on her other side, Nayla missed the tongue Bepo had stuck out at Shachi over her shoulder, seeing only the solemn, sad pout still on his face. "See what?"

"Oi! You see that, Pen?"

"Yeah, I saw." Penguin said disapprovingly, slowing his chew down as he narrowed his eyes at the bear.

"S-Sorry." Bepo apologised immediately, bowing his head as he twiddled his paws on the table in front of him.

"Awww, come on!" Nayla cried, snatching Shachi's cap. "What. Is. The. Matter. With you guys?!" She scolded, emphasising each word with a slap of his hat to his head as he held his arms up in defence.

"Don't let his cuteness fool you! It's a trick! Oi, it's not funny you ass!" He yelled across the table as he heard his friend snicker around his mouthful of eggs.

"And you as well!" Nayla huffed, throwing Shachi's cap harshly at Penguin's face as he laughed louder at his friend's misfortune.

"Don't you mind them, Beppy. They're just jealous." She cooed kindly, turning to the poor, crestfallen bear and cuddling up to his side affectionately, missing the winning glint to his eyes as he raised them back up to Shachi over her head. The latter glaring at him sourly through his sunglasses as he pulled his returned hat back on.

Setting his utensils down to lift the paper up to his face, Law smiled discreetly behind its raised, open pages as he tuned out the nonsense at his table. Though he was enjoying finally being around to hear _her_ contribution to it and inwardly enjoying Bepo's well-deserved, small streak of vengeance against the two.

It had taken a while, longer than Law had anticipated, but Nayla's attempts to conceal and restrain her obvious, typical, girly weakness to all things fluffy and cute had finally failed.

"Ah, quit babying the jerk." Jeff dismissed, announcing his and Connor's arrival to the table from behind her as he roughly shoved Bepo aside and squeezed onto the bench in between them, looping an arm over her shoulders. "How ya doin' lil lady, good?"

"Yeah, good thanks."

"You're looking pretty thoroughly banged up this morning, sweetie." Connor pointed out, squeezing onto the bench between her and Shachi on her other side, ignoring the put out man's protests as he pulled his breakfast back over to him in annoyance.

"…Just a few bruises." Nayla replied cautiously as she took in his playful grin, wondering if her paranoia and own perversion had imagined the inflection on his pronunciation of 'banged' and the subtle paused between it and 'up.'

Looking across the table at Law, she watched him turn pages as he took another mouthful of his meal, either not noticing it or ignoring it, she wasn't sure.

"So who you taggin' along with this mornin'? You joining Team Birdbrain and Nosebleed to do boring, losery stuff-" Jeff nodded towards Penguin and Shachi in unnecessary signal of who he was referring to, ignoring their glares. "-or Team Stud and Mech Monkey for fun and adventure?" He finished, gesturing to himself with a thumb and nodding to Connor on her other side in turn.

"Team Stud? More like Team STI." Shachi snorted, making Penguin nearly spit his drink as he laughed and reached over the table to him for a high five.

Turning his scowl off of the pair, he looked at Connor on her other side. "Oi…" Jeff lifted the hand he had draped around Nayla's shoulders to knock his friend's cap forward off his head as he chuckled at his expense as well.

"I think I'll pass. Feeling pretty tired after yesterday so I think I'll just hang back and rest a little." She replied, pulling the fist Connor had lifted up in retaliation back down and placing his fallen hat into his hand instead to settle him, not wanting a play fight to break out over her head between the two.

"Aww, fine. You gotta catch up to us in the evening though, we need to celebrate you and Cap's awesome win against Mother Nature yesterday – no excuses, I won't take no for an answer." Jeff said firmly, lifting his other hand as she opened her mouth to mildly protest not feeling up to it.

"…Fine." She finally agreed, smiling as he grinned widely at her.

"Attagirl. I'll find us the best spot in town for tonight, you just spend the day here resting up if you wanna."

"Yeah, I'll bet you're just exhausted after 'diving into the icy depths without a care for your own safety to save your beloved' aren't ya, sweetie." Connor added with a cheeky smile.

She pursed her lips in annoyance at him as she saw Law look up at them from his paper in surprise. "…So you got to the part where he dives into the sea to save his harlot, did ya?"

"Yup."

"That's pretty far in, you enjoying that smutty thing?" She asked in amusement, lifting her glass of juice to her lips.

"Yeah, it ain't half bad actually. For a chick book."

"…Wait, you're actually reading that stupid pirate romance novel she bought?" Shachi pieced together in disbelief.

"Lame." Penguin chuckled.

"Nah, it's actually pretty good. Who knew women's 'romance' novels were basically just word-porn." He snorted.

"Sure is." She laughed.

"Still, interesting to see what women think, or at least wish, pirates were really like."

"It is?" Penguin asked, a little curious now.

"Oh yeah, we get a pretty heavily romanticised." Connor replied, attempting to steal the last, tempting-looking hash brown on Shachi's plate only to have him slide his tray further out of reach. His frown with food-stuffed cheeks doing little to make him look threatening and more to make him look like a displeased hamster.

"If only women really knew how far off the mark their idolised image of pirates really is. Not a romantic or _gentlemanly_ -" She didn't miss the look of amusement on Law's face as he set his paper back down to the table beside his meal. "-bone amongst ya. Little more than a ragtag of sea-bound thugs that act like a bunch of horny teenage boys at every port we go to."

"Hey now, that hurts." Jeff mock-gasped.

"I suppose you'd rather us behave like dashing heroes that, for some reason, keep on hoisting our sails topless to show off our 'gleaming, rippling muscles under the midday sun.' Geez, women can romanticise just about anything." Connor scoffed.

"Just like guys can sexualise just about anything." She quipped back.

"…Touché."

"You say that like you're any better." Jeff added quietly from beside her.

"I didn't say _I_ was." She admitted, returning his grin. "Anyway, those books are just fantasy junk and _most_ women know that. Anyone reading one and expecting a whirlwind romance with a loveable scoundrel of a pirate who's just a little rough around the edges and a misunderstood soul is in for a disappointment. You guys are a bunch of hopeless jerks when it comes to women." She joked, enjoying the subtly, mildly miffed smirk on Law's face as he looked up at her. The one that she so enjoyed seeing on his lips that said he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed with her or find her funny.

Eyeing the paper, Nayla picked up her tray as she started to get up. "Anyway, I'm gonna go wash up and rest a little. You guys have a nice morning."

"Yeah, see ya."

"Will do."

"Later, lil lady."

"Rest well, I'm sure all that vigorous make-up sex took a lot out of ya." Snapping her gaze to Connor at his almost inaudible dig in shock, she watched as his grin widened.

Genuinely unsure whether he was just teasing and unknowingly hit too close to home, was fishing for a telling reaction from her to confirm his suspicions or if he _knew_ , Nayla glanced across the table at Law.

Offering no reassurance or reprimand to the comment, he calmly lifted his coffee back to his lips as he read his paper, making her start to believe he simply hadn't heard it…until she caught the edge of the amused grin peering over the rim of his mug as he took a casual sip, affirming that he _had_ heard it and that he was just ignoring it or leaving her to deal with it. Though his expression faltered as he turned the page.

Glancing at his bounty, it quickly became apparent that Nayla had helped herself to one of the red pens from his scattered stationary upstairs on her way out. She'd drawn a rose in his mouth, as if held between his teeth in a manner that a man may do when attempting to woo a woman and a generously sized lipstick print on his cheek. His speech bubble read "I'm a closet cuddler" and she'd taken the liberty of amending his bounty information. His epithet now reading 'Surgeon of Spooning,' the 'Death' crossed out, and he was now known for his notoriously 'cuddly' conduct instead of his notoriously 'cruel' one. She hadn't done this to his morning paper since the day she'd left for Pugna; she'd long stopped her playful pressing of his buttons.

Looking up at her with a raised brow as she lifted her tray, his stolen pen rolling out from beneath its side, he watched as she stepped out from the bench and picked it up.

"I'll put this back where I found it." She winked, wiggling the pen between her finger and thumb before tucking it snugly into her cleavage as she turned to leave.

Knowing he should feel more annoyed than he did as she sauntered away in 'victory,' he watched her deposit her empty dishes with a cheerful thanks to Dean before she made her way to the door, casting him a sly smile over her shoulder as she left the room.

Huffing in amusement he looked back down at his vandalised image, eyeing the small, red hearts she'd dotted around his face, feeling a smile tugging at his own lips as he began tearing out the page.

Seeing Penguin leaning over to take a look, he swiftly obscured his curious friend's view with the pages he was holding open, realising the men at his table had been quiet and watching his exchange with Nayla intently.

"You guys must have made up good. Already back to your love letters, eh Captain?" Shachi teased, the grin on his face a shared expression amongst the men at his table as they watched him tear the rest of the page out.

"So it'd seem." He replied levelly, though the noncommittal tone was lost to the betraying smirk on his face as he safely folded it beneath the newspaper's cover, out of view of prying eyes, and pocketed it. Unable to believe he'd ever seen the day he was happy to see an image of himself defaced.


	63. Cleaning up, getting dirty

Pulling her top back on over her head, Nayla eyed the pile of soggy, sandy clothing in the sink with a hum of disapproval as she picked up her towel and squeezed the excess moisture from her hair.

Having enjoyed her long, hot, indulgent shower, she set it back on its rack neatly to dry and left the bathroom, making her way back through Law's bedroom slowly as she looked around at the disarray. There was a lot that needed to be straightened out, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him if he intended to do it all alone.

Her toes nudging something soft, she looked down at the towel she'd pulled off of Law's waist last night, still laying discarded to the floor by the edge of his bed. Picking both it and the one that she had been wearing up, she smiled to herself as she took them back to the En Suite, tossing them atop the washing that needed to be done that was already piled high in the sink before returning to the bedroom.

Deciding to neaten things up a little and lighten his load for him, she made her way around the bed to pick up the pillow and blanket that had been thrown from the sofa she usually slept on. Folding the thick fabric up neatly, she lay it back in its usual place but hesitated slightly with the pillow in hand as she glanced over her shoulder at Law's bed.

Ignoring the rightful spot it should occupy as she looked at the uneven distribution of three pillows on it, she firmly placed it back against the arm of the sofa. She wouldn't be making any assumptions about where she would be sleeping from now on. She'd made it perfectly clear that she'd expect nothing from him and he'd given her fair enough warning not to. He probably had no desire at all for her to spend every night in his bed and it would probably be out of line of her to assume she'd be resting in it from now on…

'You know he's gonna call you an idiot when he sees you've made up the sofa again, right? – _Or_ , he may appreciate not having to deal with the awkwardness of making it clear he doesn't want me curling up in his bed with him. – Pfft, who, Dr. Cuddlebutt?'

Snorting at the ridiculous pet name that Law would most definitely _not_ appreciate, she made her way through the archway to the living side of his quarters, wondering where to start with the unholy chaos on the floor before reaching down to the nearest books by her feet.

She'd told Law to treat things casually and to only do things that he wanted to - that felt right, and that was exactly what she had meant. If he wanted to go with the flow and indulge himself with her, that would be fine. If he grew disinterested in her over time, then that would be ok too. She wouldn't kid herself into believing she, or any woman for that matter, could hold the unwavering attention of a man like Law indefinitely…but she'd take pride in earning it in the first place when she hadn't thought she could, enjoy it whilst she had it and bow out gracefully when the time came.

Well, as gracefully as she could manage. It might sting a little, depending on how it came about but, she'd worry about that when the time came. For all she knew, maybe _she'd_ be the one that would grow tired of him and want to break it off.

'That tattooed chest? Those gorgeous abs? Those beautiful eyes? The way he pounded your thoughts into oblivion last night? Yeah, right. – Shut up…it could happen.'

Frowning at the loud, mocking laughter that answered that in her own head, Nayla turned the thick naval warfare tactics textbook in her hand over in distracted inattention as she set it and the other books she'd collected onto the edge of Law's desk before stooping down to collect the others nearby.

She was already too emotionally invested in the man. There was no shame in admitting that to herself silently because it hadn't been her intention and honestly couldn't have been helped – she _had_ tried several times already to leave the sub after all. It wasn't her fault…and the feeling was probably mutual.

There was no reason to ever say anything out loud about it to him though. It'd only negate what she'd said that morning to reassure him and add a pressure to his shoulders that she didn't want him to feel. It'd add an unpleasant pressure in general to something between them that _should_ be fun and enjoyable for them both.

Though she was unsure of how things would go from now on, she was strangely looking forward to seeing where things went, but she'd be dedicated to reminding herself to not even remotely harbour any unrealistic ideals of a loving, long-term, committed relationship with a pirate along the way. Law wasn't all wrong in pointing out that by occupational definition, any person capable of an unstable, unpredictable, unlawful, violent life at sea probably didn't have a personality that was compatible with one and she'd be wise to expect even less than that from a man as socially and emotionally unavailable as he was…

Though in his defence, he had surprised her by leaps and bounds with how much he _could_ express what he thought and felt about her through simple gestures…The small things…how gently he held her hand…his rare, sincere smiles…how he thought of her comfort and well-being before his own…how he always rest his head to hers…the way he looked at her sometimes…how he had kissed her scar…how he had stopped her from moving away in bed last night – she hadn't even thought he'd particularly want her in his personal space after sex…

Huffing under her breath at how stubbornly he'd wrapped his arms around her and in fact, how many times he'd held her the day before in total, she promised herself that the next time he pissed her off, she'd be doing her damnedest to _really_ have the marines add 'Cuddle Slut' to his bounty description.

Setting the new stack of collected books to the edge of his desk, she glanced at the cover of the one now atop the pile. 'The Pioneering Pirates, Privateers & Buccaneers; Paving the Way to The Grand Line,' she read as she lifted it, peeling back its thick, leather cover and flipping through the pages with her thumb curiously as she gently bent its spine. Black and white photographs and images of handwritten journey logs flew past; it appeared to be a comprehensive book about the first crews that had tread the waters they were on now. Every pirate or sailor of historical significance over the last century was in it, everything from where they travelled, what they found, why they made history and how they perished had been documented meticulously into one collection.

It was easy to see why Law might have a copy of it, likely focusing on where these crews went and how they met their end on The Grand Line…She wondered if he and the crew she was travelling with right now would be published like this someday…Come to think of it, Law and the Heart Pirates were probably already making history and being written about. An infamous crew harbouring one of The Worst Generation, a Supernova Devil Fruit user, there was no doubt they _would_ go down in history and that years, even centuries from now their names would spill from the lips of people who had never known them, they would echo through the ages for their accomplishments…

Humming at the humbling thought of just how incredible that was, that she was travelling with men who were already destined to be immortalised, she wondered if _she'd_ leave anything behind after she was gone…Probably not. All she had to her anonymised epithet was some ill-famed, miniscule legacy of dark battlefield killer. The kind of minor infamy that would spawn ghost tales around the fires of camps as worn soldiers ate their meagre rations and tried to spook one another. Rumours and gossip of some demonic-looking slaughterer that would be exaggerated and disbelieved for a generation or two was probably the best she'd get, other than that, she'd probably be long forgotten after she was gone, even by those that had known her during her lifetime and that she had left behind at some point.

Sighing at the inadvertently heavy thought, she set the book back down and closed the cover on the black and white image of a dashingly handsome, long dead pirate captain, not particularly fond of the sombre thought of someone doing the same to Law's photo sometime in the future after he was long gone and nothing but print on a page.

Shaking off the strangely upsetting line of thinking, Nayla ran her eyes over the spines of the books on his desk. She'd already looked at the titles he kept within his quarters, he had an interesting variety of them though they all, in one way or another, seemed to be geared towards helping his position as a pirate captain. It seemed that whatever Law did set his mind to, he devoted himself wholeheartedly, whether it be leading his crew successfully or his goal. He was an incredibly dedicated man…

He held books on leadership, on time and human resource management, motivational speaking, basic language books – those had impressed her. She wondered how many languages he had touched upon or learnt phrases of to interact with natives of non-English speaking islands. There were texts on tactical warfare – both sea and land, books about ships, about subs, basic beginner's guides to mechanics, electricals, plumbing, navigation, books about The Grand Line itself, the book about Devil Fruits she had already taken a look at, books about marines, sea life, basic oceanography and many about pirates – general, historical, cultural, code and punishments. That last one had caught her morbid eye quite a few times from its prominent placement on the shelf behind his desk, making her wonder if it were part scare tactic to keep it on open display when his crewmembers entered to talk to him or if the book was just a testament to his renowned cruelty and sadism.

Curiosity finally getting the better of her, she reached for it to tug it out of the pile and take a quick peek but instead turned to the door as she heard it begin to open.

Feeling her heart flutter as Law's eyes locked to hers, she watched as he entered the room. The open mixture of amusement, annoyance, endearment and the slightest hint of lust to his gaze, lost to the two men that entered behind him. She guessed from his expression that he still wasn't sure whether to be angry at her about that morning's paper or find it funny.

Peeling her eyes away from his as Penguin gave a low whistle, she watched him close the door behind him, tipping the bill of his cap back a bit as he surveyed the loose piles of paperwork on the carpet by the shelving that used to house them neatly within their folders.

"Geez…Like a wave hit the _inside_ of your room." He uttered in disbelief as his captain began striding past the chaos on the floor towards his desk.

"Yeah, nearly as good as the mess in the bathroom we had to clean up yesterday." Shachi agreed, raising his sunglasses up as he studied the other side of the room. "You really don't need a hand with all this?

"That won't be necessary." Law replied smoothly, gliding past Nayla still stood on his side of the desk as he made his way to his seat, recapturing her gaze as he brushed past her more closely than necessary, a small, smirk on his face as the bare skin of his arm caused her own to tingle mildly at the contact. '…God, he smells amazing…I think we should jump him. – What? No!'

"You sure? We can hang back a little before going ashore."

She narrowed her eyes at Law's knowing look that told her he _knew_ how easily he affected her and in warning of his discreet tease right in front of his men as they turned their attention back their way. "Don't worry about this mess. I'm already working on it." She answered Shachi, illustrating her point by placing a palm onto the small stack of books she'd already gathered off the floor.

"Didn't you want to rest this morning?" Law asked from behind her, resting his weapon to the edge of the wood beside her thigh, his fingers brushing against it teasingly as he slowly removed them from his sheath, out of sight of Penguin and Shachi on the opposite side of the room and desk.

Turning to lock gazes with him up over her shoulder, she registered the open laughter in his pale blue irises as hers _tried to_ relay how unamused she was with his brazen taunting…Though she found herself pursing her lips to mute the matching, playful smile that wanted to spread across them.

"Putting away a few things isn't exactly strenuous. I can finish up and have a rest before evening, the guys can get on with what they need to go do and _you_ can get straight on with the bit of work you wanted to do this morning. It's a win-win for everyone." She explained, watching him as he took his seat beside her.

Humming in uncertainty, Penguin crossed his arms and looked at Shachi, obviously not happy with leaving the whole mess to her _or_ his captain. "Well…are _you_ sure you don't want any help with all this, Nayla-chan?"

"Yeah, it'l-oh! You could do me one favour and save me the trip though." She said, pushing off from the desk she'd leant on to make her way back through to Law's bedroom.

Shrugging slightly in answer of Penguin and Shachi's silent question as to what she had gone to fetch, Law's gaze slid back over to her as she re-entered the room holding the soggy bundle of clothing and towels that had been occupying the sink in outstretched arms. "Could one of you drop these off at laundry before you leave, please?"

"Oh, yeah of course, Nayla-chan." Shachi answered, taking the clothing from her.

"Thank you an-…wait." Stopping, she wriggled her hand between the folds of wet fabric in the man's hands before pulling out her underwear and tightly curling the bundle up into her fist, levelling a distrustful look at him.

"Aww come on, I wasn't gonn-"

"And if you have a sec could you bring a mop up for me too? Bathroom floor is all sandy and gritty." She cut off, ignoring Shachi's offence as she turned to Penguin.

"Sure thing, Nayla-chan." Penguin chuckled, grinning at his sulking friend. "Anything else you two need?" He offered, looking back at his captain in question.

"No thank you, Pen." She answered, stooping down to pick up the stray sofa cushion by her feet.

"No, just have someone report back here later with an update."

"Aye aye, Captain. Back in a sec with a mop then. Come along, Panty Pirate." He slapped a hand to Shachi's back as they turned to leave the room, earning an annoyed sigh from the redhead.

"I'll head down to laundry and meet ya at the entrance." The man grumbled as Penguin opened the door for him. "Enjoy your morning, 'resting' here with Captain, Nayla-chan." He taunted back over his shoulder, earning the cushion she'd just picked up to his face as she threw it at him without hesitation.

"Oi!" He exclaimed, hunching his shoulder to adjust his sunglasses back to where they were with his arm.

"You asked for that." Penguin laughed, following him out of the room.

"Swear she gets more and more violent by the day." Shachi's mumble sounded from behind the closing door.

"Then quit provoking her, dummy."

Listening to their arguing grow quieter as they walked down the hallway, Nayla rest her hands to her hips, turning to face Law with an unimpressed expression as he reclined in his seat casually, his elbow on the arm of it, resting his cheek to his fist and smirking at her silently.

"…You think you're so damn funny." She muttered, earning a quiet chuckle as his eyes followed her moving back towards his bedroom.

Noticing far more mirth in his gaze then there should have been, she slowed as she approached the archway, tutting aloud. "Just spit it out. What is it, Law?"

"I didn't take you to be the clingy type, Nayla. Especially not after what you said this morning about keeping things 'casual.'"

Stopping altogether and turning to face him, she felt her jaw slack. "Wh-clingy? Me? How?!"

"Staying behind this morning because you're so keen to spend more time alone with me already?" He teased, genuinely enjoying her shock and offence.

"Yo-…" Shaking her head and closing her eyes to blot out the annoyingly – _annoyingly_ smug smirk on his face, she turned and stomped over to his desk, preparing to wipe it off. "I have a hard time believing that even _you_ are self-absorbed and cocky enough to actually believe that. You'd better be joking."

"And if I'm not?" He challenged, not moving an inch as she came to a stop beside his chair.

"That's so typical, offer to stay behind out of the goodness of my heart because I took pity on a _jackass_ like you and get accused of being clingy. Why not just be grateful that I'm being nice enough to stick around and be helpful?"

"Oh, because you're being nice. _That's_ why you're staying behind with me in my quarters this morning?"

Biting the inside of her cheek at his insinuation as he turned his chair slightly to face her, she tried settling her temper a little, knowing that he was thoroughly enjoying her irritation. "I've already said it, your crew is busy, you're busy and _I_ also share this space and don't want to live in a mess. Plus, if someone's gotta do it then it may as well be the one person on board who isn't _needed_ anywhere else or has anything else to do. Any of those reasons do anything for you?" She calmly listed.

"Try another."

"How about the _main_ reason is that I'm just way too tired and sore to walk around much today." She sighed.

Watching as his brows shot up to the brim of his hat before a practically devilish smile took to his lips, she quickly realised what she'd said. "From the _ocean_ yesterday, not _you_." She quickly corrected, illustrating her point with a fingertip to his cheek.

Chuckling as she poked him in playful annoyance, he lift a hand to hers, pulling it away from his face as he pulled her down more closely to him. "We could fix that."

"…Oh? All this taunting about _me_ being the one hanging back for another round when it's really you?" She asked, matching the sultry tone he had slipped into.

" _I'm_ hanging back to do work." He corrected, pulling her nearer and snaking his other hand around her lower back, his playful gaze openly admiring her breasts as she leant down over his chair.

"I didn't take you to be the easily distracted type. You're not gonna let a pretty _face_ sidetrack you from the stuff you wanted to get done now are you, 'Captain?'" She purred, tilting his chin back up to face her with the curled finger of her free hand.

"Who said you were pretty?" He grumbled, mildly annoyed at how quickly the way she used his title had travelled to his groin and at her disrupting his enjoyable view.

"You did, this morning. Called me beautiful, in fact." She said quietly, stroking his goatee with her thumb before finally giving into her nagging temptation and leaning forward to press her lips to his.

A little surprised, his brows rose as she tilted her head and kissed him gently, his eyes closing and a quiet exhale leaving him as she softly sucked his lower lip. Releasing her captured hand he reached up and rest his to the back of her head as her felt her lips beginning to part for him.

"Got the mop for Nayla-chan, Captain." Penguin called through the door with a knock to announce his return. "Want me to leave it out here, or?"

"Give me a sec, coming, Pen." She replied, pulling away from Law with a small smile.

"Is that another one of your tasteless puns, Nayla?" He said quietly, gliding the hand he had on her back around to her front and up her chest slowly.

"No, and my puns are _not_ tasteless. You however…" She trailed off in indication, looking down at her breasts as his fingers delved between them.

Chuckling he slid the red pen she'd left down there out between his index and middle fingers.

"Oh…forgot about that." She murmured, standing as he pulled his hand back.

"Clearly." He said smoothly, noting the pleasant warmth of the plastic between his fingers as he watched her straighten out her top.

Scoffing at the dirty smirk on his face she made her way over to the door quickly as she heard a bucket being set down outside it and Penguin laying his hand to the knob.

Resting back into his chair, Law leant his lips to the fingers of his hand as he watched her open the door for Penguin and take the mop and bucket with a bright smile and a thanks.

"Alright, we're off. See ya later, Captain!"

Realising he'd not taken his eyes off of her, he pulled his gaze to the man to respond. "Yeah, take care."

Nodding, Penguin closed the door with a wave to the two as Nayla turned with bucket in one hand and mop in the other, raising a brow at the devious smile peering out from beneath the pen and fingers resting across Law's lips as he watched her.

"Get to work. We can play later, 'Captain.'" She purred suggestively, matching his sly smile as she made her way through the archway and into his bedroom.

Fighting the urge to follow her into it and to run his tongue over his lips as he watched her saunter away, he leant forward over his desk, righting his stationary holder before dropping the pen he was holding into it. Already promising himself a well-earned 'playtime' with her the second he was done.

* * *

Side-glancing at Law as she slid the last of his books back into place on the shelves behind his desk - a general knowledge text about Minkmen and their culture, she watched him tap his pen in thought onto its surface, furrowing his brows at the pages in front of him. Her own handwriting. She'd been more than curious to know what it was exactly he was thinking or even using the seemingly mundane facts she brought back from her jobs for him. Though, for obvious reasons, she hadn't felt able to ask over the last month.

'He looks sooo good. – He always does, be quiet.'

He seemed to nitpick over every minute detail, often noting down and asking her a set of strangely precise follow-up questions about any information she provided him, but she couldn't ever piece together his train of thought…She hoped she'd be able to ask him, sometime. That he'd trust her enough to divulge at least that much of this mystery goal to her. It'd make it much easier for her to focus her snooping and bring back what he needed if he did…or at least that would be part of her argument when he refused to answer her.

'He smells sooo amazing, can't we ju-? – No. He always does. Be. Quiet.'

Biting her lips together, she scanned over the shelving once more, certain she'd put everything back where it used to be. Between living there for as long as she had, her sneakily perusing Law's collection in avid interest whenever he was out of his room and how systematic he was in how he stored his items, it had been easy to put everything away.

'Come onnn, please? – I'm telling you to shut up. The man's busy, let him do what he needs to do first. - …Needs to do us is what he needs to do.'

Clenching her jaw and refusing to 'answer' that, she turned and glanced over at his dining-turned-navigation-consultation table, everything there was now put back into place and thankfully none of the expensive liquors within the glass cabinets on that side of the room had broken or spilled. She'd straightened out the sofas and coffee tables and had long finished neatening the bedroom, bathroom and putting away the mop.

Gazing over his desk, she double checked everything she'd picked up had been set back in its rightful place. The neat pile of papers, the tray of files, the lamp, stationary, the Den Den snoozing comfortably on the corner…Her gaze settled back onto him, watching as he annotated the pages in front of him silently and diligently, the muscles moving beneath the bronze flesh of his bare, tattooed forearm catching her eye in their motion as he wrote. She scanned his skin idly, wondering if she'd left any nail marks on it from when she had gripped him there last night when he'd been on top of her…'God dammit,' she inwardly sighed, her thoughts immediately going astray again.

'Ugh, I wanna go again! - Stop whining like a brat at an amusement park, he's not a ride. - …Kinda is.' Feeling a slight flush hit her cheeks, she rubbed her forehead as Law, seemingly on cue with her thoughts, stopped writing and turned his gaze up to look at her.

"What is it, Nayla?"

"…Nothing, I uh. Just wanted to ask something about the paperwork but didn't want to interrupt you." She covered, looking across the room at the scattered pages and half-opened folders still strewn across the carpeting beneath his other shelving; the only thing left to tidy up.

Following her gesture he hummed under his breath a little, able to guess that she was uncertain of how he wanted his things filed away.

"It's fine for me to look through that stuff right?"

Setting his pen down, he looked up at her in mild shock, wondering since when she had ever given a damn about whether looking through the things in his quarters was ok with him or not. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, I've never looked through those things but it seems like its where you keep all the vulnerable info about your sub and how its run and stuff…Trust me enough to look through it?" She finished with a half-hearted tease.

"…Apparently, Nayla, I can trust you with my life. I don't see how you going through a few maintenance files will be any issue." He pointed out quietly, watching her expression soften in surprise. "What a ridiculous thing to ask…Idiot." And harden again immediately, making him smirk widely at the glare she gave him.

"Yeah, you can call me an idiot all you want from your Sea Prism cell once I memorise every weak spot on this ship and sell it the nearest marine officers and bounty hunters I can find. Ass." Ignoring his chuckle, she made her way over to the nearest folder, scooping it and its spilling contents carefully from the floor. "A lot of these pages are gonna be out of order and mixed up with each other so can you just show me how you want them?" She asked, bringing the ring binder back over with her as she approached his desk.

"For now, it'd be easier to just set any lose papers from each folder into their own piles. I'll see to them myself in a bit."

"That's all?" She asked, looking at the items in her hands, feeling a little useless if that's all she was apparently capable of.

"You can save me some time by sorting each pile into chronological order, if you like. Most recent on top." He offered, pointing a finger to highlight where the date was written on one of the pages resting on top of the plastic file she held.

"If _I_ like?" She reiterated quietly, watching as he started to smirk at the displeased tone in her voice. "I'm doing _you_ a favour. A 'please' wouldn't hurt, ya know."

"A favour I neither wanted nor asked for." He chuckled, removing one of her hands from the bundle she was carrying.

Opening her mouth to respond angrily to that, she felt her voice leave her as he kissed the back of her hand softly, missing the practically devious expression as looked up at her stunned silence.

"But thank you." He added, letting her hand slide from his as he turned back to his desk.

Feeling a little bad she'd very nearly laid into him, she blinked in confusion of his kind gesture and words, a 'You're welcome' on the tip of her tongue…before she noticed the sly upturn of his lips.

"…You jerk, and you think _I'm_ the manipulative one." She huffed, turning away indignantly to walk back to the other side of the room as she realised how easily he'd just diffused her temper. She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or a little worried at how well he'd started to get to know her to be able to do so.

"You still are." He muttered quietly, though still loud enough to be heard, earning a small laugh from her as she took a seat on his sofa with the binder on her lap and got to work.

* * *

Joker seemed particularly protective and territorial over a couple of the last few islands they had visited; they seemed to hold some sort of importance to him. With a little input from Bepo and from the information he had gathered himself, he'd been able to plot likely other islands Doflamingo was _particularly_ invested in business-wise. The only question was why…

Eyes flitting up at movement, Law watched Nayla shift more comfortably, placing another set of neatly sorted pages onto the cushioned seat beside her…Had she always crossed her legs that way?

Snuffing the thought, he rest his chin to his fist, frowning at the small makeshift map of likely other islands of interest his navigator had crudely, though devotedly, drawn for him. There was no geographical advantage to tighter control over these locations, that he could see anyway…So why was Joker so fast to respond to issues that arose on them? Why did he immediately send in people like Nayla to aggressively smother any problems in these places but not in others? What was so important to him here?

…Had he really never noticed how she crossed her legs before or was she just teasing him? Looking up subtly at the smooth sheen on the flesh of her toned, tanned legs Law trailed them up from the floor, following the back of the thigh of her crossed one down to where it met the seat of his sofa. The beginnings of bare ass and the smallest slither of underwear peering from beneath…

The most significant of Joker's operations was undoubtedly in the New World, which was why the way he kept his business matters in tight control over these particular areas had stuck out like a sore thumb. He'd looked into these islands thoroughly and had managed to gather a decent amount of information of Doflamingo's dealings on them from both Nayla's snooping and his own.

…She was definitely teasing him…No, she was engrossed in what she was doing…and she'd made no effort to pull him away from what he needed to do - which he appreciated…Maybe he was just a pervert.

Pushing his hat aside with a sigh, he reached for the mug of coffee she'd brought up for him when she'd gone to fetch herself a drink, draining the last of its cooled contents as he overturned the last page of the report she'd given to him from her previous job.

It had been nothing but simple vengeance on petty rival thugs. Criminals taking advantage of a weakness they saw in other criminals. Joker's illegal warehouse of operations on that particular island had been ransacked and robbed due to the personnel working there being spread too thin and a lot of them got killed in their futile defence of their boss's assets. Nayla had been hired to wreak havoc on the rival gang's base in return and leave retrieval of Joker's stolen goods up to the new men he was sending to occupy and re-staff his operations there.

Hearing movement, he reluctantly gazed up against his better judgement, glimpsing the small, delectable flash of black fabric between her thighs as she switched legs, eyeing the page in her hand curiously as she clicked the ring binder on her lap closed.

He imagined the scene she left behind to be reminiscent of something she would have done on a battlefield, though he hadn't asked. Whatever she had done to those men, she'd obviously had ample time to sleuth around at her leisure afterwards. That was apparent by the amount of detailed information she'd come back with - of what had been worth the risk those idiots that had _dared_ step out of their league to steal from Doflamingo for and what they had intended to do with it.

Setting his mug back down to his desk and leaning back, he twirled the pen between his fingers idly, wondering for the hundredth time why lab equipment was of any significance to a man like Joker.

Watching Nayla lean forward to rest another page atop the pile on the coffee table in front of her, he gnawed the inside of his cheek to keep his increasingly weak train of thought on track as his eyes settled onto the sight of her breasts inadvertently gliding back and forth across the folder on her lap as she moved.

The easiest and seemingly most plausible explanation was concoction of illicit drugs, meth for example…but why would he bother? Drug lording was low down on Doflamingo's list of criminal activities, it brought in pennies compared to his other businesses such as his waning slavery trade and his booming military one. Why would an obscenely wealthy man like him even bother with lab equipment to produce drugs?

Resting his pen down to his desk, Law crossed his own legs as he looked up at Nayla, still seemingly oblivious to his open perusal of her body as she rest the folder she'd finished with onto the stack beside her and picked up another from its resting place on the arm of the sofa.

It didn't make any sense that Joker would raise such a fuss over a menial part of his business empire…which was why Law had looked into the equipment itself. All the items that had been taken had been made by the same manufacturer, a company name that he himself was familiar with and one that had factories across several of the islands of interest Law had noted down.

It produced the finest scientific equipment across the entirety of the Grand Line; several of the items in his own infirmary came direct from them as well. Far too refined for run-of-the-mill drug production, it would be frank misuse of that kind of costly apparatus…So then what was Doflamingo using it for and why was it so important to secure his facilities that bought, stored, used and shipped it?...Was _germ_ warfare next on that man's agenda?

"Hey, Law?"

Shaking the horrifying thought from his mind, he snapped his gaze back over to Nayla from the malevolent, greyscale grin of the man in question still on his board, the newspaper article publishing the two warlord seats up for grabs still pinned to it.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bother you." Realising he was probably grimacing at the thought of Doflamingo standing atop his throne with deadly, global scale weapons of mass destruction at his stringy fingertips he relaxed his expression.

"It's fine, what is it?"

"I've mostly finished sorting these, if you could just give me the gist of how to file them back I can do that for you."

Sighing a little at her quiet, polite tone, he got up from his seat. He was even more convinced as time went by that it was just a default remnant of her upbringing and private schooling to keep falling into her oddly well-spoken behaviour from time to time. Something he heard her occasionally use addressing strangers on islands when she felt her usual brassy, flirtatious behaviour was inappropriate or wouldn't cut it.

"You don't have to stop what you're doing…"

"It's easier to show you than tell you and it'll be faster if we both do it. Besides, I could use a short break from this."

As far as going through the information she'd given him and the connections of dots he'd already made, there was little else left to do now than speculate their meanings and wait for more information to come in.

Walking across the room he ran a hand through the back of his hair, glancing around the sofa she sat on, piles of papers and folders took up the seats on either side of her and, the coffee table was faring no better.

Getting up, she pushed aside a stack of sorted pages on the table before setting herself down onto its surface, resting the ring binder she held back onto her lap.

Raising a brow in question, he came to a stop beside her, letting his hand fall back down to his side.

"I can perch here, take the sofa. You're bigger than I am." She smiled, patting the vacated sofa cushion in invitation.

Scoffing at that he rest his hands to his thighs as he turned, tugging the fabric of his jeans up a little as he sat down in front of her. "Everyone's bigger than you are."

Pursing her lips at that she followed his hands as they reached over to tilt the edge of the mechanic folder she held down flat to her knees so that he could scan its contents upside down.

"All the folders, no matter which department they belong to, are organised in the same way by these dividers-" He ran a finger down the numbered, coloured tabs that overhung the sides of the filed papers in indication. "-and documents under each division are filed in chronological order with the newest report on top. The first couple of tabs are red, labelled one and two respectively. All issues of the department that need _immediate_ addressing are placed under red tab one once I've received a verbal report of the problem. Fortunately, it's usually empty and anything that _was_ in there that has already been authorised and resolved will be moved to red tab two and have my signature on it." He pulled the second tab up and over, revealing the document filed beneath it and placing a fingertip to his elegant script at the bottom in illustration.

"So what sorts of things get put under red?" She wondered aloud, scanning the page briefly and seeing something about a turbine failure that had occurred some time ago before looking back up at him.

Law blinked at her neutrally, before tugging out an all too familiar piece of paper from the unsorted stack that balanced precariously atop the sofa arm beside him, handing it to her silently.

Taking it from him curiously, she skimmed past the report details up top; the date, the department, the crewmember making the report – Funada. A man she didn't often speak too though he was a perfectly nice guy. He worked aboard the vessel as its main shipwright, overseeing all of the maintenance and repairs of the sub's sailing functions such as the masts, decks, railing, rigs and also spearheaded the more general repairs needed on board as well.

' _Issue:_ _Level 3, flood compartment wall 3c destroyed beyond function. Starboard side panel of wall 3c has a 23x40in defect through all layers. (12in from the floor, 3in from the starboard wall, approx)._

_Portside panel, electronics and sensors intact._

_ Reason for need of  _ _** immediate ** _ _resolution (if any): Severe impairment of sub's flood safety mechanism – possible loss of life/vessel in the event of taking on water._

_ Action required: _ _Immediate repair using spare panel in storage room 2 (last one)._

_ Recommendations that require captain authorisation: _

_Delay of any further travel until wall 3c is repaired._

_Full testing of flood-safety mechanisms before departing._

_At least two replacement spare panels to be ordered to size at the next island.'_

Biting her lip guiltily as she saw Law's signature on the bottom of the page in her hands, authorising Funada's proposed courses of action to resolve the damage she'd caused, she chanced a look up at Law as he sat back, crossed his ankle over his knee and smiled at her.

"Oh…" She said quietly, pulling open the metal rings of the binder on her lap as he chuckled and filing the report under the second red tab. "I guess I'll be seeing cell bar repairs in here somewhere too then, huh?" She asked sheepishly, looking at the small unsorted pile he'd plucked that report from on the sofa.

"Most likely, though that would be put under the third divider, the orange one. Things that need attention as soon as possible, as they could _potentially_ cause a major problem if not resolved at our nearest opportunity, are filed there. The yellow tab holds things of low priority, green is simply current lists of stock for that department and blue is current lists of _needed_ stock for that department." He finished explaining the meaning of the remaining dividers as she looked through them.

"So…if you keep everything for every department up here, then what are they keeping in _their_ folders?" She'd seen the ring binders on the top shelf of the galley's pantry, there were a couple on a shelf kept with the tools in one of the rooms on floor three that she'd seen Koush and Connor refer to a couple of times during maintenance checks _and_ she'd spotted a few on the side of the control panel in the cockpit that Bepo took great pride in keeping in mint condition.

"Carbon paper. I keep the originals, they keep the copies for easy reference within the relevant part of the sub as well as their records of daily checks. I don't need to see those unless there's something wrong."

"…And the huge stash of folders in the storage room I've seen?" She asked, watching as he slid over and opened up the 'Galley' records from the pile beside him.

"Any documents older than six months get destroyed however, maintenance records and any documentation of our monetary gain and its distribution amongst the crew remains with us indefinitely. When their folders become too full the oldest documentation gets put into the archive folders down there…What is it?" He asked, noticing she had tilted her head and was smiling at him in amusement.

"I bet actual businesses and companies have less paperwork than this."

"I like to be organised." He justified neutrally, picking up the corresponding loose pages for the folder in his lap that she had set beside it, ready to be re-filed.

"I can see that but aren't you a little _too_ organised, for a pirate?"

"It's a large crew with a lot of needs and a complex vessel. I can't store everything in my head."

"Weird, seems big enough." Smile widening as he snapped his grey gaze back up to hers.

"…Be quiet. Incessant little brat of a woman." He muttered, popping open the metal rings of the folder in his lap, a smile on his face at the sound of her giggle as she did the same and they set about their task together.

Aside from the rustle of pages, dull thunks of ring binders being popped open or closed and her occasional question to rightfully replace a piece of Law's prudent paperwork when she was uncertain, they fell into their increasingly comfortable silence with one another easily as they worked.

* * *

It hadn't taken him long to find and happily hand over the record of her destruction of his cell and between the two of them, there was soon a short stack of completed folders growing on the carpet beside her feet.

Setting another aside, Nayla stood, resting a hand to the sofa beside Law's thigh as she leant over and picked up another and its accompanying pile of displaced paperwork, slowing in her movement as she caught his second look down her top that morning. "…Don't _you_ have any shame?"

"None." He openly admitted, his unexpectedly low, silky tone and the look he gave her as he raised his eyes to hers from that close proximity reminding her of how a potentially dangerous animal that was toying with the idea of pouncing on you in its own head might look at you. It sent a pleasantly unsettling, and disturbingly arousing shiver through her as she reflexively put space between them again and sat back down.

Law was, without a doubt and by far, the most intense man she'd ever dealt with. Whether he meant to be or not, his muted affect and the amount he said in his minimalistic body language and boring gaze stirred her in every way with such little effort. It only took the slightest of smirks to annoy her intensely, the minutest physical gestures to comfort her immensely and only the briefest eye contact to arouse her. It was equal parts frightening and exciting how quickly he could make her heart race like that.

Shaking off the feeling and the piercing gaze she could still feel on her, she set the new folder across her lap, glancing the 'Navigation' label on its spine before turning the thick, plastic cover open and skimming the top page of the papers in her hand.

Seeing the usual numbered and colour-coded dividers inside, she furrowed her brows at the messy scrawl of Bepo's report. "What tab would something like a travel log entry go under?" She asked, turning the page his way for him to see it.

Eyes snapping from her to the large, clumsy writing he instantly recognised, Law leant forward slightly to look at it. "Travel log summaries are currently filed on top of the first red tab."

"Just floating on top? How strangely unorganised of you." She teased slightly, pulling the metal rings of the folder apart before neatly slotting the page in her hands over their open ends.

"I haven't decided whether to give that folder an additional tab or get a separate one for the purpose, considering Bepo already keeps a more detailed travel log within his own quarters."

"That only _he_ can read?" She joked, looking at the next page in her hands. It had almost been purely the fact she recognised the messy writing to be his that she'd known these pages had belonged to the navigational folder to begin with.

"It's an acquired talent." Law chuckled, turning the page in her hand back towards him as he saw her struggling to decipher it. "A minor fault in one of the sonar emitters, this would go under yellow." He translated, sitting back and resting his arm lazily to the top of the sofa behind him.

"Oh…" She flipped to the relevant tab and filed it away, peering at the next page in her hand, anticipating a repeat problem. "…and this one? Actually, maybe I'd better leave the navigation folder for you to do." She resigned, snapping the metal rings shut once more as she scrunched her brows at the…equipment inventory count? Equipment re-order request?

"I don't mind you asking, though it would be easier for me to see what you're referring to if you sat on this side."

Turning her gaze to the stacks of sorted and semi-sorted papers and folders scattering the sofa cushions on either side of him, she looked back up at him pointedly.

Smirking at her unenthusiastic expression that read 'Where, exactly?' he pulled aside the folder laying across his thighs. "There's plenty of space here."

Feeling her brows rise, at his honeyed tone, she glanced down at his lap, unimpressed. "…Really, Law?"

"You didn't seem to have any issue sitting on my lap last night." He challenged quietly, enjoying the momentary slack of her jaw before she clenched her teeth back together.

Biting the inside of her cheek as he chuckled, she smiled despite herself at the sound, looking away momentarily. Getting annoyed with him when he was in the mood to taunt her only ever seemed to add fuel to the fire, she'd already learnt how best to deal with Law's teasing and it'd be much more fun than getting annoyed.

"Hmm, so I didn't." She matched his suggestive tone, looking back at him through her lashes and noting his brief surprise at her abrupt change in demeanour as she got to her feet.

Fighting to keep his expression relatively level, Law watched as she stood between his parted legs and turned slowly, his gaze involuntarily dropping to her ass as she flattened her skirt to it neatly, the short hem riding up higher as she did.

Realising she'd purposely drawn his attention to it, he glanced back up in time to catch the sly, satisfied smile on her face as she looked down at him over her shoulder, sitting herself gently onto his right thigh.

Sliding herself up onto his lap more comfortably, she didn't miss the momentary pause in his breath when she 'inadvertently' pressed against his crotch as she rest her back to his chest.

"Nayla…" He warned lowly, his breath dancing pleasantly over her neck.

"Yes?" She answered cheerfully, all too aware of how much he disliked being on this end of teasing as she crossed her legs, smiling wider at the near-flit of his gaze to her bare thighs as she did.

Taking in his set jaw, reluctant upturn of the corner of his mouth and the practically devilish glint in his eyes that promised a swift and severe retribution if she dared pushed him any further, she couldn't help but laugh quietly, reopening the navigational folder across her lap.

"Show me where this goes." She reminded, purposely allowing her eyes to drift down to his lips as she held up the page in question.

Chuckling, he pulled his gaze off of her and glanced at the small stack of papers in her hand. "Shorted radar screens, tab two. We encountered a bad electrical storm that knocked a few things offline shortly before we met you." He explained, sliding the folder he had been working on off of his left thigh entirely and onto the sofa beside him to rest his free arm more comfortably.

"Abducted me." She corrected, flipping to the right place.

" _Saved_ you." He retorted, smiling wider at the poorly suppressed pout on her lips at the reminder.

"…Endanger yourself like an idiot again so that we can draw at two to two." She mumbled, snapping the rings shut and looking at the next page in her hand.

"You don't really want that." He chuckled, watching as she managed to identify enough words on the piece of paper in front of her to correctly file it under the yellow divider.

"Don't tell me what I want."

Chuckling again, he down the arm that was atop the sofa behind her. "You seemed very distressed to find me overboard."

"Well I-…" Stopping as his hand rest to her cheek and pulled her closer to him, her annoyance dissipated as she felt him kiss her temple gently.

"…Yeah." She admitted with a sigh. "…Dunno why though, utter prick that you are to me. I must have the world's worst case of Stockholm Syndrome."

Smiling as he chuckled against her temple, she turned the next report over, feeling him watch what she was doing over her shoulder and slide his arm the rest of the way down behind her, curling it around her waist and resting his hand comfortably to her hip.

"Three." He answered before she asked.

Flipping to the right tab, she replaced the page…If it were obvious to her that it would be better for him to do this particular folder himself, that things would get finished faster if he did and that she should pick up another, then it must have been obvious to him too. She couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.

"Two." He murmured quietly into her ear, his thumb beginning to idly rub up and down her hip where it rest.

Feeling a silent sigh of content through his chest, it dawned on her then that they were spending time together and that he'd been the one to initiate it, that his annoying tease may simply have been his way of starting it, even if it had or hadn't been an intention he'd been aware of. 'Awkward weirdo indeed.'

"…What's so funny, Nayla?"

"Nothing." She replied, biting her lips in amusement in a futile attempt to conceal the huge grin on her face that he'd already seen.

"Liar. I said, what's so funny, Nayla?"

"Was just thinking how funny it was that you, Captain Caveman, literally found us a cave to take shelter in yester-" Losing the latter half of that word to a small gasp, Nayla closed her eyes as she felt his teeth gently grip her ear in warning.

"What do you _really_ find so amusing?"

That damn silken tone of his, that damn tongue running along the edge of her ear to its lobe. It wasn't fair. The way that tiny, minimal action made her heart rate soar, just wasn't fair.

"You and your social skills." She admitted, eyes opening to watch his hand at it curled further around her hip to her front. "You may as well just pull my hair for my attention, like the awkward inner child that you are."

Chuckling at the inadvertent invitation, he released the soft flesh in his mouth. "If that's what you're into, Nayla." He purred into her ear, closing the open folder on her lap before pushing it aside and not missing the small shudder that ran through her as he placed his lips to her neck.

"…Don't you have things you have to do today?" She murmured reluctantly as he began sucking her flesh firmly, glancing up from his descending hand to his desk across the room.

"You're on that list."

She pursed her lips together at his playful tone and at the darkly amused smirk she could feel against her skin. "I mean more _important_ things to do today."

"I've gotten a lot of work done this morning, more than I expected, seeing as I didn't have to tidy up around here. I'd say we've more than earned this break."

Humming in agreement, she felt his fingertips beginning to graze the skin of her thigh past the short hem of her skirt, resting a hand to his cheek as he licked and gently bit her neck.

Exhaling audibly, she tilted her head aside for him as he sucked the flesh between his teeth. It was a pleasurable sensation in itself, his lips, tongue and teeth on her neck, his breath on her skin, the increasingly more familiar feel of his goatee gently grazing it – but there was something even more arousing about it when he seemingly focused on the same spot he'd first touched. Where he had first lay his lips to her neck and had given her that vengeful bruise. Every time his tongue and teeth ran over _that_ spot, she couldn't help but think of that time, of the intense sexual tension and arousal she'd felt in that moment and she was sure it was no accident on his part that he chose to focus on it.

Curling his fingers beneath her skirt, he began pulling its hem up gradually, smiling as the feather-light touch of the material gliding over the skin of her thighs and the slowly building anticipation of his touch caused her to fidget in his hold.

Taking his time, he slid his hand between her legs, the heat of her skin pleasant around his as he ran teasing fingertips over the soft fabric of her panties and earned a quiet sigh of satisfaction as they slowly trailed over her slit through them.

Running his other hand up her body, he slid the straps of her top and bra down before nestling it over her breast, cupping and rubbing her mound through her clothing as he ran his fingers more firmly along the length of her lips again.

Starting to breathe more heavily under the triple stimulation of both his hands and his tongue, Nayla rest her free hand to the back of the one he had between her legs, feeling herself start to squirm on his thigh, her body already greedily wanting more of his contact. Noticing it, Law pulled her back to his chest completely, pressing his thigh up between hers as he started rubbing her with more pressure, a quiet moan leaving her lips.

Humming lowly at the sound as it made his jeans seem to feel increasingly tighter, Law sucked her neck more firmly as she ran her hand back further over his cheek, threading her fingers through his hair.

Between the feel of his mouth on her neck, the sound of the soft smacks of his lips and tongue against her skin, the hard chest pressed fully to her back, the hand he had groping her breast and the fingers that were beginning to slide more deeply between her lips through her panties, it was growing more and more difficult for her to choose which deliciously arousing sensation to focus on.

Sliding his hand up to the low neckline of her tank top, Law slowly pulled it and her bra down to below her breasts, enjoying the view from over her shoulder as he resumed his hold on the one he had been rubbing through the fabric. The feel of her supple breast beneath his palm and her sigh of satisfaction as his warm flesh met hers sending a prolonged, dull throb to his groin.

Rubbing the flats of his fingers over her clothed mound, he pressed his middle one more deeply between her folds, a pleasing amount of dampness beginning to meet his skin through the thin cotton as he began pushing inwards. Back arching immediately in response, he growled under his breath at the way it made her ass rub against his crotch, pressing both his index and middle finger between her lips, a small gasp leaving her as he thrust shallowly into her, as far as the fabric would allow him to, curling his fingertips against her clit as he did.

Openly moaning, she closed her eyes and rest her head back against his shoulder, savouring the teasing prelude of the action, her legs parting and her hips beginning to move against her own will.

Squeezing her breast more firmly, Law slid her nipple between his fingers, rubbing the sensitive bud between them as he licked his way up to her ear lobe, sucking the flesh into his mouth with a low moan as he felt the cloth of her panties gradually moistening.

Releasing his hair, Nayla ran her hand over his lower stomach, down to his crotch beside her hip and groped him gently through his pants, revelling in the breathy exhale that met her ear as she started rubbing him through the thick fabric of his jeans.

Feeling his warm, thick hardness along its length, she couldn't help but lick her lips in anticipation, moving her fingers back up to the button and undoing it before pulling down the zipper of his fly.

Gliding her hand into his jeans, she gripped him through the material of his boxers, gasping at the aggressive pressure of his teeth on her skin, grip on her breast and the much faster pace of the hand between her legs she got in response.

Suppressing a moan as she began stroking his erection through his open pants, he let go of her chest, using that hand instead to lift the hem of her skirt up completely, holding the plaid fabric to her stomach as he took in the view of himself touching her through her underwear, his fingers delving more deeply into the scant black and red lace.

Running the hand between her thighs up to her lower stomach, he swiftly slid it back down beneath her panties, gliding his fingers over her wet, bare flesh to her entrance, his index and ring fingers on either of her lips as he slid his middle one inside, resuming the rapid, thrusting pace he'd set through the fabric.

Moaning as she felt him enter her, she rubbed him more vigorously through his open fly, turning to face him, exchanging a moment of mutually lustful eye contact before letting her gaze fall to his lips and kissing him passionately.

Releasing a quiet moan of his own, he lift the hand he was still gripping her skirt with to her cheek, cupping it as he parted her lips, their tongues meeting heatedly between their panted breaths as he slid a second finger inside of her.

Relishing in the heat and moisture of her tight, slicked walls around him, his cock throbbed heavily beneath her palm as she rubbed his shaft, circling his head each time she reached it.

Withdrawing his fingers, he slicked her clit with them fully before rubbing it directly, devouring the moan that left her as he did so and gripping the hair at the back of her head to tilt it, more fiercely engaging her tongue.

Beginning to lose herself to his arousingly aggressive, dominant shift and the pleasure he was building, she started to slide her hand into his boxers only to have him break their kiss abruptly, place his hands on either hip and pull her from his thigh to sit centrally over his lap, his erection felt clearly as it pressed against her ass through the thin material of their underwear.

Wrapping his arm around her waist tightly, her breasts resting on his bare forearm he resumed rubbing her sensitive nub, not losing her build up in pleasure as he increased his speed.

Gripping the arm around her body and lifting her other hand to his cheek once more as he leant his lips to her ear, she panted loudly as she watched his hand between her legs, parting them wider as she felt the deep ebbs of climax beginning to form, her thoughts already becoming hazy.

Kissing her neck, Law steeled himself with a quiet groan to ignore how good the plump flesh of her ass felt rubbing against his hardened member as her hips began to move, as she began to inadvertently squirm in his lap as he pushed her closer.

Struggling to control her breathing as his linear strokes became more and more circular around her clit, Nayla bit her lip to stifle the moans that wanted to escape her but even the collective fact that she was sitting on Law's lap, legs spread for him as he touched her with his arousal pressing into her from behind was enough in itself to drive her to near climax, let alone the sensations he stirred with his hands and mouth.

Sliding his other hand down her stomach, he used its fingers to pry open her lips and push the protective hood of her clit up, immediately drawing a sharp gasp from her as he began rubbing it bare and fully exposed.

She tightened her grip on his forearm, her hips bucking against his fingers as she moaned uncontrollably at the almost uncomfortable level of overstimulation. Legs beginning to close reflexively at the sharply sensitive sensation, she opened her eyes as she felt him shift his knees between her own and widen his legs, taking hers with them and holding them open as he mercilessly pushed her to climax, soaking in the way she gasped his name, dug her nails into his skin and gripped his hair tightly as she rode his hand - grinding against his fingers and his cock as she came loudly on his lap.

Clenching her eyes shut tightly, her muscles tensing, she savoured her release. The pressure of her build up slowly easing out of her with every mind-numbing wave of contraction that rippled through her inner muscles as his fingers stimulated her through her long climax.

Head falling back to his shoulder as the tremors of obscene pleasure that racked through her body began to lessen, she licked her suddenly dry lips, swallowing heavily as she tried to get her breathing under control.

Laying soft kisses along her jaw as she came back down, he wrapped his arm back around her waist, slowing the movement of his hand to more gentle strokes.

Turning to meet his lips, she kissed him appreciatively, humming quietly as his fingers slowly slid between her folds once more, penetrating her entrance as his tongue did the same.

Lowering her hand from his face, she trailed it down his chest behind her before reaching beneath her ass and sliding her hand under the waistband of his boxers, the rapid thrum of his pulse through his hot flesh easily felt beneath her fingers.

Feeling the pressure and speed of his tongue on hers increase as she stroked his cock, she pushed her hand down further to cup and grope him gently.

Enjoying how her small, slender hands felt on him, how good her soft skin felt running over his, he hummed in pleasure, curling his fingers against her inner walls as he sucked her lower lip.

Pulling away from him and removing her hand, she shuffled further up his lap, resting more onto his lower stomach before reaching between her legs, wrapping her hand around his bare shaft and easing him free of his pants.

Looking at her in mild curiosity as she leant back comfortably against his chest once more, his expression quickly changed as he shut his eyes firmly, feeling her use her hands to pull her panties aside and press his naked erection flat against her soaked lips.

Growling lowly in his throat as she nestled her face between his shoulder and neck and ran her tongue over his skin, he reluctantly removed the hand he'd been stroking her with as she rubbed his cock against herself and rest her other hand back to the side of his face.

She ran her fingertips along its length teasingly, touching herself around him, slicking his searing flesh in her arousal as she sucked his neck gently.

Moaning quietly as she circled his head, both his and her juices mingling on her fingers, he moved his hands back up to her breasts, kneading them as he watched her beginning to pump his length.

She gripped and stroked his erection firmly between her legs, twisting her hand slightly with each upward motion, rubbing over his sensitive tip each time she reached it. The throbbing flesh beneath her palm in sync with her own pulsing mound and with the thrum of his heartbeat that she could feel beneath her lips on his neck. The feel of him in her hand, the strong, heavy pounding of his warm chest to her back, the way she could feel his breathing hitch and stutter as she touched him and his taste, all so wildly addictive.

She bit and sucked the base of his neck as he groped her chest more firmly - the moisture on his fingers rubbing against her nipple as she built pace and speed in her movement.

A stifled groan left him as his hips thrust up against her slightly. That, his closed eyes, furrowed brows and parted lips only spurring her to rub his cock even faster.

Kissing the corner of his mouth, she closed her thighs, enveloping his moistened erection against her soaked entrance and with her warm flesh, stroking his underside as he groaned and thrust again. The feel of his hips meeting hers from below and of his cock gliding against her slit causing her to moan with him as they shared the sensation.

His patience wearing thin, he kissed her roughly as he ground against her, biting her lower lip gently as he slid his hands down to her hips, using his knees to pry her legs apart again.

Lifted slightly from his lap with ease, she pressed the tip of his cock to her entrance without hesitation, both sharing a satisfied moan between their tongues as he lowered her down and slid his full length inside of her.

He nuzzled to her neck, wasting no time in beginning to thrust up and she closed her eyes with a sigh of content at the feeling of him penetrating her, luxuriating in the pleasure of him rubbing against her inner walls. The deep, yearning ache for him to fill her that he'd caused by making her cum without it, finally sated as she met his thrusts with grinds of her hips. The folds of denim from his undone fly, loosened pants and pulled down boxers only adding to the pleasant friction of the collective bulge beneath her.

Gasping as he sharply increased the power of his thrusts, she arched her back, pressing her ass against him harder as he grazed the flesh between the piercings of her upper ear with his teeth.

Breathing heavily as she felt his tongue on her skin, an involuntary shudder ran through her, her body beginning to clench more tightly around him - sensitised by her previous orgasm it was already starting to build another.

Holding her hips more firmly, Law drove into her with even more force, drinking in the moan that caused, watching her free chest move pleasantly from over her shoulder with every penetration.

Leaning forward, she rest her hands to his legs, bending her knees and bringing her shins to rest on either side of him on the sofa as she knelt up, giving herself leverage to begin to ride him properly.

Groaning as he held her, he kissed her shoulder, using his thumbs to hold up the hem of her skirt as he leant back and enjoyed the view. Watching her in motion on his lap, his wet shaft sliding in and out of her, her panties pulled aside over one cheek of her otherwise bare ass, he couldn't help but idly wonder why he didn't start having sex with her sooner and almost started cursing the fact that he hadn't.

Feeling her hand reach down between them and cup him, he closed his eyes, leaning his head back to the sofa with a moan and decidedly changed the 'almost' as he _did_ begin cursing not taking her much earlier.

Gripping her with more force, he began thrusting harder, faster as he felt her tease him, causing her to gasp and resettle her hand to his thigh to keep the force of his hips from bucking her off his lap.

Watching him between her legs, her body started to tighten, focusing on the incredible feel of his increasingly rapid movement as her climax steadily approached. All she could hear was her laboured breathing - in close competition to his own, the rustle of paper from the now no longer neat stacks on the cushions on either side of them and the squeaks of the black leather sofa as they moved on it.

Listening to her pants and moans begin to become uncontrollable, he could feel the first rippling clenches of her orgasm around his cock, her movement begin to falter and her nails beginning to dig into the denim on his thighs.

Lifting his gaze from their contacting bodies to hers as she looked back at him over her shoulder, his shaft throbbed painfully. The pure, unadulterated lust in her eyes as she looked at him from beneath her lashes, the flush of arousal tinting her cheeks and seeing the moans falling from her full, moist, parted lips sent a far stronger wave of raw desire through him than anything else.

Before he'd even processed it, he leant forward, capturing her lips with his as he fucked her more fiercely, gripping her hips hard.

Sitting up to meet him more comfortably she let him hold her steady, reaching her hand back up to thread through his thick, black locks as she returned his heated kiss, her moans growing louder as he bucked into her harshly.

Breaking their kiss with a sharp gasp as he pushed her over the edge, her walls clenched tightly as waves of climax coursed through them, his name leaving her lips easily as she fell into another blissful abyss of orgasm.

Biting her ear lobe with a growl as she called his name, his own peak suddenly dangerously close at the sound, he pushed her onto her side without warning, letting her catch herself with her palms on the sofa cushion and quickly kneeled behind her. Withdrawing for only a second, he pulled her panties down sharply and plunged himself back inside of her deeply, resuming his fevered pace and leaning his chest to her back as she continued to cum.

Moaning uncontrollably as he pounded into her heavily from behind, his pants on her neck and the slaps of their flesh meeting getting loud enough to override the sounds the leather was making, she writhed in agonising pleasure as her orgasm peaked.

Seeing her struggling to steady herself, half-heartedly trying to push aside the papers she was crushing beneath her hands in her delirium, he reached beneath her and swiped the stacks carelessly to the floor with his hand before cupping her breasts, giving them a firm knead as her breath grew ragged and her body finally began to grow more relaxed as her intense orgasm began to subside.

Giving her no chance to catch her breath, he continued his merciless pace, thrusting forcefully through her tremors of aftershock as his own climax neared.

Overwhelmed by the sexual stimulation that assaulted her every sense, she was unable to piece together coherent thoughts past the way his thick, pulsing cock gliding back and forth over her swollen clit felt.

Feeling her arms grow weak at the constant, numbing, sharp tingles of intense pleasure, she lowered her chest down to the sofa. The cold, black leather that touched the parts of her breasts his hands weren't on, soothing and sensual on her overheated skin.

Groaning as her ass rode higher and pressed harder into his crotch, Law knelt up, sliding his hands to her hips once more. The sight of her - her top pulled down to her waist, her skirt pulled up to it, her tattoo peering out between the two, her panties clinging to her mid-thighs, her face pressed to its side - eyes closed, hair splayed over his sofa and her hands clutching onto it as he fucked her… He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought of her exactly like this, of doing exactly this to her – taking her in this position, taking her here on this sofa each time he'd seen her on it and of reducing this mouthy little woman to a mewling mess…and it felt so much better than he'd ever thought it would.

Another rush of pure, dark lust washing over him at the thought, he quickly pulled his pants down further before beginning to pound into her more aggressively, her new angle allowing him even deeper penetration.

Hearing and feeling him beginning to lose himself to his pleasure, she gasped as her body strongly reacted to it. Knowing that she would soon hear and feel him cum inside of her rebuilding her back up to orgasm far faster than anything she'd experienced, she'd not even fully come down from her last one yet.

Listening to her breathe his name again, almost a whimper, and watching as her nails dug into the thick fabric of the sofa beneath her, Law threw all thought of stemming his orgasm any longer out the window as he felt her starting to clench around his shaft once more.

Feeling him lean forward as his pace quickened, she panted heavily, his thrusts getting faster and faster, his muscles tightening against her own and his fingers gripping her hips tightly.

There was a lot less of the tenderness he'd shown her last night. This time was so different, so dirty, so rough, so raw…and so amazingly good. She honestly wasn't sure which she liked better.

Listening to his deep, low groans as his movements became more erratic, she moaned his name loudly as she felt him still for a moment deep inside of her as he came, her orgasm slightly behind his - triggered by the sensation.

Focusing on the heavy, pulsating throbs of his cock, she shuddered with pleasure as he began thrusting again, slow and deep as he finished filling her and as she continued to cum around him.

Breathing heavily, he leant his weight onto her back, curling his arms around her waist as he kissed her shoulder, continuing to thrust to allow her to ride out the last waves of her orgasm fully.

Listening to her moans beginning to become quiet whimpers and feeling her hot, wet walls beginning to squeeze him with less fervour, he gradually slowed his movements to a stop, leaving himself buried deeply inside of her as he rest his face to the crook of her neck.

Both panting loudly as they struggled to catch their breath, Law was the first one to reopen his eyes, gazing at her flushed cheeks and the fine hairs stuck to her skin by the shimmer of sweat they had worked up in their exertion.

Smiling at that, he rolled them onto their side, taking care not to knock the papers and folders on the other end of the sofa onto the floor as he heard the pages rustle with their movement.

Sighing in content as he kissed her neck and pulled her top back up to cover her she smiled as well, resting her hand to his cheek over her shoulder as she lay her head comfortably to the sofa.

"That was amazing." She breathed out tiredly, her body suddenly feeling double its weight for every orgasm she'd suffered.

Chuckling, he nestled his nose to the base of her neck, curling up comfortably with her as they recovered their energy before he realised their position and recalled the bone he had wanted to pick with her about earlier that morning.

"…'Surgeon of Spooning,' Nayla?" He challenged, raising his head back up.

Pursing her lips together in a poor attempt to suppress her widening smile, she cleared her croaky throat. "Sorry."

"You are not…but you will be."

Half-squealing, half-laughing as she felt him bite her ear lobe threateningly, she stroked his cheek soothingly in an attempt to curb his mild annoyance at her poking fun at him. At least until she was in a less tired and vulnerable state. "I am!"

"Liar." He growled around the flesh in his teeth, making her laugh again as he released it and nipped her jaw and neck playfully.

"It's not a bad thing." She defended, squirming in his hold under his attack, looking up at him over her shoulder as he stopped. " _I_ like it anyway." She added quietly with a smile.

Returning her expression with a chuckle, he slowly leant down and kissed her lips before settling himself back down beside her, resting his head to the cushion of her soft hair and his nose to her skin once more, breathing in deeply and sighing as he held her comfortably.

"…I'm not reorganising the stuff you just pushed off the sofa." Getting only another chuckle in response, she smiled to herself and closed her eyes, content to drift off to the pleasant sound as it reverberated comfortingly through the chest pressed against her back.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carbon paper – Ever see those sheets of paper that have another 1-2 attached beneath it? You write on the top layer and it makes an imprint on the next two so that you can make 3 copies of the same document simultaneously and tear off the extras for other people to keep.
> 
> Stockholm Syndrome – When victims of kidnapping/hostages develop positive feelings (or even trust and affection) for their captors despite their glaringly obvious misdeed.


	64. Sex, science & new beginnings

* * *

 

The familiar scent of Law's aftershave and something soft beneath her nose was what Nayla woke to. Inhaling deeply with a quiet sigh of content, she nuzzled what she recognised to be the fleecy-soft inner collar of one of his jackets without needing to open her eyes. The pleasant, masculine smell of him deeply embedded in the fabric.

Before she had the chance to ponder why it was tucked up to her chin, she heard a knock and Law's smooth voice permitting entry. Still lazily keeping her eyes shut, she realised she had fallen asleep on the sofa in his quarters and that she was safely concealed by the coat Law had draped over her from the nearby stand.

"Hey, Captain. I – uh…" Dean double took the woman lying on his captain's sofa in surprise as he entered.

"It's fine." Law reassured, ushering the man in to give him what he presumed was the report he'd asked Penguin to send someone back with once they'd had a chance to scope out the new island.

Shutting the door, the fellow medic cast an apologetic glance at the snoozing woman as he made his way towards his captain at his desk.

"Settled in fine. The townsfolk are friendly enough, Shach found us an inn with enough rooms, supplies are streaming in steadily and we've confirmed there's no marine – or other, authority presence here worth noting. No rival ones either." Dean summarised the information he knew his captain would want.

"And the Log Pose?"

"Bepo confirmed it'll take about five days. He's collecting information on the next island as we speak."

Nodding in approval of that, Law rest his pen down and sat back in his chair, causing it to creak as it accommodated his recline.

"By the way Captain, the boys found a little gem of a tavern across the street from the inn that they'd like to celebrate with you in tonight."

Reminded of his men's desire to rejoice (again) over his well-being but _with_ him this time, he nodded once more in agreement. Honestly, he wasn't all that opposed to the idea. Considering how grim the situation had looked in that moment he'd been clinging to the railing, Law had little objection to spending time with his crew that night. Enjoying life and being alive in general didn't sound like a bad way to spend his evening.

"Oh, and Nayla too." Dean added, turning to look at her on the sofa behind him.

"Hmm?" She questioned as she heard her name, cracking an eye open and tuning into the conversation she'd been ignoring in favour of indulging in the last dregs of her nap.

"Why are ya sleeping out here anyway?" He asked curiously, making his way over.

'Because your captain banged me into utter exhaustion here?' "…No reason, just…fell asleep here, I guess." She shrugged beneath her cover, looking up at him as innocently or as neutrally as she could manage as he came to a stop a foot away and arched a brow.

She knew Law was smirking behind his back without needing to look. She _knew_ it. She could practically _feel_ the smugness his face was emitting right now at knowing exactly what it was that had caused her to fall asleep so soundly where she was.

"Hmm, poor thing. Guess you're still tuckered out from yesterday." Crouching down in front of the sofa, Dean rest his folded arms to the cushion she lay on. "Gonna go downstairs and rummage around with the stock we just brought on for the galley. Our lil hero want anything whilst I'm there? A drink or snack maybe?"

Blinking at the new title she'd earned apparently, she shook her head. "No, thank you."

"Alright, rest easy then. See ya tonight." He smiled, ruffling her hair affectionately as he stood. "You want anything whilst I'm there or need anything else, Captain?"

"No." Law denied.

"Alright, see ya later." Dean left the room with a brief wave, closing the door softly behind him.

Gazes meeting as they both listened to the man's footsteps draw farther away, Law's smirk grew as Nayla rolled her eyes slightly at his obvious amusement, choosing to ignore it as she stretched out beneath his jacket.

"How long was I asleep? What time is it?" The words distorted by her languid stretch as she freed and extended her arms fully.

"Around five." He answered, watching her stop as she remembered the folders that had been resting on the large sofa with her and glanced down at her feet; belatedly realising he had long removed them.

"Geez, really? I slept that long?" She asked, sitting up and allowing his coat to fall to her lap as she glanced at the missing folders completed in their reassembly and filed neatly back into place on their shelves.

"Yeah." He drawled lazily, absent-mindedly eyeing the bruising on her shoulders and arms as she frowned at her lost afternoon.

Humming thoughtfully she stretched her legs out in front of her before planting them to the soft carpet. "Guess I'll start getting ready for this evening then."

"There's something I'd like to do with you before that."

Stopping adjusting her skirt as she stood, she looked at him, looked at the clock on the wall behind her, then back at him. "...Three times in what, fifteen hours?...Hmm, your sex drive isn't bad." She purred teasingly, straightening out his coat in her hands.

'You haven't seen anything yet,' he promised inwardly with a dark, secretive smile. "Not that, Nayla."

"You sure?" She sang, giving him a deviously inviting look over her shoulder as she hung his long jacket back up on the coat rack by his door.

"And you think my _men_ have their minds constantly in the gutter." He reminded with a chuckle as he stood from his seat. "Actually, I'd like to run a quick test on you in the infirmary before we leave the sub."

"Ugh, seriously? Can't it wait 'til later?" She sighed in disappointment, resting her hands to her hips as he strode over to her.

"Actually, I don't think it can. I'm certain I only have a small window of opportunity to see what it is I'm expecting to see."

She watched him walk past her and pull the door open, looking at her pointedly. Sighing again she followed, with a begrudging: "...Fine."

A satisfied smirk meeting his lips at her resignation, Law followed her out of his quarters, closing the door behind him before leading the way across the hall.

"...What exactly are you looking for?" She finally asked, her curiosity getting the better of her as she entered the all too familiar room with him.

"I'd like to see what damage using your ability prematurely has done. Considering the marks it left behind on your skin yesterday have already faded, I'm guessing I need to look for evidence of it soon, before it heals." He explained, walking straight over to his desk and picking up her increasingly thicker-looking folder that seemed to reside on it more often than not.

"Oh, right...So what do you need from me, blood or something?" She asked, watching him duck into the adjoining room. The one with the imaging equipment he had used to x-ray her wrist for her all that time ago. She'd only visited it a few times since under Kotta's tutorage to have a few of the machines in there and their basics explained briefly to her.

"Better." He said sinisterly, using a curled index finger to beckon her in with him.

Rolling her eyes up to the ceiling as she heard _that_ tone and saw _that_ smirk, - 'That utterly demented, psychotic, _sadistic_ \- why is that still hot? smirk' - she silently bid a merciful deity above that she wasn't about to be filleted alive _too_ badly today as she trailed after him slowly.

It had been done a few times, him using his Devil Fruit ability on her that is. After he had exhausted what could be gleaned from her physical examinations, her lab results and his non-invasive imaging options, came the invasive ones.

There were fewer things weirder in life to experience than seeing small segments of her own organs removed and examined right in front of her...Admittedly, she found it more fascinating than she should have. She was pretty sure the normal and correct response to the situation should have been absolute terror, horror or revulsion. Maybe even to pass out...but she actually found she was near enough struggling to keep her 'oooh's' and 'ahhhs' to herself, keenly sitting on the edge of the infirmary beds to watch what he was doing. Though they hadn't been on the best of terms with one another over the past month when he had done so, so she had stubbornly feigned disinterest in whatever it was he was up to, as much as it had pained her curiosity to do it.

The whole experience could only be described as a peculiar privilege; to see her own living, moving, functioning organs. There were virtually no people in the world that could do such a thing and still live to tell about it and now that they were on good terms again, maybe she _could_ watch and ask more about what it was he was doing exactly.

Following Law, she was surprised to see him walk straight through the imaging room and to the door on the opposite wall – one she'd never been through, though Kotta had told her it held what was essentially a lab for running tests on samples from the crew.

Entering this new room after him, she hadn't expect to see one that matched the same size as both the imagining and main infirmary rooms, envisioning a smaller space with only the essential equipment for basic diagnostics. Apparently Law never did 'basic' when it came to his medical practice.

Nayla could feel her eyebrows rise as she took in the huge room that matched the soothing blue-green tones of the previous two, filled with large, expensive-looking laboratory equipment that she was sure would have put most hospital pathology departments to shame. The huge contraptions gleamed pristinely in their assorted shades of sterile silvers and whites, immaculately cleaned and maintained and instantly piquing her curiosity to find out what each and every one of them did.

She should _definitely_ have given into her urge to peek in here earlier, but considering how frosty things had been with Law over the last month, she hadn't dared tread on his toes and make things more hostile between them by poking her nose into rooms she hadn't been invited into by either himself or Kotta.

A brief glance told her that this room gave him the ability to fully examine virtually any sample in any way in here, from basic blood analysis equipment to microscopes to mass spectrometry to microbiological culturing.

Neat rows of white shelving, overhead cupboards, counters with drawers and cabinets ran along the back wall of the room. The shelves filled with machinery spares, accessories, reagents, chemicals, Petri dishes, beakers, test tubes, some folders and a few preserved specimens…one of which convinced her that the light must be playing tricks because she was pretty sure whatever tissue was floating in _that_ jar had just moved…Then again…knowing Law, that could actually be _exactly_ what she had just seen.

Tearing her gaze away from the…whatever that was that appeared to be moving subtly within its slightly amber-tinted fluid – she glanced at the full-height cabinets on the left side wall, glass-doored, spotless and boasting their neatly arranged chemical contents.

"Lay your arm here." Law's voice cut through her silent admiration of the room, bringing her attention to the right side of it where he stood at the work spaces; white counters with a neat row of three light microscopes arranged across their surfaces, patting his hand between two of them in indication of where he wanted her.

"What are you going to do to it?" She asked warily noticing he'd placed her notes there too, though not nearly as wary as the first time he had suggested using his Devil Fruit ability on her. It didn't hurt, she knew that. Whatever he 'cut' or 'removed' was more of a…'spatial' separation than a true one. There was never any blood or pain and he returned whatever he 'borrowed' perfectly. It didn't mean it wasn't still downright weird and a little difficult to get used to though.

"I'm taking a small piece of a vein wall to examine." He explained succinctly, rolling out one of the stools beneath the counter for her to sit on before using his foot to slide over another close by it.

Making her way over to him as he turned on the desk lamp that was on the work surface, she tried to foresee his reasoning for wanting to look at such a thing before finally admitting she couldn't. "…And what do you think that is going to tell you?"

Walking over to one of the lower shelves on the back wall, he plucked an unwrapped scalpel from the stationary holder on it as she took her seat and laid her arm down where he asked; beneath the spotlight of the desk lamp.

"Hmm, you're a lot more inquisitive about what I'm doing this time around." He mused aloud as he made his way back over to her, a mild hint of laughter in his voice as he removed the protective plastic sheathing the blade in his hands. "Your level of stubbornness to insist on not talking to me more than necessary this past month is quite impressive if it's been able to override that burning curiosity of yours."

Suddenly finding more interest in the neat stacks of empty test tube racks and glass slides near her arm, Nayla pursed her lips and looked away from his amused smirk, not finding his blunt observation of her behaviour nearly as amusing as he took his seat beside her. "You have no right to comment on anyone else's stubbornness."

"How have I been stubborn?" He asked, adjusting the flexible neck of the bright lamp to pull the light closer to her skin, his eyes searching her flesh with trained expertise as he picked up a sealed, sterilised glass slide to use.

"I do recall saying 'no' to being here, several times. Exactly _how_ many times did I refuse before you finally lost your temper and beat me over the head to _stubbornly_ get your way?" She asked, watching his smile widen as his gaze shot up to hers, alight with amusement with virtually no trace of regret or remorse for his actions as she reminded him of them.

"I didn't lose my temper, I was perfectly calm when I knocked you out. And I'd hardly call one well calculated and minimally damaging hit 'beating you over the head,' Nayla." He rebutted, carefully unsealing the small rectangular glass without touching its surface and resting it on its clean inner wrapping.

"But you _do_ admit to being a stubborn ass?" She pressed, eyes slipping down to her hand as he gently grasped it, rubbing a thumb over her skin. The gesture a search for a suitable vein rather than a sign of affection, though it seemed to be vaguely muddled into his touch.

"Hold still." He smiled, refusing to answer her question as he inspected the skin under his thumb where he'd felt the characteristic tubular thread of a vessel.

Intrigued as ever, she watched him summon a small version of his 'Room' to encompass her hand before lifting the scalpel and leaning his face close to it. She'd assumed from the book on Devil Fruits she had read and notes from the previous Ope Ope no Mi's user that what she saw Law do with his nodachi within his 'Room' for combat could be done on a smaller scale with a smaller blade for medical purposes.

Although he had used this on her a couple of times over the last month to run other tests, it was still a fascinating spectacle to watch as he skilfully 'incised' the back of her hand without the blade ever touching her, peeling her skin aside with nothing more than a minute wave of a fingertip to access the vein he was after.

It was bizarre to see, her brain making serious attempts to tell her she should be in pain and withdraw her hand but really feeling nothing.

Carefully and quickly, he excised a small segment of her vessel's tiny wall and with nothing more than an upward flick and swipe of his finger, removed it from the back of her hand and seamlessly manipulated it to the glass slide placed beside her arm on the counter.

"You give whole new meaning to the 'no touch technique.'" She murmured aloud, watching her skin close with his pinching motion before he caused the slide to hover to the microscope's stage.

"I see Kotta has been going over aseptic techniques with you, that's good. It means he's preparing you for more practical teaching…You seem a lot keener for me to touch you now than you have the past month as well." He commented neutrally, though his real meaning was poorly concealed by the small but obvious smug smirk on his face as turned to face the equipment, setting his re-sheathed scalpel down to the counter and releasing his 'Room.'

Mildly chewing the inside of her cheek at his dirty little snark, she watched as he leant forward and looked through the binocular eyepiece. He really was an ass…and yet she found herself smiling against her will as her eyes trailed over his handsome profile.

Sighing at his grin but saying nothing, she realised they had effortlessly slipped straight back into their usual banter with one another. Their peculiar, though hard-earned, comfortable closeness and their usual back and forth. It was almost like they hadn't ever really stopped talking, as if the past month had never even happened.

She had to admit, this was a lot more fun than the silence and monotonous one line exchanges they'd had. He hadn't been playful or inappropriate. Nothing more said between them than his simple instructions and her quiet, unquestioning obedience of them. She hadn't wanted to have any extensive verbalisation with him so she simply hadn't argued about not wanting to be examined and hadn't questioned what he was doing or why. Anything to expedite having to be in the room alone with him.

This was a lot more fun. She'd missed this, she'd missed his playfulness. In fact, she liked his playful side a lot. Especially when she was in the mood to give as good as she got.

"Ya know, speaking of 'touching' me, I'm kinda surprised you of all people ride bareback _doc_." A fine brow arched as Law's eyes left the microscopic image in front of him to look at her, his mildly shocked expression at her blunt phrasing making her want to laugh. "Thought you knew better, seeing as how strict you are with the crew about that kind of stuff."

The corner of his lips pulled up, a smile creeping back onto his face as he resumed the fine, microscopically aided vivisection of the specimen in front of him. "You're clean, Nayla."

"Hmm, how would you know? You're terribly trusting, aren't you doctor Trafalgar." She teased, leaning in.

He looked back at her, holding her eye contact with an amused, slowly growing smirk...then glanced deliberately at her medical file sitting on the counter...then back at her. His smile full blown and his eyes alight with mischief as he repeated himself clearly, slowly and with finality. "You're clean, Nayla."

Taking great amusement in how rapidly her smile, and jaw, dropped at that, he watched her look at her folder and splutter, her expression an entertaining mixture of horror, indignation, shock and anger.

"You didn't - Law! What the fuck?! You better not have!" She yelled, slapping a hand to the manila file angrily and dragging it over to her across the surface to wrench it open.

Chuckling and ignoring her outburst, he subtly rolled his stool just slightly out of her arm's length as he resumed his delicate task.

Practically growling under her breath, Nayla sped read through each document. Her basic info sheet and the questions he'd first asked her - plus the inappropriate ones she'd caught him asking the first time he'd taken her history. The treatment details of the surgery he'd performed on her after they'd met and the handwritten notes he'd made about her ability before she'd woken. The progressive examination notes he'd made as he'd looked at her systematically since then. Her medical images, her lab results...Furrowing her brows as she flicked through them, she was beginning to wonder if he were just messing with her to rile her up.

Drawn to the series of "negative"'s printed in a neat row, she stopped on that page. An automated print out of the extensive list of things he'd asked his machines to test her blood for - something she may have paid little mind to the first time she had flicked through her file but now that she had studied under Kotta for a while, many more of the medical abbreviations and acronyms jumped out at her from the page. Law had tested her for toxins, medications, drugs, antibodies, viral markers an-..."STS" - Serological Test for Syphilis?, "CAT" - Chlamydia Antibody Testing?, "GC" - that had better _not_ stand for Gonorrhoea Culture and...HIV?! There was no mistaking that one.

…

"You had better have a good fucking explanation for this." She hissed out dangerously quietly, only enraged further by his growing smirk as he glanced back at her.

"Oh? And if I don't?" He immediately challenged, his lopsided grin not faltering for a second as he rolled his stool around slightly to face her and leant his elbow to the counter as she gripped the papers in her hand tightly.

"Were you checking me for STIs behind my back because you wanted to bed me without protection?! You sick... _SELFISH_ F-!"

"I was trying to identify the cause, any cause, for the peculiar black substance I found in your blood. As you can see, I tested you for a multitude of things, not just STIs." He stopped her as she stood, anticipating a violent end to that sentence if he didn't. Not that he was concerned, he simply didn't want to have to dodge or restrain her. It'd be nice to ensure none of the expensive equipment around them suffered the brunt of it either. "I'd recommend checking the date on that report before losing your temper or jumping to conclusions."

Her anger ebbing slightly, she checked the date at the top of the page, confirming these tests were done the day he'd taken her in and treated her on Saboady.

"I'd also recommend rethinking the idea of attacking me when I already have a 'Room' active and a blade in my hand, Nayla." He smirked, turning back to what he was doing.

Pressing her lips together in a displeased line, she wasn't quite all that ready to put her theory past the highly manipulative and preplanning man in front of her. "...Doesn't mean you didn't kill two birds with one stone by testing me for things _I. Didn't. Consent to, doctor_." He chuckled but chose not to point out that she also didn't consent for his life-saving surgery. "You're telling me you had absolutely _no_ perverted ulterior motive for doing these? That you had absolutely no _personal_ sexual interest in knowing whether I was clean or not?" She asked, leaning closer with narrowed, disbelieving eyes.

Admirably keeping his face as neutral as he could around his wide grin, Law schooled himself not to give in to his intense desire to laugh as she slapped her folder shut and tossed it aside onto the counter irritably, waiting for his answer.

...

"Maybe." He admitted lowly under her glare, meeting it with his amused, playfully glinting gaze.

Running her tongue over her teeth, Nayla exercised great restraint to not attempt to slap that dirty smile off his face as she crossed her arms, turned away from him and leant her back against the counter. "Jokes on you. Those results are months old, I'm riddled with diseases that we now get to share. Enjoy."

Finding himself laughing aloud at that and at her often childish-looking behaviour when upset, he allowed his miniature 'Room' to dissipate and re-sheathed scalpel. Nayla hated how much she enjoyed the sound of it, even when she was mad at him, huffing under her breath as she felt her annoyance wane a little.

"We both know you haven't had sex with anyone but me since we met - whether you contest to that or not." He stopped her as she opened her mouth to protest his assumption. "We already established you don't 'play' when away for work - an admirable policy-" He added, in a mild attempt to soothe her irritation. "-and you haven't been with anyone else during the times you've been travelling with us. Therefore, your results still stand."

Chewing the inside of her cheek in annoyance, she watched him get up and make his way back over to the shelves, casually sliding his blade back into the stationary holder he'd taken it from before opening one of the full length cabinets beside them. "You don't _know_ that. I know you were watching me this past month when other guys were flirting with me but you can't possibly know that I haven't done anything with anyone else. I wasn't pining for you, you arrogant prick."

Chuckling at her bitter, defensive tone, Law pulled out a thick, white, cardboard booklet before closing the door of the cupboard. "I didn't say that you were. Though it's interesting that you feel the need to tell me that." He flashed her an amused look as he made his way back over, peeling open the cover of the item in his hands. "Even if you _did_ have relations with someone else since those tests, you're a smart and sensible woman. I already know that you practice safe sex from the first history I took from you...Well, you do normally..." Pulling a glass slide out of the cardboard sleeve, he glanced up at her slyly.

Gritting her teeth at the implication hanging in the air as he set the slide holder to the counter behind her, she held his gaze as he towered over her, leaning in close, _daring_ him to say anything further...Of course he dared.

"If my 'riding you bareback,' as you so eloquently put it, bothered you Nayla, you were quite welcome to say something...or were you too worked up at the time to care?" He purred lowly, practically against her lips.

"Don't give yourself that much credit. You're good, but you're not _that_ good." She murmured, stubbornly refusing to back away or break his devilish eye contact.

"...And you never get better at lying to me." He chuckled, backing off and removing 'her' specimen from the microscope's stage as he retook his seat. "Oh and for the record, _I'm_ clean." He smiled, sliding the new sample he'd retrieved into place as he carefully set aside hers.

"I know _you_ are. You're not an idiot...Though you sure do act like one sometimes." She muttered, rolling her eyes. "...Doesn't stop you from getting me pregnant though." She challenged quietly, gauging his reaction carefully with a side glance.

"Are you saying you lied to me about believing you're unable to conceive?" The smugness in his tone relaying how unperturbed he was by what she'd said as he kept his gaze on the sample he was examining.

"I'm just saying how do you _know_ I…" Trailing off as she glanced at the folder in thought, she looked back at him to find he was eyeing her in purely entertained anticipation, to see what else she could possibly try to say to unnerve him or wipe the smile off his face in petty vengeance for his deliberate teasing at her expense.

Pressing her lips firmly shut, she didn't give him the satisfaction of continuing on that train of thought or of asking him how he knew for sure.

Chuckling at her stubbornness, he humoured the question he knew was burning on the tip of her tongue anyway. "You were absolutely right about being unable to." He confirmed her suspicions of him having already found the reason and noting it down somewhere in her growing array of medical details. "I'm sure you already know, but you're aware that women are born with their lifetime of ova already in their ovaries?"

Nodding and uncrossing her arms, some of her indignation was forgotten in her excitement for an explanation about _something_ when it came to her ability, or at least a little insight into what it was he had been finding out about it.

Humming in thought as he second guessed how best to explain what he'd found, he sat back again, contemplating his words. "Actually, I suppose you may as well get the full summary of everything I've understood about your ability so far…"

It had been his intention to fill her in on his findings as he'd acquired them, but considering the state of their relationship over the past month, he hadn't told her and she hadn't asked. Though he could only imagine her desire to know was practically bursting at the seams by now as she leant forward eagerly to hear what he had to say. Not that he could blame her. Thrown into an unknown state of being that she could neither successfully research alone nor ask anyone else to. At least with Devil Fruit and Haki, there were plentiful resources around or people who were users to ask should you wish to learn more about either one of those.

"The black substance in your blood does indeed come from using your ability. They correlate, the more you use the ability the higher the concentration in your blood. It also deposits within your other tissues and organs. It takes time but once you stop using your power the substance does eventually break down and get removed from your body but not before its presence does some damage. And as you've rightly concluded through experience, the longer you use the ability, the more damage you cause and the more time you require to heal." He stated simply, mentally recalling the comparisons between her pre and post-war samples.

"The black substance is neither liquid, solid, or gas. If I had to attribute a nature to it, I would describe it as energy, as you rightly did long ago, and that makes it incredibly difficult to isolate from you. Impossible by normal means in fact." His eyes darted to the large machines in the room with them, drawing her attention briefly to what she at least recognised as a centrifuge for blood samples. "In fact, the only way I've succeeded in doing so is by using my Devil Fruit ability to extract it." He explained, glancing at the new sample he'd placed under the microscope for a moment.

"As I've said before, the damage is basically the black substance rapidly - almost instantly eroding and corroding any living cell it comes into contact with. You're genetic build gives you a unique resistance but _not_ immunity-" He reiterated sternly. "-to its effects but others are far less fortunate. It would appear whoever gave you this ability was entirely justified in expecting you to either die immediately or shortly after obtaining it."

Curious about the implied plural he'd used in the word 'others,' she chose to gloss over that detail as she didn't particularly want to know how many unfortunate 'others' may have suffered under his theory-testing when she had been away for work over the last month.

"So...it damages my ova because they contain DNA that isn't _fully_ my own?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yes. Even though the genetic material in each is half of your own, it is still only half. Whatever protection your unique combination of full DNA offers you, isn't present within them. Your ova are likely as susceptible to the destructive damage of your ability as anyone else's cells would be." He concluded, unsurprised she'd connected the dots herself without much prompt.

She hummed appreciatively at that as she contemplated the new information. It was much easier to understand than the cryptic 'incompatible with life' words she'd been left with, it was almost comforting to have a scientific explanation behind what she intuitively knew as her newfound infertility. "Well, I guess I can't complain about built-in contraception."

Scoffing at her flippant remark, Law looked back up at her, folding his arms to the small span of counter between himself and the equipment in front of him.

"...So what's happening to my hair?"

"Ah, your rapidly dividing cells appear to be damaged by your ability the most. I'm theorising this is due to the extensive turnover of DNA replication within them at any given time. Mitosis appears to be a vulnerable stage for your cells when trying to cope with the presence of the black substance in your body." He explained, glancing at the fine, red streaks that delicately thread through her otherwise dark hair.

"You're fortunate your hair has simply thinned and depigmented rather than fallen out entirely and I imagine that if you didn't sleep through your exhaustion after extensive use of your ability that you would have significant stomach symptoms, seeing as the lining of the GI tract has such rapid cellular turnover as well...Though skin cells are also rapidly dividing yet you don't appear to have any dermatological symptoms..." He trailed off thoughtfully, glancing at her bare arms as though contemplating the conundrum out loud to himself for the umpteenth time.

"...Well, I don't have much body hair anymore, would that count as a skin symptom?" She admitted.

Grey eyes shot back up to hers, his brows furrowing. "Why didn't you mention that earlier?"

"Why didn't you notice that earlier?" She countered with a shrug.

"Women remove body hair, how would I have known?"

"You went through all my belongings, it never once struck you as odd that you didn't so much as find a single razor or tub of wax or strips or something?"

…

Blinking at that he shook his head, wondering if he should blame himself for not noticing something that seemed so glaringly obvious now that he thought about it or if he should forgive himself for it not crossing his mind in all this time. It was true though, she'd been living with him a while now and he'd never once caught an inkling of her performing that part of a beauty regime or buying products to do so...It wasn't as if he'd lived with a woman since his childhood and he was too young to have ever noticed anything of that nature with his mother...He probably shouldn't blame himself for not noticing.

"Two pretty convenient side effects I guess. Three if you count the free red highlights I get."

Her jubilant voice breaking his thoughts, he glanced back at her sceptically. "It hardly counterbalances the small vessel disintegration, destruction of your cells and the days of unconsciousness you lose after using it." He reminded her.

"I dunno...You'd be surprised what women would do for permanent hair removal." She sang, her smile faltering a little as she reached her fingertips up to her forehead. "Though actually, I guess that'd explain why my eyebrows seem a little sparser than they used to…"

Scoffing again as he watched her tentatively feel them with a thoughtful expression on her face, Law pushed his stool back a bit from the counter. "Come take a look at this."

Perking up at the invitation she lowered her hand before moving to stand in front of the microscope in the space he'd cleared for her. "I don't know a lot about histology…" Though she rest a hand to the side of the eyepiece and glanced at the sample all the same.

"You won't need to to be able to understand what you're looking at." He assured, moving aside a little more for her as she leant close to him.

Choosing to ignore the pleasant waft of her perfume he instead focused on her expression as her brows furrowed. "...Is this sample mine too?"

"No. This is a post-mortem sample from our dear old friend Fidelis-ya, taken from the endothelium of the vein that some of the black substance I injected into his dermal layer had managed to seep into." He didn't miss the uncomfortable but silent swallow that travelled down her throat, proof that she knew enough about what she was looking at to understand the gravity of what had happened to the man. "As you can see, there is no continuity of cell membrane on _any_ cell. Not a single one so much as grazed by the black substance was left intact."

"...They look like they burst." She grimaced, pulling away from the eyepiece.

"They near enough did. Trace amounts of that black _corrosive_ were all it took to destroy this vein and any other tissue the blood carried it to. Including the inside of the man's heart and his brain. What's coursing through _your_ veins so casually is possibly the most lethal toxin I have ever seen as it requires so very little of it to kill a man in seconds...I'd go as far as to say that the most deadly attack you'd ever be capable of Nayla would be to bleed on someone at this point."

Nose turning up at that image, she glanced at the slide on the counter he'd set aside with her sample on. "Does my vein look like this?"

"No, nowhere close. In fact, your veins and cells look entirely normal for the most part. At worst, the samples I took after you returned from Pugna showed occasional destroyed cells but considering that your every tissue and every organ contained them, it was more than enough to make you very unwell."

He watched her breathe a slight sigh at that, seemingly relieved to know her own cells were not in the same state as what she'd just seen. Dissatisfied with her relief, he pressed on to drive home the gravity of what she was doing to herself.

"As I'm sure you're aware, some of our finest, thinnest walled blood vessels are in our lungs and are therefore the easiest for your ability to erode severely. This would be the cause of your haemoptysis after prolonged use and the severe fatigue you experience is likely a combination of your physical exertion, lack of sleep and the anaemia you suffer from constant, internal, microscopic blood loss through your damaged vessels...Do you often cough blood as severely as that and sleep for two days after a war?"

"No, I mean, yeah - sometimes a little haemoptysis after a three week use and a day curled up in bed dead to the world but, not normally that bad no. That was purely because of the extra week I'd used it…"

Humming in partial thought, partial disbelief (she _was_ known to downplay the severity of anything bothering her), he watched her touch a finger delicately to the slide on the counter of the small sample of her own vein.

"So if you already figured out all of this, what was today's sample for?"

"I was merely wondering what sort of damage you caused yourself by using your ability before fully healed." He explained, picking up the slide and replacing the long-dead pirate's one with it. "You may not be able to discern the subtleties there are to see on this yet."

Peering through the eyepiece as he adjusted the slide into place and focused the image, he invited her to see for herself as he leant back again, gesturing to the microscope with his hand. "In effect, when you use your ability again prematurely, you set back your recovery by re-injuring cells that are attempting to heal or replace themselves, which may explain the discomfort you feel when doing so. Something akin to inflammation in its milder form, such as yesterday." He explained the raw-looking lines left in the tracks of her ability that had faded away soon after ceasing it.

Looking at the magnified image, she admittedly couldn't see what it was he was referring to...Though _her_ cells were moving, seeing as they were still a part of her despite being separated by his ability. A stark contrast to the very much dead and preserved cells of the deceased pirate she'd just looked at.

Leaving her to enjoy her fascination of her living, moving cells for a moment, Law spoke up carefully. "If that was how rapidly you re-damaged yourself a _month_ after an extensive use of your ability Nayla, I dare not imagine what you might feel if you attempted to use it any earlier during your recovery..."

Watching her reaction and expression closely as she stood straight and looked down at him, he knew she'd already experienced such a thing, the hard way. She had to have done, to even know that using it too early was a bad idea.

"...It's pretty agonising, a bit like ripping open fresh wounds that were just beginning to heal shut." She admitted, glancing down at his boots momentarily, though catching his affirmative nod as he crossed his arms.

"Well that is effectively what is happening, only on a microscopic scale." He watched her absorb everything he'd said, leaning her back against the counter as she looked at the floor in thought.

Through his own examination over the past month or so, he'd found that everything she'd told him about her ability had rung true, though she hadn't had the means to find proof to back it up.

"You've had to work out a lot about your ability for yourself so far. How to use it, how _long_ you can use it, how much time you need to leave in between to recover..." He said simply, finding how well she'd done to come to this point on her own with it at least a little admirable. It hadn't been all that dissimilar to learning how best to use his own Devil Fruit. Knowing how much of his stamina its use consumed and how to manage it effectively without permanent detriment to his health.

"...Yeah it's been a lot of trial and error. Mostly error…" She shrugged, smiling a little at him before straightening up and deciding to press on from the morbid reality of what harm she'd been doing to herself. "Anyway, sounds like you figured out plenty. Enough to sate your curiosity and nosiness yet? You done with all these examinations and tests now, doctor Trafalgar?

The corner of his mouth lifting up, he uncrossed his arms and re-summoned a miniature 'Room,' just large enough to encompass her arm and his machine, taking note of how she didn't so much as flinch when he did so. He had mixed feelings about that.

"If a question that I'd like to answer comes up, then I'll simply pursue it as and when...but for now I think we both understand a great deal more about your ability, other than its true origin or nature." Holding up his hand, he parted his index finger and thumb, the gesture gently peeling open the tiny incision he had made earlier.

Catching the slightly disappointed look on her face as he moved his finger to motion the small, reassembling segment he'd removed from her off of its sterile glass, he carefully manipulated it back to its rightful place, holding her hand steady with his free one.

"You may never have the opportunity to fully understand it. You'll have to learn to live with the fact that you may never know where it came from, what it is or why you are an exception to immediate destruction from it. Sometimes we don't get answers, Nayla. Don't let it eat away at you."

"...Yeah, you're right." She conceded, watching him ensure a perfect reattachment of her no longer sliced vein before closing her skin. "...Did you ever wonder how or why Devil Fruits affect people like they do? Why or how you can summon a 'Room' and manipulate things the way you do?"

A lopsided, lazy smile making its way back onto his lips, he released her hand and pulled Fidelis' slide from the microscope. "I'd be lying if I said I've never once thought of it, or even tried to find a scientific or medical explanation for it, but sadly, the answers to those questions are far beyond the reasoning of one mind and the equipment I have at my disposal." He gestured around at his lab as he stood. "Though I'm certain the World Government has many of the world's top scientific minds and the best facilities money can buy to truly understand the nature of Devil Fruits, Haki, maybe even cursed items." He theorised, sliding the preserved sample back into its casing as he made his way back to the cabinet he'd taken it from.

'Or cursed people,' he inwardly thought, wondering if there were any others like Nayla around who were able to survive such a thing through what seemed like genetic - though apparently not hereditary - fluke alone.

Watching Law replace his preserved samples back into the cabinet neatly, she couldn't help but feel further indebted to him for all of the information he'd given her. Even if it had just been the product of his own self-interest it was still nice to know something - anything, about her own power and how it affected her. Although...

"...What exactly are you going to do with all the information you have about me now?" She asked, attempting to appear neutrally curious in both body language and tone as she glanced behind her at her thoroughly fattened medical folder.

Maybe he'd use what he'd learnt about her ability to keep her under better control should she ever choose to attack him again? Not that she had any intention of doing so...He'd described what he extracted from her as a deadly toxin, would he ever get the bright idea of utilising her as a lethal substance generator and using what he took from her on his enemies? That was a grim thought that could take some very dark turns...Unlikely though, hopefully. Perhaps he'd allow her to take the folder, or at least a copy of it for herself when she left? If he did, then maybe she could further pursue information about her own ability herself using what he had started for her here or maybe she could even use the information to seek medical aid from another advanced doctor she could trust after returning from wars in the future, instead of simply hiding away in a quiet place to all but pass out for a day to recoup alone…

Not hearing a reply and tiring of schooling her face into remaining neutral as every negative and positive outcome of his gathered, sensitive information about her flit through her mind, she finally glanced up at him, surprised to find him simply standing there seeming to silently consider whether to answer her or not, his face as neutral as she hoped hers to appear.

Sliding his hands into his pockets as he leant his back against the cabinet door, he crossed his legs at the ankles, tilting his head slightly as he assessed her increasingly discomforted body language under his scrutiny.

Had she asked him that question yesterday, after a month of their standoffish behaviour, confrontation in Pugna and a harsh reminder of her one and only purpose of presence aboard his vessel, he'd have very likely kept the answer and his honest opinion to himself, at least until the day she left…but not today. Not after what she had done for him yesterday. Not after their emotional and physical reconciliation last night. It didn't feel right or fair to her to withhold an honest opinion that he felt was in _her_ best interest, even if the more logical part of his mind begged to differ and was currently reminding him of _his_ best interests very loudly.

If he had come to the internal conclusion that he would no longer stop Nayla should she choose to leave, then it made no sense that he would withhold from her a suggestion that could also result in her choosing to do so. He was willing to let her go if that was what she really wanted, now more than ever.

Firmly making up his mind in the silence she allowed him to come to whatever conclusion she could see him debating over, he stood a little straighter, meeting her concerned gaze head on.

"I will tell you what I intend to do with the information Nayla, but only after I tell you this."

Feeling acutely focused on the man at his very serious tone and expression, she couldn't help but feel her heart race a little in anticipation, an anxiety creeping over her as she waited intently to hear what he had to say.

"I have only given you the briefest of summaries of my findings in as simple a way as possible because I wouldn't expect you to fully understand the extent of the damage you are causing yourself without completed medical education. With every extensive use of your ability, you are causing a degree of permanent damage, to all of your organs. It's small but it's there and as I've told you before, its incremental...I think you should stop using it."

Eyes widening at the finality of what he said, Nayla found herself searching his face when she couldn't find an answer to her question in his eyes. Why would he tell her that? Surely he wanted her to continue using it, to continue working for Joker - his main business was warfare, she'd _have_ to use her ability again to work for the man properly. Why would Law tell her to stop using it? He knew that meant turning down those jobs - effectively slowing her progression up Joker's trust list or even halting it altogether…

"But then how would I work properly for Joker?"

Not expecting that to have been the first thing she asked after what he'd said, Law felt a brow perk and a small bloom of hope lightening the weight in his chest. "...You still want to work for him?"

"Well I...don't want to work for _him_. I want to work for you."

Her blunt honesty and slightly timid gaze threw him off guard entirely for a long moment as he looked at her in surprise. 'Why? Since when? What changed? I thought you despised me up until yesterday,' and the like muddled his thoughts for that moment as he struggled to recollect them.

"You _want_ to work for me?" Was all he could muster.

"Yeah, I _want_ to help you…" Stopping herself from fiddling with the back of the hand he'd just reassembled for her, she glanced up at his silence, her sense of vulnerability and slight shyness dissipating as she saw his expression. "Wipe that fucking smirk off your face, don't you _dare_ give me a hard time about this."

"You can still take jobs for Joker, just not ones that require your ability. You're talented in other areas, you'll still find work with him." He moved on, sparing her the teases on the tip of his tongue and suddenly feeling elated by her choice to not only stay but express her willingness to help to him.

"Yeah, but it'd - I mean you know what that'd mean without me explaining it to you." She huffed, still a little stunned by his...concern for her wellbeing, she supposed? "How am I going to be of any use to you and your goal if I don't work as a _war_ mercenary?"

"How are you going to be of any use to me at all if you're consistently in recovery, injured or worse?" He countered.

Alright, maybe it was a tad naive to think it was _all_ about her wellbeing, he did have a point. "Well, like I said, I can do three weeks with my ability without much trouble at all. Just a power sleep, one day's rest and a little time off from using it and I'm f-"

"Joker has promised you a three week contract two times in a row and hasn't delivered. He has kept you longer and despite what his people assure you or your agent, he _will_ do it again."

Narrowing her eyes at the slight bitterness she detected in Law's tone, she tilted her head and took her time looking him over before speaking again. "...How do _you_ know what Joker will and won't do?"

"I have been after information from his network for quite some time and have observed his behaviour closely. Trust me, I know enough about the manipulative way that man operates to _know_ he and his people will not keep that promise. Not for long anyway." He covered, not particularly wanting to divulge that he knew Joker, or Doflamingo, personally to her.

Admittedly, she had thought they'd given in a little too easily to Marty's aggressive demands they abide by her contract or find someone else...and a part of her hadn't ever really trusted what people working under Joker had to say. Although she'd never met the man, it was obvious, even from what little she'd heard of him prior to working for him, that he wasn't a man that could be trusted. Her intuition had told her to avoid him, that he was off and that there was something deeply sinister and callous about him. It was why she hadn't wanted to work for him to begin with…

"Like I said, you can still work and you don't need that ability to do so. I sincerely think it is a redundant crutch that, at this point, is only doing you more harm than good. If you _insist_ on continuing your career as a professional mercenary then I suggest you substitute it for Haki. You would use it in essentially the same manner but the source of power would be your own, without the damage. Despite what you may believe about your own capabilities Nayla, _I_ believe there is a good chance that my crew and myself can teach you."

"But I've already thought of that and _tried_ to learn other variants of Haki elsewhere. I don't have the strength of willpower to learn it." She sighed, crossing her arms irritably at the frustrating suggestion she'd already heard several times before.

"You haven't been taught by _my_ crew." He said confidently, no small amount of pride sinking into his tone as he spoke. "You've learnt martial arts elsewhere but still improved your own abilities amongst _my_ men, haven't you?"

"...Well, yeah...but-"

"They have just begun developing their own Haki in anticipation of the New World, they are in the perfect stages to be able to teach you the basics again thoroughly. You have nothing to lose by trying one more time, they will be more than happy for other opportunities to train with you...I cannot predict the long term consequences of however long you intend to push your body in this way but I can guarantee that there will be no positive ones. I strongly suggest you rethink the use of your current ability, Nayla."

Leaving her to allow all he'd said to sink in, Law watched her delve deeply into her own inner turmoil. It wasn't an easy thing to do, to give up something you'd grown reliant and accustomed to for years. If someone were to tell him today that he had to stop using his Devil Fruit and find something else to use in combat, in his livelihood, then he would have a hard time accepting it as well.

…

"Listen." Law's voice broke her reverie demanding her attention once more. "It's not my place to tell you what to do. It's your health. If you wish to continue using it, that is your own business. I just felt it necessary to give you fair warning of the reality of what you are doing to yourself and to offer you help finding an alternative...As your doctor." He added, his eyes breaking away from hers momentarily as he pulled a hand from his pocket to seemingly adjust the drawer beside him.

Blinking at what she _knew_ to be a discomforted, almost nervous gesture, she watched him slide his hand back into his pocket and somewhat reluctantly look back up at her when he heard no response. It was almost always a surprise to see how human he was sometimes. A pleasant one.

"As my doctor, huh?" She reiterated, breaking out into a huge grin as he narrowed his eyes at her picking up on his slight awkwardness. "Interesting that _you_ felt the need to make that clear. Are you sure you're not just warning me as your friend?" She teased.

"No." He denied firmly.

"Hmm, are we still not friends?" She wondered aloud, placing an index finger to her lips in 'thought' as she pushed off of the counter and made her way over to him.

"Definitely not." He muttered, annoyed at how quickly she zeroed in on the one, slightest show of weakness on his part and brazenly poked at it.

"Oh, that's a shame…" She cooed in mock disappointment, closing the gap between them as she slid her hands around his waist ever so casually, leaning her weight against him as he kept his hands in his pockets, giving her a displeased look. "Then perhaps you were warning me as your lover?" She purred up at him, undeterred by his mildly irritated expression.

" _Current_. Lover." He reminded lowly, though it did nothing but make her laugh. Sighing heavily and rolling his eyes, he chose not to say anything else, making a mental note of how easily she had begun to pick up even the slightest abnormalities in his behaviour now and to be a little more careful around her in future.

Feeling her lips brush softly against his, he stopped staring down her folder as though _it_ had caused this and refocused on her as he felt her lips press briefly against him in an affectionate peck, her subsiding giggles reverberating pleasantly from her through them.

"Thank you, for the honest opinion, _doctor_." She offered back his thinly veiled excuse as she smiled up at him. "I'll continue using it, for now...but I _will_ give learning Haki one last try."

Not missing the brief flashes of disappointment then relief in his gaze, she smiled wider as he exhaled audibly and placed his hands to either of her hips. It wasn't exactly the answer he'd been hoping for...but then again he wasn't exactly sure _what_ he was hoping for.

Her agreement to cease using her ability would be great news for her health though bad news for the progression of his plans. Her disagreement to cease using it would have meant the vice versa. It was a win-lose no matter what she responded with.

"Then be sure to bring it up with them the next time you train together." He said quietly, his thumbs rubbing her hips idly as he came to the conclusion that _this_ answer was probably the better of the two, especially seeing as she at least agreed to try to find an alternative.

"You never did tell me what you intend to do with all of that info though." She reminded him, glancing at the counter her folder rest on.

"...I have a proposition for you."

Perking an eyebrow inquisitively at that, she listened closely, all ears to hear what he had planned.

"It was never my intention to treat the consequences of your ability or the presence of that black substance in your system, but I'd like to use that information to try."

"Do you think you can?" Her excitement and awe at the prospect was not as well concealed in her voice as she'd hoped. If he could, then it would be the biggest barrier to using her power removed, she'd be able to continue using it, _without_ the negative drawbacks.

"It's possible. Though the best option for you would still be to simply stop using it." He answered cautiously, not wanting to get her hopes up too high and be unable to deliver. "A few ideas have crossed my mind but the most viable one of them would be to simply attempt to extract the damaging by-product of your ability's use. If I can remove it from your samples using my Devil Fruit, then I don't see why I shouldn't be able to do so from you as a whole when you return from a war."

"Then what stopped you from trying that already?" She wondered aloud, brows knitting in thought.

Smirking a little at the characteristically astute questions she asked, he slid his hands to her lower back, holding her against him more comfortably. He'd been sorely tempted to try it during the two days she'd been out cold after her return from Pugna and had she not been in a perfectly stable condition, he may have.

"The only thing that has deterred me is that I'm sure your body is adjusted to function normally with a certain background amount of it in you at any one time. I don't know for sure how much I can safely remove from you without doing more harm than good. It would take some time and trial and error to work that out without risking any backlash."

Finding himself running the tips of his fingers up the skin of her bare lower back as she thought, Law wondered when he had slipped them beneath her top or why their level of casual physical contact hadn't even remotely registered as odd during how long he'd just realised they'd been standing there like that. It was hard to believe that just yesterday morning they would barely coexist in the same room for more than a few minutes at a time and then here they were, right back to where they'd started to be that night on his deck before she had left for Pugna.

"...Then I guess we could try it, I know you'll be careful."

Shaking the memory from his forethought, he brought himself back into the present as she spoke, her smile and gaze relaying the trust she had in him to do so, though he didn't feel that he'd done much to earn it.

Nodding in understanding that he had her express permission to try, he straightened up, taking a deep inhale before speaking. "All in all Nayla, reconsider your options." He offered one last time, wanting to be sure she picked what _she_ really wanted to do.

Lifting his left hand up between them, he extended his index finger in indication of her first one. "Cease being a mercenary and using your ability, now. Continue being a mercenary but use an alternative. Carry on as your are now whilst I do my best to minimise the harm caused to you...Or four, you're welcome to ignore my findings and my advice entirely and use it as you always have done."

Raking her eyes over the word his now full hand of extended fingers spelt out for her on that final note, she wondered if it had been a coincidence or a visually intentional reminder of what persistent use of her ability would eventually result in.

"I'm happy with what I said, I'm going to stick to a mixture of those. I'll continue to use it for now so that I can work properly for Joker-" 'and for you.' "-whilst you do your best to help me when I get back. In the meantime, I will try _my_ best to give learning Haki one last go and if I succeed, I can replace my power with it. Sound like a plan you can get on board with, Captain?"

Satisfied with her confirmed course of action from here on out that would accommodate both his needs and her own with the long-term plan of not compensating her health; he smiled, resting his hand to her back once more. "Yeah."

Beaming brightly at him she curled her hands around him more tightly, embracing him gratefully. "Great...Then with any luck, if all goes well, I won't do any more damage to myself, you'll still get closer to your goal and I could leave here healthy and able to use Haki."

It didn't seem that she felt the small ebb of disappointment at the reminder of her leaving that he had just done...but he reluctantly returned her embrace half-heartedly as he took in her excited smile pressed against his chest. "...Yeah." He mumbled quietly into her hair.

Although he was unsure of what had changed her mind to aid him so willingly and adamantly in his pursuit of information from Joker's underground network, he was relieved she seemed so on board with the idea now. He realised then that it was probably what had made her stick around for the past month without further attempts to leave; she _wanted_ to help him now, for whatever reason. Another thing he'd come to feel he didn't deserve from her.

Sighing softly into her locks as the burden of guilt he hadn't realised he'd been experiencing until then lifted from his shoulders with his honesty about her medical state and as things seemed to further fall neatly into place between them, he secretly indulged in her fragrance before pulling back. "It's getting late, the crew will be here to drag us out to celebrate soon if we don't meet up with them first." He muttered.

Laughing at that, not doubting for a second that they'd have a half-dozen drunken pirates pulling them out the sub door by the wrists soon enough, she stepped back. "Then I guess we better go meet them then, huh? I'm kinda hungry anyway, hope that tavern sells good food."

Smiling but not seeing a need to reply as she grinned at him and made her way back towards the door they came in from, Law pushed off from the cabinet he stood against, neatly flipping the power switch on his microscope into the off position before picking up her file from beside it.

"It's a winter island, right?" She asked from the doorway. Honestly, the heating on the sub was so good ( _too_ good in Bepo's opinion), that without finding a porthole to look through, it could actually be quite difficult to tell what was going on outside.

"Yeah, a particularly cold one." He pointedly glanced at her skirt in an unsubtle hint.

"Ah, ok. I'll go wrap up warm then." She smiled at him, disappearing beyond the doorframe and heading back to his quarters to change for their evening outing.

…

Listening to her walk through the next room and the next, back into the main infirmary, he glanced at the folder in his hands, at her singular name with an unpleasantly nagging sensation tugging at his gut.

Although he had tried his best to ignore it, to play off that single sentence she had said so softly to him the day before with a sincerity that had so deeply engrained itself in his memory, he could hear it again. 'He could have her heart whenever he wanted it; all he had to do was ask.'

He'd been hearing it over and over in his head since she'd said it, no matter how many times he told himself she had meant it in a _literal_ sense, that it had simply been said as a sign of trust in him, that it was an expression of her distaste for his underhanded method of obtaining it last time and nothing else.

His lips pressing into a firm line as he pushed the echo of her voice he could hear as clear as day and the afterimage of her smile out of forethought, he strode towards the door and flipped the lights off as he left the room, unable to shake the feeling that he was allowing something very precious to slip through his fingers.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aseptic/'no touch' techniques – Things medics do to reduce risk of contamination/infection. Nayla's just poking fun at the fact Law doesn't have to worry too much about it when he's using his Devil Fruit, seeing as he literally doesn't need to touch anything within his 'Room.'
> 
> GI tract - Gastrointestinal tract, the gut basically.
> 
> Haemoptysis – Tried to make it clear within context what the term meant but just in case: it's the medical term for coughing up blood.


	65. Tongue slips, tassels & celebrations

* * *

 

Gasping sharply as the uncomfortably frigid air hit her face - instantly numbing her cheeks, Nayla froze at the main entrance of the sub, staring wide eyed at Law who'd turned to see what the matter was.

...

"Fuck that."

Chuckling, Law grabbed her by the wrist as she turned to go back inside, tugging her out onto the deck with him. "I did say it was cold."

"There's 'cold' and then there's cold and then there's _this_. The hell I'm going outside, I'm staying on the sub." Though despite her words, she reluctantly allowed him to guide her towards the gangplank leading to shore.

"Hmm, that's a shame. I'm sure the men will be very disappointed not to see you with them tonight."

Giving even less resistance at that, she pouted sourly, tugging her scarf up to her nose with her free hand with an unintelligible grumble.

Treading carefully across the frosted deck and down the wooden planks, she watched the fine layer of snow that had already built up on it sprinkle delicately off the sides and into the icy waters below.

Safely on solid ground, Law released her wrist, allowing her to adjust the strap of her duffel bag more securely onto her shoulder then swiftly shove her gloved hands straight into her borrowed jacket's pockets, one that Jeff had leant her when she realised she didn't have one thick enough for particularly harsh weather on the last winter island they'd visited.

Smiling at the thin slither of her face visible between her thick scarf, fluffy hat with silly ears and the oversized, male winter jacket that swamped her small frame, he couldn't help but chuckle a little at her.

"Whaff?" She asked, muffled beneath her layers as she hunched her shoulders up to her ears and fell into step beside him.

"Nothing." He murmured adjusting his own bag and smirking at the overhang of the bottom of the coat that reached past her knees. "Though you appear to be working your way through my men's wardrobes systematically."

"Problem with me wearing other men's clothes?" She cooed teasingly.

"None." He chuckled, resting his nodachi to his shoulder comfortably as he looked around the docks.

"Do you know where we're going? Dean didn't give us any directions."

"It won't be difficult to spot a nearby inn or tavern full of boilersuits." He replied offhandedly, examining the few ships docked to either side of his sub, the layers of snow on their decks giving him a rough idea of how long they had been settled in harbour.

It appeared to have snowed a little during the day, if his own deck and gangplank were anything to go by. The weather was calm now, though the temperature was rapidly dropping as the sun began to set.

"You mean it won't be difficult to spot a nearby inn or tavern full of heavily drunken Heart Pirates practically hanging out the windows, spilling out the doors, singing loudly off key and harassing the local women." She corrected, nuzzling her scarf down slightly to talk clearer with a fond smile.

"That too." He admitted with a quiet chuckle as they left the wooden planks of the dock and stepped onto the portside town's streets.

Although it wasn't visible beneath her feet, the ground that met her boots through the crunch of snow had the familiar feel of old-fashioned cobblestone and a brief look around was all it took to realise this was a small, sleepy little town.

Buildings were sparse and not far beyond them were long stretches of snow-covered fields, lined with crystalline rows of evergreen hedges that extended far into the horizon on all sides.

The shops and homes that first greeted them and other travellers before them were large in size with generous spaces between each. They were not the usual rows of attached buildings she'd become accustomed to seeing first thing after port on their journey; cramming as much business and residency by the docks as profitability possible.

These buildings reminded her more of countryside townhouses that a lazy, laid-back dock just happened to have developed by. There was certainly no apparent rush for tourism or money, just simple offerings of inns, places to eat, necessities and supplies advertised quaintly through warmly lit, though frosted windows.

The town was picturesque. In fact, she realised she had never visited a place like this before. It was exactly the kind of scenery one might expect on an old-fashioned, simple, artistic landscape image of a traditional Christmas card. It was an unexpected but pleasant reminder of the festivities just around the corner.

Actually, she hadn't thought of the holidays at all until now. Although she had acknowledged the season every year, she hadn't celebrated it in years. She'd had no one to buy gifts for or receive gifts from in some time and certainly had no stable home to put up a tree in. The best she'd managed to do was find a quiet, local bar the previous year and had bought their special offer of a Christmas dinner and drink. It had been a brave but mild first attempt to enjoy the season for the first time since she'd entirely lost her family but the self-celebration had little charm and comfort to it. Even less when putting into consideration that a woman by herself in a bar on an event such as Christmas did nothing more than attract her a lot of unwanted, unpleasant drunken attention.

Maybe this year would be better. Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe it would be difficult to be around others, at least this many, for the first time at Christmas…Would it make her feel sad or happy? Though she figured the crew probably all missed their own families at this time of year too, perhaps they'd have something in common and find joy and solace in each other's company. She hoped she'd be included…She knew she'd be included. She allowed herself that small benefit of the doubt, she wanted to be hopeful. To look forward to it, to feel excitement for a holiday she'd long forgotten how to enjoy.

It hadn't even occurred to her that she may be with the Heart Pirates for it; with Law for it…She hoped she wouldn't be working that day…No, she wouldn't be. She'd simply and selfishly refuse to take a job during it. She wanted to enjoy it this year, who knew where she would be next year or how many years it would be before she got another chance to celebrate it with friends or even if she'd be alive long enough to see another. Life was unpredictable, as she'd just been thoroughly reminded of…and work was dangerous…and who knew if she'd successfully manage to replace her ability with Haki or not. She doubted it, but again, she dared to hope, just a little. So far, the Heart Pirates had not let her down. She could afford to put a little bit of faith in them.

'Dammit, presents for twenty men…' She sighed, watching the icy puff of condensed breath disperse into the frigid air in front of her. It was often hard enough to figure out a good gift for _one_ of the opposite gender, let alone twenty of them…And then one of them being as complex and difficult to please as Law and one of them being a bear…It would be a challenge to trawl shop to shop this year looking for the right gift for all of them, but she'd enjoy it. She hadn't had to do it in so long, longer than the five years since she'd left home, back when she still had school friends to shop for.

Feeling excitement and warmth that she hadn't experienced in what felt like forever, she smiled nicely at an elderly couple approaching them on the same side of the street, walking their equally elderly-looking little dog over a short, stone bridge. It was just long enough to extend over a narrow, mostly frozen stream that trickled beneath the grey arc.

The townsfolk's anxiety at approaching the imposing stranger striding down the sidewalk beside her seemed to lessen a little at her reassuring expression, though they still skirted past her and Law with a wide girth, as if he may do something to them with that large sword of his if they dared venture too close.

Laughing a little as their white terrier pulled at its leash and sniffed at her ankles with a curious wag of its tail, practically lost to the snow beneath his fuzzy paws if it weren't for his blue winter jacket, Nayla pet it briefly before it was ushered away in a mild panic by its elderly female owner.

Looking back ahead of them, she could see a familiar white boilersuit headed towards them with a wave; Koush. Previously concealed from view by the couple that had just passed them by.

Returning his wave in greeting, she and Law came to a stop as he jogged to meet up with them at the end of the short bridge, the fabric of Koush's thick winter jacket bouncing heavily as he moved to greet them.

"Captain, just headed back to the ship to make sure the bay it's in has active dock de-icers for the night. Just heard the surface tends to freeze up pretty thick around hulls here and-"

Tuning out their conversation as it became the usual brief, technical exchange between the head mechanic and the captain in favour of looking out over the bridge instead, Nayla glanced at the quickly sinking sun in the distance.

Resting her thickly covered elbows to the soft layer of snow on the stone edge, she admired the view. The sky was painted the most brilliant shades of pink and purple that in turn lent its soft hues to the blank, crystalline canvases of fields on either side of the small stream below. The waning sunlight making the snow glisten as though it were dusted delicately in glitter and the bare trees in the distance gradually becoming black silhouettes against the peaceful backdrop.

Watching the trickles of icy water slipping by slowly beneath her amidst the rocks and snow, she couldn't help but hope they'd be on a similar looking island come Christmas time, it would be absolutely perfect.

"Hey."

"Hmm?" Feeling a nudge to her arm, Nayla looked back at Koush.

"Don't let the boys get ya too loaded before I get back. I still owe ya that drink." He smiled at her, pushing back the blue woollen beanie that had taken the place of his usual cap of similar colour.

"I won't." She laughed, standing straight from her lean and swinging her bag back onto her shoulder more securely.

"Still think you and Connor were in cahoots on that one though." He pointed his index finger at her in a jokingly accusing way as he headed back towards the sub.

"Mmmaybe, but ya can't prove it." She sang teasingly after him, making him chuckle as she waved him off.

"Inn's right there, right behind ya and the crew are in the tavern across the street waiting for you two!" He used his extended finger to point to both behind her before returning her wave and turning back towards the docks, shoving his hands deeply into his pockets on his way.

Feeling grey eyes keenly observing her, Nayla wasn't surprised to find Law looking at her as she looked over at him.

"He owes you a drink?" Law asked quietly.

"Oh, yeah. Last week we made a little drinking bet and he lost, loser buys the other a drink." She shrugged, eyes darting to the movement on the bridge behind him that he either hadn't noticed or had dismissed as being a non-threat already.

"Is that right…" He trailed off thoughtfully, looking at his mechanic's back as the man walked away, admittedly a little baffled at how informal his usually all-business crewmember had just been with her, wondering when over the past month they'd gotten on such friendly-seeming terms.

"What was the bet about?" He asked idly, leaning back against the elbow-high wall of the bridge behind him.

"Nothing major, he just made some comment about how I wouldn't know this tool from that and I told him I knew more than he thought. He bet I wouldn't know the name of the next tool he pulled out of his work belt." She laughed, less at the memory and more at the black kitten padding softly over the top of the wall behind Law, entranced by the way the red tassels hung from his nodachi moved in the air.

"And he didn't know you've been picking up that kind of information from your time spent with Connor." He concluded in understanding, seeing how the man had lost the friendly bet and might be inclined to think his colleague had something to do with it.

"Right." She grinned happily, subtly watching the kitten get near enough to bravely reach out a paw and bat at the temptingly swaying red rope as Law hummed in thought.

It hadn't taken her long to, on some level or another, make little connections with nearly every man on his very varied crew. Even the less sociable amongst them had begun to warm to her.

Furrowing his brows at her pursed lips and full cheeks, he wrapped his fingers rhythmically on his sheath. "...What's so funny?"

Trying not to burst into a fit of giggles, she lift a gloved hand to her mouth and used her other to point behind him, being slow and quiet so as not to startle the young creature that was thoroughly enjoying his weapon.

Looking over his shoulder equally slowly in confusion, Law zeroed in on the small kitten with its paws wrapped tightly around one of his tassels, freezing its avid gnawing of it as it locked eyes with its owner.

Flattening its ears to its head and backing up slowly, it reluctantly let go of its new toy under Law's gaze, scurrying away as the man frowned and stood straight from his casual lean against the wall.

Cracking up at the look on his face as he shouldered his nodachi more firmly to his neck and glared at her, clearly not as amused at his precious weapon being used as a chew toy behind his back as she was, Nayla followed after him as he started making his way back down the street.

"Trust you to scare the poor thing. What a mean man you are." She giggled, looking down the alley beside the inn as they walked past it for the kitten that had darted away in fright.

"Cats are skittish, it doesn't take much to scare them." He grumbled, hands back in his own pockets as he observed the relatively nice-looking inn they'd be staying in during their visit. A large, white, two-storey building that reminded him more of an over-sized cottage; toasty warmth emitted from the glowing windows and smoke emerging from the large chimney in its roof.

"Hmm, that's true, I guess." She said absentmindedly, ignoring the building entirely as she smiled at the multiple little furry heads peering at them from around the side of it, a kindle of young stray kittens.

"Captain!" Glancing at the door to the inn as it swung open, they were greeted by the bright, toothy grin of Bepo. "And Nayla! You guys heading to the tavern?" He asked eagerly, glancing across the street behind them at it at its mention.

"Yeah, we'll just drop off our-"

"Let me, you guys go ahead. The crew have been waiting to celebrate with you all day!" The bear happily offered, collecting Nayla's bag from her shoulder and his captain's without waiting for a response.

"Are you sure?" She asked him as he turned to dash back inside.

"Yeah! I'll go put these in your rooms, you go start having fun, I'll be right there!" He grinned back with a wave.

Returning it meekly, she watched the excited bear's retreating form through the glass of the inn's door as he spoke to the innkeeper, retrieving their keys and bounded up the stairs energetically.

Laughing quietly to herself she turned to Law who shook his head with a smile at his friend's behaviour and began making his way across the snowy road.

Following after him with a wide grin of her own, she felt some of the bear's joy as she took in the bustling tavern. The noise of music, cheers, laughs and glass clinking and the sight of familiar boilersuits through its windows an inviting one.

"…You seem happy today." Law finally noted aloud, coming to a stop on the other side of the road and watching her trot to catch up to his long strides, not missing her bright mood and spells of deep, cheerful-seeming thoughts she'd been having since leaving the sub.

"Should I not be?" She smiled up at him as she reached the sidewalk.

Before he could contemplate that answer, the large double doors of the tavern in front of them burst open violently.

"FINALLY!"

"What took you two so long?!"

"I could answer that." Connor's voice offered slyly, immediately earning a warning look from Nayla as he grinned widely at her from around the collection of crewmembers standing in the doorway, drinks in hand and jackets shrugged off.

"Come in, come in – the beer is fiiine!"

"Oi, louts! Captain's here!" One called back into the noisy tavern, earning a round of excited cheers as they rushed to greet him.

"Nayla-chan too!"

"Lil lady! About time!" Jeff came pushing through the crowd, yanking her closer by the wrist before hoisting her up to sit on his shoulder.

"WHOA! Whoa-whoa-whoa, wait a minute!" She yelled in surprise, gripping onto him for balance as he went back inside.

"Mind your head sweetie." Connor laughed up at her as she was dragged into the tavern past him and inside to a round of happy cheers.

"Yo, look who's finally here!" Jeff announced loudly over the noise inside.

"Hey, our lil hero!"

Chuckling at the look on her face that read a mixture of surprise, 'how much have they had to drink?' and 'help me' Law happily didn't lift a finger to do so as she was pulled into the busy tavern to a round of hoisted tankards, bottles, laughter and cheers.

"Ready for a fun night, Captain?" Jake chuckled at him from the doorway, clapping his shoulder heartily as he stepped inside.

"Yeah." He replied, taking the drink Shachi offered to him with a smile as Nayla was plucked from Jeff's shoulder despite his protests and suffered a round of bear hugs, ironically from everyone on his crew that _wasn't_ a literal bear.

* * *

Retaking his seat with a satisfied sigh, Law leant his arms to the back of the empty booth glancing around the large, warm room at his men, all equally having a great time with one another and the surprisingly friendly locals.

The town was small, somewhat countryside, quiet-looking but the homely buildings and simple townsfolk made for a nice retreat from the usual characters they ran across. There were obvious regulars of the tavern, the old dockworkers and fishermen that knew one another and the bartender by first name, crackling craggly, toothless old smiles with one another and joining in with the toasts of the jubilant crew as they happily shared rounds with one another.

The younger locals had taken to arm wrestling some of his men in shows of strength and drunken bets, some took to singing old shanties – common ground for all seafarers, pirates or not, and a fair few had taken a liking to Nayla, the pretty new face in town.

" _Her lips were red, her eyes were brown, her hair was black and hanging down. This last ten months I've been to sea and Hell, this gal looked good to me!"_

Though his men constantly being around her had collectively unwittingly (and sometimes wittingly) discouraged them from venturing too close. Not that she seemed to have noticed or minded, currently sitting in the neighbouring booth, surrounded by them.

" _I took this maid out for a walk and we had such a lovely talk. I took her hand within my own. Said she,~"_

Law watched in amusement as Penguin took her hand in time to the song with a gentlemanly bow from behind the seat she sat in.

" _It's time that I was home~"_ They allowed her to sing, taking the place of the maiden in the song as she pulled her hand away 'shyly.'

Chuckling at her singing along to the old sea song, he wondered when she had picked up the words. If his crew had sang it that much around her already over the time she'd been with them or if they'd deliberately taught it to her over the past month.

" _I put my hand upon her knee. Said she,~"_ They sang back in unison, Jeff only too happy to oblige this part of the song from his seat beside her.

" _Young man, you're rather free!~"_ She sang back, 'bashfully' placing a hand to her cheek.

Admittedly, Law found her singing voice pleasant. Hardly the best he'd ever heard but her voice had a naturally melodic tone to it, in the way that she spoke and certainly in the way that she laughed. It didn't come as too much of a surprise to him that she could hold a tune.

" _I put my hand around her waist. Said she,~"_ Connor pulled her away warily, wrapping his own arm around it from her other side before his friend could and giving Jeff an unamused look as the men chuckled.

" _Young man, you're in great haste!~"_ She laughed, pinching Connor's cheek playfully.

" _I put my hand upon her thigh. Said she,~"_ Connor promptly slapped Jeff's hand away harshly with a frown as he moved to do just that making him hiss and shake it as some of the men broke song to cackle at him.

" _Young man, you're rather high!"_ She cried with laughter as she broke up the two sitting on either side of her.

" _But when my money all was spent, 'twas off to sea I gladly went!~"_ They all finished, glasses and bottles clanking together merrily to the end of the song.

Downing the last of her glass to that toast, Nayla got up from her seat, Connor standing to let her out of the booth to follow some of the crew as they made their way to the bar to fetch themselves another round.

"Hardly a 'maiden,' got the prostitute part right though." Kotta muttered with a sly smirk, just loud enough to be heard over the quietening cheers of the crew, earning himself a rough hand to the face as she walked past him and a disgruntled slap upside the head from Shachi.

Rolling his eyes at the two redheads as they bickered mildly, Connor made to retake his seat before catching his Captain's amused eye and deciding to walk over to him instead.

Resting his bottle of beer down to the table in front of Law, the mechanic slid into the seat beside him. "Yo, Captain."

"Connor."

"Having a good time? You're drinking more than ya usually do." He grinned cheekily.

"Yeah." He admitted with a smile. It was true, although he often kept his intake minimal - always allowing himself to be sober enough should something unexpected happen, he felt a little more inclined to let his guard down that night. To enjoy the one or two extra drinks he wouldn't normally treat himself to as he celebrated with his crew.

"That's good, nice to see ya cuttin' loose once in awhile…" Connor replied, his smile thinning a little as he looked at his hands clasping in his lap. "…It's good to have ya back...You had us worried for a while there." He said sincerely.

Observing the man through a side-glance, Law said nothing, knowing that what had happened yesterday had rattled a few of his crewmembers. If the man they saw as their 'strong' captain had nearly so easily been taken by the sea in the blink of an eye, it was obvious that it would force a few of them to reflect on their own mortality and their chances as they continued their path on the Grand Line.

"A-Anyway, I just…wanted to say that." He smiled apologetically for the sobering thought that he hadn't intended to let slip. "Tonight's about being thankful, about being happy. We're glad you came out to enjoy tonight with us, we really appreciate it. We know you'd probably rather be curled up in your quarters with some textbook or some paperwork."

Chuckling at that, he removed one of the hands he'd draped over the back of the booth to lift his own bottle of beer to his lips. "Actually, there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now."

"Really?" Grinning widely at his captain's earnest smile and affirmative nod, Connor relaxed back in his seat, watching as Nayla gracefully dodged the flirtatious advances of a local sailor at the bar to rejoin the neighbouring booth with her fresh drink.

"…Did you have a nice morning, Captain?"

Grey eyes snapping from watching her retake her seat to the amber ones side-glancing at him slyly, Law held his crewmember's knowing gaze for a long moment, understanding the futility in a false answer. The man knew. He was so sure he knew. It wouldn't matter what he said.

"…Very." He smirked subtly in response, taking a sip of his drink.

"I bet." Connor grinned widely in victory at him, turning to look at the woman in question.

"You say nothing. To her, or the men."

"Wha-?! But I-!"

"It's an order." He said firmly, smirk growing as Connor groaned aloud, slumping over the table.

" _Dammit!_ All that cash!" He whined pitifully into the surface of the polished wood, thumping a defeated fist to it.

"How much have you got riding on this bet so far?" Law asked airily, smiling at the back of the man's head and ignoring the mildly curious looks the crew that had noticed Connor's new posture sent their way.

"...Into the millions now." He admitted, resting his chin to his arm with a grumpy sigh. "Because it's been running for a while…"

"How stubborn of you not to call it off by now." Law chuckled, sipping his drink.

"And make a loss when I _know_ I'm right? No way. I _knew_ it was only a matter of time, so did Jeff. Pretty woman like that living in a room with _you_ , Captain?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

"What are you implying?" Law asked lowly, lowering his bottle back down to the table.

"Nothing shady Captain, just that you're a regular lady killer. They always fall for you eventually, whether you intend it or not...Unlike that wannabe lady killer over there." He muttered the latter, glancing over at his friend as he bowed deeply, kissed the back of a woman's hand at the bar and proclaimed _his_ reason for why they were called Heart Pirates proudly, making her giggle and blush.

"...Idiot doesn't mean it ya know, the way he is with her. He's just foolin' around." Connor mumbled into his arms.

"I'm well aware." Law replied dryly, his tone hinting at his displeasure at Connor's unintentional, mild insult to his intelligence. He already knew Jeff would never seriously make a pass at any woman he had interest in.

"Sorry..."

Finding some amusement in the man's overzealous concern for his friend and the obvious frustration and exhaustion it caused him, Law rest back in his seat.

"If I were you, I'd be far less concerned with what _I_ may do to him if I feel he crosses a line and more concerned with what _she_ may do to him if he did." He said ominously, glancing Nayla's way as Connor did.

"...Really? You think so?"

"She punched him overboard in a rage. I took his hands for a day. You decide who's the bigger threat to your friend." He smiled darkly at the twinge of worry on Connor's face as he contemplated the seemingly harmless, happy woman talking and laughing animatedly amongst his crewmates.

"...You may be right." He sighed, sitting up straight and leaning back more comfortably in the booth. "Scary things in small packages, aye Captain? Best of luck with that one."

Chuckling as Connor pat his arm playfully, Law turned his attention to Penguin, Shachi and Jeff as they returned to the table beside them from retrieving their own fresh drinks to rejoin said scary little package, talking loudly.

"Man, the women here sure are friendly!" Shachi grinned, a blush tinting his cheeks as he squeezed onto the curved booth seat beside his usual counterpart.

"Yeah!" Penguin agreed happily, moving over a little more for him.

"A little serious for my tastes but cute as hell." Jeff commented as he leant against the side of the booth casually, resting his elbow to the seat above Shachi's head as he scoped the tavern and its female occupants.

"Serious?" Nayla asked curiously, not catching his meaning.

Perking a brow at her, he lowered his bottle before taking his sip. "Yeah, I'm getting the vibe that a lotta 'em are tryna sink their claws in and take sex a little too seriously."

"Really?" Penguin asked curiously, glancing back at the women that had been so friendly with them at the bar when they'd bought another round.

"Mmm, it _is_ kinda a one horse town. Probably one of those smaller communities with higher morals and more social push on marriage...And I guess I can't blame them for wanting to try snagging someone new and exciting to them." Shachi reasoned, blushing a little more as one of the women coyly waved her fingers at him.

"Yeah maybe that's why they're kinda fishing for something a little more than meaningless fun, gotta be careful with 'em. Don't wanna go hurtin' anyone's feelings…" Jeff sighed as he seemingly gave up on pursuing a few of his top picks for the night. "Shame women can't all be like you, eh?" He glanced at Nayla.

"Like me?"

"Yeah, ya know, up for no-strings-attached sex."

"Geez, don't say it like that. Makes me sound like a, ya know..."

"Slut." Kotta helpfully supplemented from the next booth over, calling the word back over his shoulder with a raised glass but not bothering to turn around.

"Hey! What, guys - _you_ do it and you get high-fived and called a stud and when women do it you shun them and call them a slut? Kind of backwards ass, sexist shit is that? Fuck you Kotta."

"OI!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head and finally turning to glare at her as the spoon she hurled at him clattered noisily to the floor at his feet.

"As far as I'm concerned, a 'slut' is just a woman who has the same morals as a man." She glared at him before turning back to Jeff and ignoring the angry medic. "And I never said sex was meaningless to me."

"Didn't you compare it to a basic need like hunger _just_ the other day?" Dean chuckled from beside Jeff.

"Well yeah, it _is_ a basic need and I do have casual sex because of my job and lifestyle but it doesn't mean I think the act is meaningless. Sex is _the_ most intimate physical thing humans are capable of. There's nothing beyond it. There's nothing else we can possibly share with one another that brings us physically closer and I wouldn't share that with just anyone. I have to _really_ like and respect someone to give them that kind of privil-..." Turning slowly as she felt her seat shift under someone's weight behind her, Nayla belatedly remembered how loudly she had been talking and who was in the booth next door as she felt his breath on her neck.

Resting his arm oh so casually to the top of the seat between them, Law lift his drink to his lips with an amused smirk, catching her gaze as it flit up to his. "Don't mind me, Nayla. Please, do continue." His eyes never leaving hers at he took a sip.

"Never mind...I think I'm done." She frowned mildly at her drink on the table, crossing her arms as she heard his quiet chuckle behind her.

"Yo, you decided who you're good for yet?" Connor asked, turning to kneel on the seat as his captain had done. She didn't have to look at him to know he was as entertained by her slip-up as his captain was, she could hear it in his voice.

"Mmm…" Jeff pondered, rubbing his chin in thought as he eyed up the women in the bar once more.

"Ah come on, if you don't make a move soon, I'm gonna. Ain't got all night for you to be _this_ picky." Connor scoffed, standing from his seat and slinging back the rest of his drink. "If I pick someone you like that's just tough shit. Friendly courtesy expired." He informed, setting his empty bottle onto his table as he shrugged.

"No, wait a minute…" Jeff stopped him in his tracks momentarily, squinting his eyes at the ladies. Honestly, Nayla had never seen anyone take womanising to such a meticulously well-thought out level as Jeff often did. "I think I'll go for the redhead. She seems to be all about the casual and I'm in the mood for a fiery one tonight." He grinned joining him as they started making their way over to the bar.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Connor shook his head. "I'm tellin' ya, hair colour has nothing to do with personality."

"Experience talks, my friend." Jeff chuckled, looping a playful arm around the mechanic's shoulders as they went.

"Both a coupla hounds." Shachi sighed, watching them go.

"Ah, you just say that cause you're jealous you don't have the balls to just strut up to gorgeous women the way they do." Dean chuckled.

"You mean I don't have the nerve to go harassing pretty women in every bar I go to? Why would I want that?" Shachi grumbled sourly, glancing up as his captain rounded his booth to join them in theirs, easing into the end seat beside Nayla, an exchange of mild annoyance and silent laughter between them as she moved over a little for him.

The chef chuckled at Shachi's poor cover for not matching the boldness of his crewmates when approaching the fairer sex. "Well, do you think the ladies are gonna come to _you_? Come on, you're not Captain."

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?" Shachi yelled as Penguin laughed loudly at him.

...

"That's an interesting expression. What's _that_ look for, Nayla-ya?" Law asked her lowly as she side-glanced at him at his mention.

"I was just thinking about all those 'ladies' that 'came to you' in the time I've known you is all."

The corner of his mouth lifted higher at the slightly brisk edge to her tone. "Is that right. What about them?"

"I was just wondering if you slept with any of them over the past month." She said nonchalantly, under the noise of the other men at the table.

Brows rising at her blunt aloofness, he set his bottle down to the table in front of them, resting his arm back over the top of the cushioned seat behind her. "You've been watching my interactions with other women this past month very closely. You tell me." He challenged, smirk returning as he felt her bristle beside him.

"No I wasn't." Crossing her arms at his disbelieving snort, she turned to face him in her seat. "I said I wasn't, wipe that stupid smirk off your face - all I _do_ know is that you kissed a few of them."

"One." He deliberately lied, enjoying her slow rise in annoyance. He liked this stage of her temperament; it reminded him of the deep, churning rumblings of a fickle volcano that could erupt very violently very soon.

" _Two_." She immediately corrected...belatedly understanding why his smirk was growing as she realised she'd just unwittingly and indirectly admitted to watching him.

Zipping her lips together tightly in a pout as she inwardly scolded herself for falling into such an obvious trap, she turned away from him in a huff.

"So it was. My mistake." He affirmed with an unsounded laugh, closing the gap between them as he leant closer. "Though if it makes you feel any better, that is as far as it went and they did kiss me, not the vice versa."

She did _not_ appreciate that playful, entertained tone in the least though she did feel a slight sense of misplaced relief in his admission. "Yeah, you were fighting them off so hard. All cosied up on your lap and stuff, clearest 'no' signals I've ever seen." She scoffed, taking a sip of her drink and pointedly ignoring his proximity.

"…You've asked me this question so I feel it's only fair to ask you." He leant his lips to her ear. "Are you the jealous type, Nayla?"

She did not enjoy that sultry purr or the brush of his skin on hers. Not at all. That definitely wasn't a small shudder either. "No. And I've already said that you can prance off with some other woman whenever you want to."

Humming thoughtfully as she turned to look at him firmly, he cocked his head to the side with a lazy smile. "You aren't, huh. That's good to know. So my new interest won't come to grave injury or death if I _do_ decide to 'prance off' with them?"

Breaking out into a small grin at the thought, she laughed at the teasing expression on his face, still so close to her own, the temptation to take his lips beginning to surface in the back of her mind. "That depends on whether she's a bitch or not." She replied quietly, thinking of Stravia and wishing, not for the first time, that she'd laid into that woman a lot harder and a lot sooner than she had.

Chuckling as he read exactly who it was Nayla was thinking of from the almost proud look on her face, he was unconvinced. In the back of his mind, he was beginning to harbour a mild concern for any woman that did follow her. If he chose to make that transition whilst Nayla was still around, he'd best do it as tactfully and respectfully as possible, for the new woman's safety. Possibly his own…Though he had the feeling he wouldn't find another woman of higher appeal than the one currently beside him in the near future.

"-seem to always like sailors for some reason. Who knows what women really think." Penguin shrugged.

"Well we got one of those. What do _you_ think it is Nayla?"

Brought back to the rest of the table at the mention of her name, she turned her attention to Dean as he looked at her expectantly, surprised to find Jake stood beside him now and wondering when he'd joined the table without her noticing. "Sorry, what do I think what is?"

"She was busy whispering sweet nothings into, Captain's ear. Ask her again." Penguin teased, spluttering as Nayla swiftly leant across the table to smack the bottom of his drink as he tried to take a sip, spilling it abruptly up his nose and down his boiler suit.

"What. Do. I. Think. _What_. Is?" She ground out, sitting back in her seat as Shachi grinned at his soggy friend who was sighing at her grumpily and rummaging around the cluttered plates, cutlery and empty glasses on the table for a napkin.

"We were just saying that women at port seem to take favour to pirates - sailors in general, wherever we go. Speculating why." Dean filled in, watching the man give up on finding one and beginning to wipe the excess rum from around his mouth with the back of his sleeve with a grumble.

"I say chicks just dig the vibe of danger." Jeff declared proudly, re-approaching the table and rejoining the conversation.

"But then that'd only apply to pirates, not sailors as a whole." Jake pointed out, tilting the head of his bottle in his direction.

"Strike out with your lady friend already?" Shachi questioned his presence, grinning up at him.

"Nah, went to the bathroom, in that…'gaggle' thing that women do." Jeff replied, waving his hand in the general direction of the ladies room behind him in the corner of the tavern. "Probably making sure her makeup is perfect for me."

Scoffing at his grin, Shachi shook his head at the man's joking conceitedness, glancing behind him to see that Connor's interest was still talking to him over by the bar.

"...So I'm thinkin' maybe ladies reckon we're all strength and muscle?" Jake pondered out loud, still contemplating the main topic of conversation. "Maybe they figure all sailors are in top physical condition if they have to man ships and such."

"Only gotta look at you to know that aint true." Jeff teased, looking at the chef's jolly gut pointedly and earning a half-hearted snort.

"I dunno about sailors in general but maybe for pirates it's about fame. Maybe being on a famous crew is what draws in the ladies." Shachi speculated.

"You mean _in_ famous." Penguin corrected. "And I still say they figure pirates are loaded with storybook amounts of treasure _or_ they figure they can get us smashed and cash us in for bounties."

"You think all the women attracted to you are gold-diggers after money? That's kinda harsh Pen, can't it just be because you're so cute?" Nayla cooed sweetly from across the table, making the man quieten and blush as he rapidly resumed wiping at his face and avoiding her eye contact.

Patting the embarrassed man on the top of the head, Dean chuckled at him. "Well, if it _is_ about infamy then us bountyless folk are screwed. It's all about Captain. Had more than a few women flirt with me only to ask me to introduce 'em to him." He finished with a wistful sigh.

"Yeah, me too…" Jeff agreed, glancing behind him to see if his pursuit for the night had returned to the bar yet or not. "...Still nailed 'em though."

Hearing Nayla tut at that, he looked back at her, catching the slightly reproaching look on her face. "What? They were tryna use me to get to Captain, it's bad when I use 'em back?"

"...No, I guess not." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So, lil lady." He bent forward, resting his folded arms to the table. "You're one of those women things."

"Indeed I am." She struggled not to laugh at his goofy smile and statement as she lowered her glass back down to the rustic table of the equally rustic-looking tavern.

"So you can give us a little insight, which one of us is right? Women keep coming our way because they think we're bound to be buff, loaded or like our bad boy fame?"

"Uh well, everyone's different but I'd say all of those are probably on the mark. Can imagine most women would be attracted to one, if not all of those. Not really what has ever drawn _me_ to sailors though, but the likely-to-be-buff factor has never hurt."

"Oh?" Shachi asked, exchanging curious looks with the others at the table. "Well what else is there?"

"Well, to put it bluntly. Sometimes women look at sailors and think...Well, remember how you guys felt after Amazon Lily? All stir crazy and woman hungry? That. Sailors who've been out to sea a while kinda tend to go the extra mile in bed when they hit shore. Really go at it, multiple rounds, that kinda thing. Women might look at sailors - or pirates, and think you guys might be a wild lay." She laughed at Penguin and Shachi's reddening faces as Dean cleared his throat, fighting down a blush of his own.

"Is that what _you_ think about sailors when you approach them?" Jake chuckled heartily into his tankard, the only one not embarrassed by her comment.

"Oh, it's what I _know_ about sailors." She said slyly, alluding to her previous, highly enjoyable experiences with seafarers during her travels. "The only men wilder than sailors are ones that have just gotten out of jail and haven't seen a woman in months or even years. I-" Slapping a hand to her mouth as she recalled the silent, now highly interested man beside her, she chanced a glance at Law in time to watch his surprised expression melt into a devious grin.

"…Or so they say." She attempted mildly, looking away and wondering how someone with an imposing presence like Law's could slink into the forgotten background with his tendency to sit and silently observe his surroundings.

…

He leant close to her in the stunned silence at the table, near enough for her to feel his smile on her skin. "Well, that was enlightening." Law mused lowly, his silky smooth tones carrying his laughter right into her ear.

"...Shut up." She grouched quietly behind the hand still to her mouth as she pushed her drink away, certain _it_ was responsible for her slips of the tongue that evening only for Law to push it straight back, smiling wider as she looked at him in annoyance. If he'd have known it was this easy to get her to talk so freely, he'd have encouraged her to drink a lot sooner.

Whistling lowly, Jeff stood from the table, about to comment when he felt a shy tap on his shoulder from his returned, alluring pursuit of the night. "Oh, hey!" He greeted her warmly, following after her as she made her way back to her seat at the bar.

Ignoring the departure of his crewmember, Law spoke again. "Would you care to elaborate on y-?"

"No." Nayla cut off sternly, narrowing her eyes at him as he chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm enjoying it so far! It's a beautiful isle. Not nearly as beautiful as its women though." Thankful for the boisterously loud, distracting voice of Jeff carrying over to them, she breathed a small sigh of relief when the men's attention at the table was collectively drawn over to him.

"Geez, that ham..." Penguin sighed, sipping his drink as the women around Jeff giggled at his cheeky grin and wink.

"Wish ida known it'd be this cold though, woulda bought some of that on the last island." He nodded at the chapstick his main courting target was currently recapping to put away. "Think I could borrow some?"

"Oh, sure. Of course." The woman replied in surprise, offering it to him.

"Ah great, thanks." Swiftly pushing her hand aside Jeff leant in and kissed her on the lips, surprising her and the other women with his bold move.

Even Nayla felt her jaw drop at his audacity as she watched him successfully win the woman over as she began wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back to a chorus of shocked, delighted and amused squeals and whistles from her friend.

...

"That fucking bastard!" Shachi exclaimed, the men at her table finally finding their voices as they watched the spectacle.

"Lucky dog." Dean laughed, shaking his head. "Anyone else woulda got the hell slapped outta him."

"He has a way alright." Jake agreed with a smile.

"I...cannot believe that worked. What the hell?!" Shachi scoffed.

"Well, women find confidence sexy." Nayla laughed at their jealousy, catching Law's amused gaze as though she had said something that applied to him. "That's _confidence_ , not arrogance." She stressed.

Chuckling as his crewmembers bickered mildly in their envy of Jeff's success with women, Law leant closer to the woman next to him once more. "If you _really_ feel you've had enough to drink Nayla, then perhaps it's about time you go to bed."

Her heart skipped a beat as she felt and heard the arousing undertones of his sultry voice and subtle hint hummed against her skin. The thought of another round with the man smirking against her ear made her feel flushed all of a sudden, in a way she couldn't blame on alcohol.

She met his dark, lustful gaze, the restrained heat in his eyes sending tingles of arousal through her as she spoke. "Well...I was planning on this drink being my last." She replied suggestively, his smirk widening at her words.

"What a coincidence." He replied, lifting his near-empty bottle to his lips in indication though his eyes never left hers.

"Sweethearts, it's been fun but I think I'm turning in for the night." Nayla offered the table warmly as she stood.

"Aww already?"

"Have another drink Nayla-chan, on me."

"I've clearly had enough." She grumbled, casting the last mouthful of booze and molten ice an accusatory glance.

"Ah let her go, poor thing was conked out all day today. She needs the rest." Dean piped up sympathetically in her favour.

"Aww alright, see ya in the morning Nayla-chan." Penguin said, getting to his feet and giving her a brief hug across the table.

"Yeah, sleep well." Dean bid, doing the same, Shachi getting up next to see her off.

"Thanks Nayla-chan." The redhead offered her sincerely, with his tighter embrace, low enough not to be heard by his captain or anyone else at the table.

Knowing what he was thanking her for and what her actions the day before had meant to him and the rest of the crew, she squeezed back. "Anytime...but don't you dare tell _him_ that." She mumbled quietly as she pulled away, making him laugh.

"Alright I won't." He grinned, as she grabbed her borrowed jacket from over the back of her seat and stepped out of the booth over Law's legs.

Catching the thoughtful look on his face at her and Shachi's exchange as she stepped over him, she could already tell he had worked out what it had likely been about by the mildness of his curiosity.

"Oh no, don't get up and don't you go rushing to give me a hug too." She scoffed successfully leaving the booth as he made no move to make it easier for her to do so or bid her goodnight in the same way as his men.

"Would you like one?" He teased, smirking up at her as she pulled on her coat for the short but cold trek across the street to the inn.

"No. Ass." She tutted, patting his hat down over his eyes before leaning down, curling a finger beneath his chin and planting a chaste kiss to his cheek. "But, I'm glad you're ok, 'Captain.'" She purred into his ear, his smile widening as she ran her fingers over his jaw slowly and left the table, his men not wasting any time in wolf-whistling at them for the display.

Chuckling he peeled the brim of his hat up, watching as she made her way out, sparing the men goodnights and thanks for treating her to her fill of food and drinks that evening.

"God damn...Well aren't you two just getting on like peaches and cream." Dean commented, a wide smile on his face.

"Something you wanna share with us, Captain?" Penguin grinned at him, leaning over the table eagerly as Law turned his gaze back to them.

"Absolutely not."

Chuckling at the lipstick mark he was sure Law wasn't currently aware was printed proudly on his cheek, Penguin glanced back up at Nayla as she waved her goodbyes to Jeff and Connor in the corner of the tavern. "Think she'll be ok on her way back to the inn?" He asked, belatedly thinking of the safety of the slightly tipsy woman walking across the street alone at night.

"Well, she _can_ kinda take care of herself..." Shachi started unsurely. "But still, I'll go see her over."

"No need." Law stopped him from rising from his seat, turning to glance over his shoulder at Nayla as she reached the tavern's doors. "I'll be turning in for the night soon too. I'll make sure she got there safely." He smirked at the last, lingering, sly look Nayla gave him in invitation as she left the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Maid of Amsterdam (A-rovin') – Song sung by the crew was based on this one which you can hear versions of on YouTube and such. A genuine sea shanty that has lots of variations of its title and lyrics but I just picked the one that had literal speech from the questionably married and/or prostituting 'maid' (depending on the version you pick) in the song for Nayla to have fun with.


	66. Unrestrained heat

Snow crunching beneath the soles of his boots as he made his way across the street, Law spotted the woman he was after through the glass of the inn's door as he approached it. Leant over the innkeeper's desk, elbows placed on it, that manipulatively flirtatious smile on her face as she seemingly asked something of the obviously besotted man.

Huffing at that, his breath condensing in the last of the frigid air he'd be in that night, he opened the door, calling their attention to his arrival.

Nayla showed no surprise or discomfort at his entrance but the older man behind the counter did as he straightened up and leant away from her, able to read the subtle warning in the smirking pirate's eyes as clear as day.

"Nayla-ya, I thought you were going to bed." He didn't release the man's locked gaze as he walked over.

"I am, was just picking up our keys and asking for a little favour." She smiled, opening her hand to reveal both sets dangling from her fingers. "You'll let me know in the morning, won't you Derrick?" She asked sweetly, pulling the man's focus back from the taller one that came to a stop behind her, the mild threat towards the innkeeper palpable to her, even without turning around to look at him.

"Yeah, 'course darlin'. I'll 'av a look for ya and send up any I find tomorrow afternoon when I'm in." The bristly man answered, eyes travelling between the lipstick mark on Law's cheek and the colour on her lips.

"Thank you." She smiled brightly, pushing off from the counter and waving to him on her way to the stairs as Law followed. "Good night, sleep well."

"You too, d-darlin'." The man cleared his throat, lowering his hand as Law shot him a side-glance.

Looking over her shoulder at the dark doctor climbing the stairs after her, she couldn't help but laugh a little as he finally peeled his steel gaze from the innkeeper to look up at her.

"Something funny?" Smirking again, he knew exactly what he did and what she found so humorous.

"Nothing, Law." She laughed, reaching the landing and checking the numbers burnt into the wooden key tags in her palm.

As the tavern across the street, this inn held a highly rustic aesthetic. She guessed the majority of the town probably did. Most walls were lined with logs, as a cabin might be, and the others were lined with unrefined wood. The building held warm with its seemingly heavy insulation and roaring fire in the reception area downstairs.

From her compliment of it to Derrick, the man had informed her that each room held a small fireplace of its own, replenished daily with logs for guests as the climate didn't allow for other reliable means of heating with pipes freezing often, despite their best efforts.

The furnishings she'd seen in the reception and lounge area below were cosy; thick carpeting, many fur rugs and a plethora of hunting trophies adorned the walls. Distinctly not to her taste. Though again, she'd been reassured the animals in the area were not hunted for sport, but for food, seeing as it was too cold to rear much livestock on farmland in this area. They simply made use of the entirety of each animal they killed including its meat, fur, leather, antlers and the like – which at least she could appreciate.

"We're in neighbouring rooms, isn't that convenient?" She murmured suspiciously to him as he reached the first floor beside her, glancing at the two keys in her hand.

"Well, _I_ didn't book the rooms, Nayla." He smiled down at her.

"I know _you_ didn't, you weren't here. Your crew sure did though." She rolled her eyes, taking a left down the hallway in the signposted direction of their rooms.

Over the past month, her room had never been directly next to Law's. Sometimes a few rooms down, sometimes across the hall, even a different floor altogether once or twice. It wouldn't surprise her if someone on the crew had done it deliberately to keep her and their captain apart when not getting on and then suddenly cosied them up as soon as they did.

Reaching doors six and seven, she handed him the key to the former, smiling up at him as she placed it in his palm. "So, Captain Trafalgar. What brings you over to the inn? You turning in already?"

Chuckling at the false innocence of the situation and her playful coyness, he pocketed the key with a sly grin. "Penguin and Shachi were concerned about you making it back to the inn by yourself so late at night. I assured them I'd come check on you to make sure you got to bed safely. Seeing as I've done that, I'll be taking my leave now."

He made to move to his door before she grabbed him by the front of his coat, tugging him roughly to her. "This isn't my bed, 'Captain.'" She purred against his lips.

Surprised, but not disliking her forwardness, he felt his eyelids threaten to flutter shut as she leant up and gently sucked his lower lip, pulling him in closer.

An audible exhale leaving him, he slid his free hand around to her lower back, halting her tease and taking her lips firmly as he pushed her against the door of her room, sliding his tongue into her mouth as she gasped at the unexpected action.

A warm wave of lust rushing through her as she felt him press her against the wood and felt his tongue delve inside her mouth deeply, Nayla reached behind her for the doorknob.

Placing his hand over hers, Law guided the key in her blindly fumbling hand to the lock, sliding it in, unlocking and opening the door.

Smirking against her lips as she pulled him inside her bedroom demandingly by the grip she still had on his jacket, he closed it behind them, turning her to press her against it once more.

Discarding his weapon to lean against the wall beside them, he swiftly swept his hands over her body, around her waist and to her lower back as hers found themselves entangled in the hair at the back of his head, his hat falling carelessly to the floor at their feet.

The soft moan he got from her as he deepened their kiss and lowered his hands to her ass caused him to squeeze the plump, denim-clad flesh strongly – her usual skirt replaced by her equally scandalous, low riding, second-skin-tight jeans.

Feeling the urge to taste more of her, he broke their kiss, moved to the side of her neck and ran his tongue over her flesh once before sealing his lips to it in a firm suck. Tilting her head back with a breathy sigh, Nayla wrapped her arm around his shoulders tightly, her other hand still thread deeply into his black locks.

Shivers ran through her as she felt his teeth teasingly graze over the same spot at the base of her neck that had become privately significant to both of them. He'd leave a mark exactly where he had before and she'd allow it. This time, she wanted it there. The thought of him leaving a visible reminder of this night together, aroused her far beyond any reasoning she had against having it.

Intense heat seeming to fan her body, she cracked an eye open to look at the room behind him, the wild flames she spotted in the hearth in the corner seemingly the source as it bathed the unlit room in a hot, red glow.

Crying out at the pleasurably painful bite she received, her eyes closed once more, focusing on the long, lavish laps of Law's tongue on her sore skin.

Needing more than the hardening bulge pressed against her, she wrapped a leg around his waist, trying to fulfil the need for friction between them.

Growling softly into her tender flesh, Law pulled his lips from it to look her in the eyes as he lifted her from the floor, curling her other leg around his waist and grinding himself forcefully against her, feeling the shudder that rippled through her as he did.

The intensity of lust in his eyes made her thankful she was no longer in charge of supporting her own weight. Inching her lips to his, she took them, running her tongue over them and into his mouth as she rocked her hips against his.

A low, pleased hum left him as he adjusted his stance and thrust against her strongly, drawing a gasp from her and a creak from the door behind her back.

Moaning as he ground denim against denim with his movements, she felt the sudden, overwhelming urge to have this man closer yet they were already flush against one another tightly. To feel more of his skin yet not feel him dare pull away for a second to undress. To feel his tongue against hers yet on every inch of her body at the same time. To touch him, to hear his moans, to have him buried deeply inside of her. The way he made her crave him so suddenly and deeply in every way stirred her passion to overwhelming heights.

Responding to the increasingly strong kiss, he pushed harder against her tongue, against her body, his hands groped her more firmly before running up her sides and kneading her breasts between them, devouring the moan that entered his mouth.

Tightening her thighs around his hips as he ground against her, she slid her hands over his shoulders, running them down the firm muscles of his back, around his solid, slender waist, up his chest, beginning to tug at the ends of his trapped jacket.

Growing frustrated with the material keeping her from his raw flesh, her hands tugged harder before giving up and slipping beneath it to his top to run over his pecs and abs, then trying to tug his top up from between them - craving the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips.

His hands roamed at the same fevered pace as hers, over her breasts, dipping between them to undo the button of her jeans, back to her thighs to wrap her more tightly around him, back to her ass.

An indecisive desire between them as to what they wanted to touch first. A flurry of lust that resulted in fierce kisses between smacks of lips and wanting, impatient, needy moans. Hands so eager that they couldn't touch everything fast enough. Clothing suddenly so stifling and suffocating - the need to feel one another's naked flesh becoming desperately overwhelming.

Growling at the sudden, uncharacteristic lack of control and heated floundering, Law pulled away gripping the edges of her jacket and pushing them over her shoulders, resting his hands back to her thighs and pulling her away from the door as she hurriedly shrugged it off and let it fall to the floor. As soon as her back hit the wood once more, his hands left her to grip the hem of her top, roughly pulling it up as she leant forward instinctively to allow the material to slip over her upper half.

He watched her hair spill from the fabric as he tugged it over her head, falling into wild disarray as she looked at him hungrily. Dropping her clothing to the floor hastily, he leant in to recapture her lips, he found her halting his advance with hands to his chest before she just as quickly began pulling his coat open as well.

He allowed her to lower her legs back to the ground so that she could pull it off of him. The bra she wore was undone before his jacket hit the ground. His sweater left his body, somewhere between him unzipping her jeans and her unzipping his - there was a simultaneous ridding her of those as she peeled away the clothing straining his erection. They couldn't get naked fast enough.

Digging his fingers into either side of her loosened pants moved her lusty gaze from his unleashed evidence of his arousal back to his face as he pulled them down her hips to her thighs, moving to press his body against hers with a searing kiss as his hands reached between them, giving her slickening folds a cursory stroke before pushing his erection between her upper thighs.

Moaning heavily, Nayla wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him more deeply as he rubbed his cock teasingly against her entrance, tempted but unable to curl her legs around him once more with her jeans tethering them together.

Gripping her hips, Law broke their kiss to quickly turn her around, barely giving her time to rest her hands to the door before she felt him push inside of her.

Throwing her head back with a loud, involuntary moan - something she hoped no one was in the hallway to hear, she instinctively bent over to ease his penetration as he thrust into her, his pace rapidly quickening.

Looking down, she watched his tattooed hands curl around the front of her hips and his feet shift amidst the puddles of discarded clothing as he began fucking her harder, the rustle of their jeans grinding against one another getting loud enough to compete with their pants.

Closing her eyes as she strained to keep the shamefully rapid build in pleasure at bay, she lowered her head, unable to focus on anything but how his thick cock pushed past her lips and teased her clit with every well-angled thrust.

Groaning as she felt her legs weaken under the tingling pleasure shooting through them, she leant her upper body to the wood in front of her for support, bending over further, Law thrusting harder at the invitation and at her quiet, breathless whimper of his name.

Leaning over her, he pushed her undone jeans down past her knees, using one of his to push her freer legs apart before resuming his pace and drawing a mixed gasp of pain and pleasure as he attacked the tender-looking spot on her neck he had been working on.

Kissing and sucking her flesh, he bit her gently as he pulled her hips to meet his thrusts, pleased by the loud cries he was already eliciting from her, enjoying the flush on her cheeks and her closed eyes as he pounded her fiercely against the door that had begun to creak. Anyone outside would know _exactly_ what was going on on the inside of it.

Unable to believe how quickly she had lost herself to her lust, Nayla tried to find anything to hold onto, to grip and anchor herself into reality with as it threatened to dissolve into nothing but the pleasure rapidly building between her legs.

Without a thing to find purchase on but the smooth wood beneath her palms, she moaned lowly, leaning her heaving chest against the waxy polish of the solid oak for support and in the hopes of muting its creaks and bangs as Law fucked her hard against it.

Enjoying the pleasant press of her ass to his crotch, Law lifted a hand to the back of her head, tangling his fingers deeply into her hair and pressing her cheek to the wood in front of them as he ruthlessly zeroed in on her weakening ability to stave off the climax she was nearing.

He watched her hands begin to clench, her nails raking against the wood, her eyes scrunch shut and her breathing become uneven as he sucked the early bruising on her neck, moaning into her flesh as he felt her walls beginning to wrap more tightly around him.

A sharp gasp left her as his harsh thrusts pushed her into climax, he watched her face eagerly from over her shoulder as she moaned in pleasure, her walls rhythmically gripping him inside, encouraging his spill though he had no intention of joining her in orgasmic bliss just yet, content to watch her come undone, to become a sweaty, dishevelled, moaning mess, over and over and over again.

Reducing his speed as he felt her tensed muscles begin to lax and her moans begin to quiet, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing himself flat to her against the door, kissing her neck and thrusting into her from behind more gently as her hand reached over her shoulder to cup his cheek, sighing contentedly.

Deciding she'd had long enough to return to her senses, he withdrew from her, leaning down to place an arm beneath her knees and quickly lifting her off her feet bridal style with minimal effort.

Blearily realising she hadn't even really taken any notice her own room as she glanced around it for the first time, she looped her arms around his neck, taking less interest in her surroundings and much more in the tanned flesh within her reach as she leant up and kissed it.

Striding quickly to the bed as he felt her tongue on his skin and his cock throb painfully in response, he laid her across it before standing up straight and pulling his jeans and underwear further down.

He took a moment to appreciate the sight of her on the thick, fur throw in the dark room. The only illumination the flames that burned hotly in its corner, the shadows and glows flickering over her near naked body as she lay there, hair splayed around her, moist red lips pulled into a seductive smile as she licked them in invitation.

A smirk found its way onto his as he crawled over her and kissed her heatedly, the mattress sinking beneath them as it took his weight.

Hand trailing down her thigh and over her knee until it found her boot, he unzipped it, thankful she had taken to wearing her un-bladed, buckle-less pairs more often around him and his men and absentmindedly wondering in the back of his mind if she'd begun to do so, and take her daggers with her less often, because she trusted them or because she trusted they would help her if needs be.

Quickly pulling it off and tossing it to the floor behind him with a loud clunk as the heel hit the carpet, he tugged off her panties and jeans from that side without breaking their kiss, freeing her legs, parting them and immediately plunging back inside of her with a satisfied growl.

A heady rush swept her every thought away at the sound and as he filled her sensitised flesh, the full length of his girthy cock rubbing against her clit as he fully withdrew and thrust, gliding back and forth against her walls with ease.

Releasing her lips as he increased his pace, he sucked her lower one, savouring the increasing pitch and volume of her moans as he sped up, his withdrawals becoming shallower as more and more of him stayed buried inside of her.

The usual clarity to her deep blue eyes was lost beneath the thick glaze of lust and want as she met his, the way she looked at him with such open sexual desire, with how much she wanted him so clear on her features, sent a tremor of deep pleasure through him.

Beginning to lose himself to the sight of her alluringly aroused features, his lips travelled back to her neck as she gripped his shoulders, the pulse in it a pounding whirr beneath her skin as he rest his body to hers to free the hands he was using to support his weight.

Using them instead to hold her hips firmly, he pulled them up to him, tilting them slightly before angling himself towards the sweet spot he had found on her before. It didn't take long for him to hear her gasp as he hit it, her hold on him tightening, her nails digging into his skin and her head falling back.

His name spilled out between ragged pants as he stroked against it, he could feel how much more this spot was doing for as her body gripped his shaft tightly, threatening to take him with her on her next ascent to climax.

What little part of her that could still function past the mind-numbing overload of her senses wondered if this were all some wonderful, delirious, hazy, intoxicated dream of utter pleasure. The room was a blur, hot and dark. She felt like her head was swimming. The familiar, swirling lull of inebriation and vacant-mindedness that came with sexual pleasure so perfectly blended with her mood - her sense of content, her happiness, her elation of survival resurfacing from yesterday, how she felt about the man on top of her, how she knew he felt about her in return and their new start together as of today. The feel of him pleasuring her, the soft fabrics and furs beneath her body, the sounds he made, the sounds _she_ made, the sounds of the straining springs of the bed as he thrust into her. The sweet scents of him and of the crackling wood in the corner filling her nostrils. The taste of him, of the drinks he'd had, of the drinks she'd had, mingling together on her tongue. Everything blended together in such an overwhelmingly pleasurable euphoria. Pleasure she never wanted to end, a sexual hunger she never wanted sated. She wanted this night, with this man, in this room to last forever. She wanted to coo his name lustfully into his ear over and over again to drive him wild, to feel his hands all over her body, to do the same to his, to feel him cum inside her, over and over and over. She shuddered in anticipation and arousal as she replayed his moans of climax in her head, the way he'd uttered her name whilst deeply inside her the previous night.

She could feel her own approaching quickly again. How he pushed her to orgasm so fast was beyond her. She wondered if it was because they had waited for what seemed like so long to touch one another, if it was just because she found him so irresistibly attractive, if it was because he was simply that good or all three.

Breath became impossible to catch as she felt the deep churnings of her release starting and the sharp tingles of pleasure course through her body as he drove her closer with every heavy thrust. A deeper and much more powerful orgasm than her previous approaching.

Feeling her legs wrap around his waist - her thighs gripping him tightly, her erratic breathing, her every tensed muscle against his and the bruising grip on his shoulders, Law could easily sense how close she was.

The sight of her, eyes closed, cheeks flushed, lips parted, the way she held onto him and moaned for him, it was difficult not to fall into that abyss with her, more difficult than he usually found it to stave off his own orgasm with others...because it was her. Because it was _her_ writhing beneath him like this, because it was _her_ breasts cushioning their chests, because it was _her_ sweet voice growing raspy with her pants and moans -

"Law…"

-and calling his name.

With a sudden, overwhelming greed to hear it again, to hear more, to make her scream, he mercilessly picked up his pace.

Her cries became shriller, more breathless, her grip tightened, he hissed as he felt long, red nails digging into his shoulders - which only drove him to thrust harder, to hold her hips more forcefully.

She looked so good like this. So un-composed, so lost to the pleasure he was giving her. The sassy little smartass tease that gave him nothing but backtalk and trouble reduced to primal woman, her body begging for his under his touch. It was unbelievably satisfying.

Unable to resist not tasting her yet still wanting to let her sounds spill freely into the room, he ran his tongue over her lower lip, sucking it as she looked up at him, their faces barely an inch apart.

The way she looked up at him then sent the darkest desires shivering down his spine, a feral level of unrestrained, heated arousal flooded his veins as their eyes met and he felt himself wordlessly taken by his own lust as their lips met in a searing kiss.

His hands left her hips, wrapping around her lower back as he leant himself fully to her and pulled her body against him.

Her arms slid around his back, squeezing him tightly to her as their tongues matched the fevered pace of his thrusts, moans melting between them as they both climbed to the height of their pleasure together.

Unable to breathe between the shortening pants and kissing, he pulled away, resting his forehead to hers, her hand lifting to rest against his cheek as they gazed at one another, hungrily reading the pleasure on each other's faces.

His eyes fluttered shut as he felt the telling stir of his release, his thrusts growing erratic as her walls started to clench around his shaft. Her lips brushing against his and his name uttered needily against them pushing him over the edge.

Groaning deeply in pleasure as he felt her strong, rhythmic contractions of orgasm around his shaft, he began to spill inside of her, capturing her lips in soft kisses and licks as they moaned and came together.

Riding out their waves of pleasure, their kiss deepened as his thrusts gradually slowed, the thick lust slowly fading as they came down from their heated high.

Humming in satisfaction and feeling the tension drain from her body, Nayla smiled up at him as he left her lips, rubbing the faint red smudges she'd left on his away with her thumb.

Feeling content, tired, full, warm, happy and sated, she was looking forward to curling up in this surprisingly big, soft bed for the night, hopefully with him. Lifting her one booted leg up closer towards her, she reached down to unzip it, ready to fully undress and get beneath the covers but was surprised to find Law gripping her calf and pushing her leg up the rest of the way to nearly touch her chest, taking the opportunity to thrust inside her more deeply.

He smirked at the gasp that left her as he began a slow, tender pace. "I'm not done with you yet." He murmured against her parted lips before leaning up and resting his hands back to the bed on either side of her.

Surprised to feel he hadn't softened at all, she held back her whimpers as he slid in and out of her throbbing flesh; sharp tingles of pleasure from her unrecovered, sensitive bud rippling through her at his every move. "Can't…" Sighing and closing her eyes as he leant down and started kissing her neck softly. "Can't I at least-?" She reached her hand back up to her clothed leg now resting over his shoulder.

"No."

He chuckled against her skin at the unmistakable tone of annoyance and frustration in the moan that left her then, giving her neck one last graze of his teeth.

Nayla curled her hands around his forearms to steady herself as the bed gave beneath her with each of his increasingly hard thrusts, watching him lift his head to look at her. His amusement, lust and affection mingled beneath the sterling silver glint of his pale blue eyes. His mouth pulled into a small, characteristic, lopsided grin. His smooth, tan complexion licked gently by the flames in the room - highlighting his cheekbones, his jaw line, casting shadows and dancing over his features and between the grooves of his muscled shoulders, arms and chest, setting the gold in his ears alight in the darkness of the room.

Finding herself compelled and captivated by the sight of him, she leant up to kiss him, feeling his audible exhale dance across her face as their tongues stroked against one another, enticing one another's senses again.

Reaching down he gripped her other leg from behind her knee, lifting it and resting the back of her calf to his other shoulder as he leant lowly over her again, thrusting into her from their adjusted position, the new depth of his penetration making her press her head back to the blankets beneath her with a breathy moan as she held onto his forearms tightly.

His movements were beginning to get faster, harder. His sexual ferocity was starting to resurface as he kissed, sucked and bit her exposed neck and the all too familiar deliriousness of carnal pleasure began to cloud her mind once more.

A particularly hard thrust had her throwing back her head with tightly closed eyes, crying out his name loudly - a feral growl and his teeth to the front of her throat was her immediate response from him as he pounded into her more rapidly.

Struggling to pant, and feeling the way he held her neck in his mouth, his tongue lavishing the flesh between his teeth she couldn't help but think the man was a beast. An animal. She was becoming more and more convinced that he was a cruel, cunning man within the lithe, powerful body of a beast. Or vice versa. The sheer instinctive rawness to his motions and the way he grazed her vulnerable neck like a predator drove her wild.

They both gasped as his tip grazed the limit of her depth, a place she'd never been touched before. Halting his thrusts, he gazed at her face, reading her expression for any pain or discomfort but found neither. Instead, her hands reaching to either side of his and her lips beckoning his.

Kissing her deeply, he shifted slightly on top of her before cautiously sinking himself back inside of her fully, feeling the barest brush of her flesh against his tip as he pushed a little harder.

Moaning with her as they shared the sensation carefully - of him filling her completely, he ground his hips slowly, stroking her walls as her hand found its way to his hair, her head tilting in encouragement of his equally gentle exploration of her mouth.

There certainly was nothing more physically intimate that could be shared between two people. Not that he'd ever really thought of it in that way until she'd said it, but she wasn't wrong he supposed. There was little else she could offer him that could best allowing him to feel the deepest part of her womanhood in this way. It _was_ incredibly intimate.

Humming against his lips before resting her head back to the bed, she smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders more comfortably.

Finding himself returning her serenely happy expression, he slid his hands down her sides, over the pleasant dip of her slender waist and the feminine flare of her hips to grip them before beginning to pick up his pace again.

Following her soft symphony of cues, her gentle moans of pleasure, her quiet hums of satisfaction, her sharp gasps of stimulatory overload, he focused solely on her. Watching her every response to his movements, reading how his speed, pressure and angle affected her and took his time in exploring her. He had the urge to learn each and every little thing that accelerated and accentuated her pleasure, to find every way to pull every kind of moan from her, to know how to make her cry out his name on demand, to make her cum so fast it'd make her head spin...and to know exactly how to prolong her climb to climax. To keep her in a state of desperation - on the edge of orgasm without fulfilling her, for as long as possible.

An evil smirk curling the corner of his lips at the thought of her writhing in delirious, sexual agony for him, begging him for release, he leant up on his knees, sliding his hands down her legs and unzipping the one boot still left on her.

Looking up at him in question as he tossed it to the ground behind him and slid her jeans and panties off, she leant up on her elbows, watching as he stood. He slid his undone pants and boxers down, kicking them and his boots off as they reached his ankles before swiftly kneeling back over her on the bed, his dark smirk and intimidating position over her doing little to settle her.

Just as she was about to ask what he was doing, he gripped her hips, easily flipping her onto her stomach before leaning his face down to her lower back and kissing her tattoo.

Propping herself back up on her elbows, she looked over her shoulder at him as his hands slipped to her ass, kneading her flesh in firm, greedy gropes as he started running his tongue up her spine slowly.

Biting her lip as she felt the tickle of his warm, wet appendage slide up her skin, she shivered in anticipation as the heat of his slicked erection pressed against her.

She couldn't help but smile as she felt him diverge from his path to plant soft kisses to the sore bruises and scratches she knew were on her skin from the day before, her heart swelling every time she felt his lingering, almost apologetic and appreciative, lips trace an injury as they climbed her shoulder blades, her shoulders and her neck. His hands snaking beneath her to cup her breasts as he rest a knee to either side of her closed thighs and slid back inside of her.

She sighed in pleasure, feeling his tongue trace the outline of her ear and as he mounted her in a way that only further cemented her belief that the man was an animal.

The moan that left her as he began to thrust broke into a surprised squeal as he suddenly thrust with force and trapped her upper ear between his teeth with a low growl that she felt more through his chest pressed against her back than she heard through the lips sealed around her flesh.

Gasping at the strength he used and at how surprisingly deeply he penetrated her from this position, she closed her eyes and clasped the thick blanket below her as he sucked the piercings of her upper ear into his mouth, running his tongue between them to tickle her skin.

It felt so good to have him curled around her like this, pinned to the bed by his thighs on either side of hers, held tightly in his arms, his hands kneading her breasts, his tongue teasing her flesh and the muscular drives of his hips as he rut deeply inside of her from behind.

Starting to feel the slow stirrings of a deep climax, the tightening coil that would release sweet, pleasurable relief into every part of her body; she savoured the slow build. Everything about it.

The dull thumps of the mattress drowned out by the wet sounds of her arousal and his orgasm, his breaths in her ear and her own heavily pounding heart. The excessive moisture between her legs that drew her attention to the hot, wet sensation of his skin against hers, only now realising how sweaty they were with exertion, his chest sticking to the sheen on her back and her hair beginning to cling to her neck in uncomfortable tethers. The room was so hot, the fur beneath her bare stomach didn't help - but she didn't want him to stop. She only wanted more. More heat, faster, harder, she didn't care how soaked they got - if they drenched the bed in sweat, just so long as he kept fucking her, just like that, letting her focus on how good his thick, hard, hot shaft felt pushing in and out of her.

A hand left her breast to slide beneath her, tattooed fingers easily slipped between her folds to her clit, causing a whimper as he began to stroke it in time with his thrusts.

Starting to squirm under his touch - beginning to lose the ability to stay still, she panted heavily, leaning her head down to the bed and gripping the covers as he began to thrust with more power, littering the back of her shoulder with wet kisses and hummed moans as she started to lose herself again.

The man was an over stimulator and it wasn't by accident. Nothing he did was by accident. There was never a hand out of place, a fingertip unutilised, his lips and tongue always put to good use, his stance and the angle of her hips were always best positioned, his every toned, tanned muscle was always in play - he easily overwhelmed her senses and _kept_ her overwhelmed, taking pleasure in how he reduced her to an unthinking mess by playing every part of her body like an instrument.

Breathing was getting difficult, limbs were beginning to feel numb and useless, her mind had long since gone blank, the fur beneath her cheek was already damp with sweat but she didn't care, as long as he kept touching her, she didn't care.

Hearing his name whispered breathlessly into the fur beneath her lips, Law nuzzled his nose to her neck, kissing it and keenly watching her flushed face as he felt her grow dangerously close to orgasm, clinging onto the fabric tightly as she moaned.

Removing his other hand out from under her breast, he slid it along her arm, resting it atop hers and smiling against her skin as she immediately allowed him to slip his fingers between her own.

Slowing down, he rubbed her clit more vigorously, pushing her into climax with nothing more than a few strong, sharp thrusts that knocked the air from her lungs in gasps. Kissing her neck as she moaned loudly, he revelled in how tightly she squeezed his interlocking fingers and around his shaft, rutting her ass up against him and grinding against his hand as she came desperately undone again.

He let her ride out her pleasure until her moans began to dissolve into gentle whimpers, continuing to stroke against her overworked flesh and feeling her muscles tensing in post-climactic sensitivity as he brushed against her clit.

Humming in satisfaction against her skin, he sucked it gently as he leant up on his elbows and gave her space to catch her breath.

Nayla swallowed thickly as the dense haze of orgasm slowly, _very_ slowly lift - seeming to take longer with each one. She could barely open her eyes, her vision slightly spotted as she struggled to process the sight of the bed beneath her and slow her pulse. Moaning as she felt him slip from her, she looked up at him over her shoulder, intending to shift onto her back but the numbing ache of her shaky limbs and dizzying weakness left her on her side.

Breathlessly laughing a little at that damn smirk he wore as he watched her struggle her way back into the world of the living, she curled an arm beneath her head as he leant down and kissed her with a quiet chuckle. He lay himself down beside her, face-to-face and slid his hand around the back of her thigh to pull it over his hip, curling her leg around him as he slipped back inside of her, still sharing small kisses and licks.

The raging, uncontrollable lust that had taken them through the door of her bedroom in a whirlwind of passion had long been sated, they'd both cum already and they'd had each other three times within the last twenty four hours. This was just gluttony. Leisurely, indulgent, debauched, sexual gluttony. Eating well past the point of sating hunger and eating simply to enjoy the taste now.

Feeling his arms wrap around her waist and pull her closer, pull her to rest slightly on top of him, she knew that he'd meant what he said. That he was nowhere near finished with her yet. Law had every intention of fulfilling as many of the depraved desires he'd harboured for her for the longest time that night, and that was fine with Nayla. Because she had every intention of doing the same.

* * *

Running his hands over his wet face, Law turned the sink's faucet off and reached for the hand towel hanging on the rail beside him. Patting his skin dry he glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked tired, more tired than usual...Though given how he'd spent the majority of his night, he hadn't expected any different...and certainly had no regrets about it.

The smirk concealed by the fabric pressed to his cheeks shrunk slightly as he caught sight of his shoulders. Furrowing his brows, he turned slightly to inspect the raw, red scratch marks left on his skin that would most definitely sting when he took his shower...Still, he had no regrets about those either and he definitely had no right to complain, not after the marks he'd left her with. Nayla would probably throw a fit when she saw the state of her neck - he was looking forward to that. She'd given him free reign of it and he'd certainly taken it.

Chuckling to himself he replaced the towel and made his way back into the bedroom, glancing at said mess he'd made on the sleeping woman's skin as he quietly walked over to the side of the bed to pick up his underwear and jeans. She was certainly fortunate that this was a winter island and that she had chosen to pack scarves and turtlenecks, they'd come in handy to cover the litter of love bites he'd left her with.

Pleased with himself and grinning like a Cheshire cat he pulled on his pants, silently zipping them up and slipping his boots back on as he glanced around the room for his hastily shed sweater, spotting the dark fabric still on the carpet by the door.

Making his way over to it he couldn't help but feel a great deal of pride, knowing how she _really_ felt about sex. Knowing that she shared something with him that _she_ believed to be significant and the ultimate level of physical human intimacy. Maybe she was right, he wasn't sure...Though she was definitely right about it being much better with someone you cared about. He hadn't enjoyed sex like that in a long time and honestly couldn't remember a time he'd kissed anyone as passionately or as frequently during as he had last night...or the night before...

Leaning down, he scooped up his top and coat, draping the items over his arm before picking up his hat - the last of his haphazardly discarded clothing by the entrance of the room. He glanced over at Nayla, still snoozing soundly in bed as he'd left her. The thick curtains were still drawn and the only dim light source was still the fireplace in the corner, though its flames were far tamer than they had been last night.

Although she'd all but passed out after their long night of sexual indulgence, it had been a pleasant surprise to find he wasn't holding her from behind as he'd last remembered before soon following her into a deep slumber but that she had at some point rolled over and curled up comfortably to his side. There was definitely an unwarranted sense of pleasure in that but it had been a feat to get up without waking her.

Striding over to the bed he crouched down beside it, looking at her peaceful, happy features. A small smile still on her lips, curled up in the spot he'd been lying in, her hair in disarray and her body still naked, wrapped beneath the brown fur throw he had draped over them loosely last night, her bare leg peering out from over the top of it, the delicious curve of her hip in view...She looked gorgeous. To him anyway. Not a single one of the bruises or marks left on her back detracting from her beauty.

Smiling, he reached over, gently pulling the covers up to her bare shoulder to keep her warm. The fire was waning and it'd be a few more hours before the inn's staff would be around to replenish it.

Humming as she stirred and felt his hand gently brush against her back as he did so, Nayla peered up at him with the usual lazily-lidded, tired, satisfied look he was used to from women the morning after, though it somehow felt infinitely better coming from her.

"Up already?" Her voice heavy with sleep, hoarse and cracked. After all the noises he'd had her making last night, he wasn't surprised.

"Yeah, I have things I need to do this morning." He said, resting his arms to the bed beside her.

"Hmm, thank god I don't." She replied tiredly, stretching beneath the cover with a satisfied sigh. "...Those look good on you." She purred, eyes on the marks he knew were all over his shoulder.

"Hung-over?" He grinned, ignoring her tease and resting his jacket and hat to his thigh to pull on his sweater

"No, thankfully I don't ever seem to get those...You?"

"No, I never drink enough to get those." He replied with a soft chuckle, pulling the thick fabric down over his bare torso before resting his arms back to the side of the bed.

…

Giggling as she realised how long they'd just been smiling stupidly at one another, she reached for the hat balancing on his lap and plopped it onto his head. "Your hair is a mess."

"Look who's talking." He chuckled, allowing her to tug it on for him and adjust the brim.

Hearing a knock, he glanced over his shoulder towards the door, both of them quickly realising the noise had come from the door of _his_ room as they heard Penguin speak. "Captain? Are you up yet?"

"You better go do that Captainy thing that you do." She smiled as he glanced back at her.

"Yeah…" There was a 'You better go do that lazy snoozing around thing that you do' quip back that sprang to mind, but instead he found himself leaning forward to give her a brief kiss and softly saying: "Sleep well."

She watched him stand; walking back to pick up his nodachi still resting by the entrance from last night before summoning a small 'Room' that passed through the common wall of their neighbouring bedrooms. With one last smirk over his shoulder he was gone; teleported across it before allowing his power to dissipate. She listened to him stride across his carpet to casually open his door for the crew as though he had been in his own room the whole time.

Laughing under her breath a little at that, she found herself lulled back to sleep easily as she inhaled the scent of him left behind on her bedding and listened to the soothing, muffled murmurs of his silken voice as he conversed with the equally calming voices of the men that had come to be such dear friends of hers.

* * *

"Holy crap..." Nayla gasped as she gazed down the street in both directions.

"It's called snow, sweetie."

"I know what it is, I just can't believe how _much_ of it there is, idiot." She sighed, shooting Connor an un-amused side-glance at his smartass response, not that his grin faded in the slightest. "Don't they shovel or salt the roads here?"

"They did. In fact, they'd already cleared that road this morning, that's actually the second snowfall of the day...Which you would have known if you hadn't slept the whole morning away."

"Geez...Least around the inn and tavern are cleared." She mumbled, ignoring his suspiciously raised brow.

"Beds and booze, priorities, right?" Shachi humoured from her other side, leaning his elbows to the thick cushioning of soft snow atop the short brick wall that lined the inn's front yard.

Huffing in amusement at him, she mirrored his action. "I guess." Sighing again, she glanced around the snow-covered little town as the few people that dared venture out this afternoon struggled to go about their business on re-iced sidewalks and wade through the thick snow that had begun to build up once more.

"...By the way, where's Jeff?"

Connor shrugged nonchalantly, as she looked at him. "Dunno, probably not back from that chick's place yet." Though admittedly, even he thought it was a little strange for his friend to still be with his previous night's conquest well into the afternoon...Unless said conquest was up for seconds in the morning.

Shuddering in mild disgust at the thought he kept to himself, he turned to look back at the inn's front door as it opened.

"Yo Nayla-chan, innkeeper wants ya." Penguin called over as he made his way outside.

"Bet he does." Connor muttered in distaste, not missing the way the man had been looking at her since she'd come downstairs.

"Oh yeah, thank you!" She said brightly, trotting past him with a wide smile on her way in.

Shrugging in response to Shachi's questioning look as to what for, Penguin took her place beside him. "So, what do you wanna go do now that work is out of the way?"

"Mmm, not a lot going on in this town I'm guessing...Heard there's a lake nearby that the locals use for ice skating though. We could go check that out, Nayla-chan'd probably enjoy that too."

"Yeah, that sounds fun. Probably some pretty young local women there too." He grinned, a blush at the thought dusting his cheeks.

"Don't you ever have anything else to think about other than alcohol and women?" Law asked with a mild sigh as he emerged from around the side of the tavern across the narrow street, Bepo in tow.

"Oh, Captain. You have a nice walk?" Penguin asked, resting his chin to his hand as he leant on the wall with a humoured grin, watching Law cross the road towards them.

"Not a great deal to see here but there's a small forest at the edge of the town." He shrugged half-heartedly, eyes darting over their shoulders and drawing their attention to Nayla as she appeared from around the back of the inn.

"Wanna come ice skating with us?" Shachi asked him, watching Nayla curiously as she made her way towards them through the alley that ran down the building's side carefully.

"I think I'll pass."

Unsurprised by his captain's response, the red head turned to Bepo instead. "What about you Bepo, wanna come?"

"Yeah!" The bear grinned, excited at the prospect.

"Ooo, where you going?" Nayla asked eagerly, coming back into earshot and trotting over to them.

"Ice skating, wanna join us?" Penguin offered.

"Aww, I haven't been in years! Of course! What about you tall, dark and evil, you coming along?" Nayla asked, leaning on the wall and grinning up at Law on the other side of it.

"...I might come spectate. There's little else to do here." He chuckled at her childish excitement and wide smile.

"Thank you for the water by the way." She said quietly, wondering at what point of the morning he'd thought to sneak back into her room and leave it for her on the bedside cabinet, she'd been unbelievably parched from last night. She hadn't heard a thing and with stealth powers like teleportation at his disposal, she considered herself _very_ lucky that he was on her side. Most of the time.

"You're welcome." He replied lowly, grin widening at the private exchange that had his men not in on what they were talking about glancing between them in confusion.

Connor inwardly rolled his eyes at their audacity to practically flirt right under his and his crewmates' noses - who he was convinced more and more by the day had to be blind and or stupid and or in frank denial. "You sure you're up for it though, sweetie? You've been out of it since getting tossed overboard and sure did sleep in a lot today...Actually thought you might be sick, considering all the noise I heard coming from your room on the way up to mine last night."

Quickly closing her gaping mouth, she wiped the surprise off her face. "What noise?" She challenged firmly, hoping to call his bluff and that he wouldn't _dare_ be any more specific.

"You tell me. Either you were in a great deal of pain or pleasure." He dared, his sly grin quickly wiped off his mouth as Law locked eyes with him, suddenly making him wonder if his usual teasing of her counted as disobeying the order he'd received last night.

"Oh...that…" She said, clearing her throat under the silent, bashful gazes of the others there that had turned her way. "...I was just masturbating."

She made to help Penguin steady himself as the elbow he'd leant on the wall seemed to suddenly slip out from under him.

"...Y-You were what?" Shachi managed out, unsure if he'd grossly misheard what she'd said, though judging by his friend's near faceplant into the wall, he wasn't the only one.

"You heard me." She shrugged nonchalantly, still holding onto Penguin's arm and trying her best not to laugh at the shocked look on Law's face.

Helping the heavily blushing man re-steady himself to the wall, she waited a moment for them to get over their surprise and say something...Or at least for Shachi's nose to start painting the snow a pretty pink colour because she was sure from the intense blush on _his_ face that he wasn't far off.

Resting her gloved hands to her hips, she sighed at their silence, though took a great deal of inward victory at Connor's - he clearly hadn't expected that explanation and had no comeback lined up for it. "Oh come on, grow up, like you guys don't? A woman has needs too, ya know."

She broke out into a small laugh as Law ran a hand over his face with a sigh, before her curiosity struck. "Hey, come to think of it...If you guys are usually doubling up in cabins together when we're at sea, then how do you ever find personal time to...you know."

Sharing a quick glance with one another, the three men on her side of the wall shifted in embarrassment, their blushes getting no better.

Clearing his throat, Connor averted her gaze. "Let's just say, you're lucky Captain doesn't make you use the communal shower cubicles."

Bursting out laughing at that and how easily she managed to flip his attempt to tease and embarrass her, she was just about to comment when they all turned towards the clashing sound of clutter being knocked over in one of the alleys across the street, followed by angry shouting that was a little too far to be made out clearly.

Penguin squinted his eyes in that direction as they heard rapid footsteps and what sounded like garbage cans being knocked over. "What in the wor-?"

"SHE SAID SHE WAS EIGHTEEN! SHE SAID SHE WAS EIGHTEEN!" Yelled Jeff as he bolted out of the alley, butt naked, his clothing draped over one arm as he concealed his manhood with his other hand.

"GET BACK HERE, PIRATE SCUM!" A middle aged, heavyset man emerged in hot pursuit, old fashioned hunting shotgun in hand as he skidded to a stop on the icy sidewalk. "IMMA PUMP YA FULL A HOLES!"

Laughing loudly at that and struggling to pull the pants of his boilersuit on one leg at a time as he ran, Jeff grinned over his shoulder at the irate man. "Funny, I said something similar to your daughter last ni-WHOA! WAIT A MINUTE!" He panicked holding one hand up to halt the man as he dropped to a knee and shouldered his weapon, ready to fire. "OI OI OI, CAN'T WE TALK ABOUT THIS LIKE CIV-?!"

Sprinting down the street, ass still hanging out of his boilersuit as the man cocked his weapon, Jeff tried to put distance between him and the pissed off shooter as his crewmates stared on at him in shock.

Connor being the first one amongst them to find his tongue again, he sighed loudly in frustration and covered Nayla's eyes as his half-naked friend bolted for his life in broad daylight. "Should we go help him, Captain?" He groaned unenthusiastically, glancing down at the woman as she peeled his gloved fingers away a little to watch.

"Only if he actually gets shot. Minimally. The frostbite is none of my concern." Law muttered, moving his disapproving glare from his crewmember's barefoot sprinting to Nayla, slapping her hand away from holding Connor's fingers from her eyes as he saw her focusing on Jeff's ass with an amused grin.

Hearing a loud shot ring out, they watched as Jeff swiftly dodged it, vaulting with trained agility over a tall property wall one-handed and out of sight as he used his other to keep a hold of his loosely thrown on clothing.

"Geez, he can run." Nayla said in awe, both hands now holding Connor's away to watch Jeff disappear beyond the brickwork as his pursuer swore, got back up to his feet and chased after him. "It's almost as though he's done this before..."

Not finding her unsubtle question amusing in the least as she grinned up at him over her shoulder, Connor sighed and slapped his thickly gloved hands back over her eyes, ignoring her protests as he looked at the others. "So…ice skating."

* * *

Crossing his arms as he leant against his En Suite's door frame, Law watched Nayla lean over the sink, finishing her makeup in the bathroom mirror.

Their five day visit to the winter island had come and gone so quickly it seemed, despite quieter islands with little to offer usually feeling as though time spent on them was doubled. The Log Pose should be set soon and they should be due for departure this evening, something his men were looking forward to. Particularly Jeff, seeing as though he was constantly looking over his shoulder for a rightfully angry father still marching a warpath to ensure he got shot full of pellets...The 'shotgun wedding' jokes the crew had been cracking at him all week, although admittedly funny, were beginning to get a little old.

"So do you guys wanna leave and I meet you on the next island or...?" Nayla broke his thoughts.

"If your job is only going to take a few days, we may as well wait."

"Aren't your crew gonna be disappointed they have to stay here longer?" She asked, recapping her lipstick and popping it back into her cosmetic bag.

"I'm sure they'll cope…" He said, pushing off from his lean to enter his bathroom. "Especially when they find out _who_ caused the delay. They tend to be a lot more understanding when it's you."

"Hmm, privileges." She smiled up at him through the mirror as he stood behind her.

"...You sure you'll be back so soon?"

Perking a brow at him, she stopped smoothing out the edges of her eyeliner with her fingertip, wondering what it was he was really asking as his neutral tone and facial expression gave little away.

It didn't seem likely he thought she _wouldn't_ come back...Maybe he thought she was lying about the timing for some reason?...He _had_ been very quiet since she'd told him about the job she'd received that morning…

Pursing her lips in amusement as she noticed what seemed like a slight sulk to usual expression and posture, she zipped up her makeup bag. "You've been awfully grumpy since I told you Marty called, are you really going to miss me that much?"

"No." He denied her taunt, not that it stopped her from laughing at him as he sighed and placed a hand to the sink on either side of her. "I don't know why you ask me questions you _think_ you already know the answer to." He said lowly into her ear, giving it a teasing nibble.

"Me either." She smiled at him in the mirror, stroking his cheek.

"I _will_ miss this part of you being around though." He smirked back, resting his hands to her hips and kissing her neck, never breaking her eye contact in the glass in front of them.

"Mhmm, well I'm sure _you'll_ cope too but-" She wriggled out of his hold, knowing he'd lure her straight into his bed if given more than a moment's opportunity to do so. "-the sooner I get going, the sooner I can come back. It's just a straight Black Widow. In, kill, out."

She smiled at him as she left the room, heading over to his bed where she'd left her repacked duffel bag for her short trip inland. "Though, it's pretty ridiculous how Joker seems to have something for me to do on nearly _every_ island we visit. Is his network really that big that he has dealings like, literally everywhere that need seeing to?" She asked, turning to him as he stood in the doorway.

"Yeah. You'll never find a shortage of work Joker needs done. It's just a matter of earning enough trust from his people to be given the jobs that _really_ matter to him."

"Hmm, guess so…" She said thoughtfully, packing her cosmetic bag, zipping up her small luggage and slinging it over her shoulder.

Law watched her do her usual silent mental checklist to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything; the hand to her chest to check her concealed dagger was in place, the brush of her thigh to ensure the one strapped there was on, the glance down at her feet to ensure she was wearing the right set of bladed boots, the unconscious feel of her bag for the reassuring hilts of her concealed swords.

"Right, all set." She beamed happily, pulling her winter gloves out of her pocket and onto her hands as she walked back over to him. "I'll head over to the station, give the crew I haven't seen already my love please." She asked, giving him a peck on the cheek before turning and heading towards the door to his quarters. "You said the station was past the old church at the bottom of the same street the inn is on?"

"Yeah...Do you need me to show you where it is?"

Pleasantly surprised by his offer, she stopped with her hand on the knob and looked back at him. "...No, I don't need you to...but I'd _like_ you to. I'm never opposed to handsome company."

Trying to sigh at her silly, flirtatious wink, he smiled despite himself as he followed after her, grabbing his nodachi from its lean against the bureau on his way and pausing at his threshold beside her to allow her to use her gloved thumb to wipe the lipstick print on his cheek away.

* * *

Trudging back through the snow alone, Law reached the street that held the inn, feeling inexplicably tired and deflated, despite it only being the early afternoon.

It was a shame that Nayla had picked up a job so soon after her last, or at least it felt so soon. Honestly, he'd have liked to have indulged himself a little more now that they had begun to enjoy one another fully...but then he had to firmly remind himself of her purpose. Her going to work and bringing back information he needed was exactly what he wanted her there for in the first place...The reiteration in his own head didn't seem to make him feel any less sullen about her absence though.

To think he hadn't felt much of anything at all the previous month she'd been leaving for work, other than the hopeful anticipation of what she might bring back and the slight trepidation of whether or not she'd choose to return at all.

He had no doubt that she would now. He believed her when she said she wanted to work for him, simply because she had no reason to lie. She had her weapons, she had free reign of movement, she'd had a month where she _could_ have walked away without his interference and had chosen not to. The apprehension of whether or not she'd return was gone now but he found an equally unpleasant emotion had replaced it...Maybe he _would_ miss her...He wasn't too happy about that feeling.

He broke out into a smile and scoffed under his breath as he thought of the way she'd hung out of the train window to wave a tissue at him like a hanky as it pulled away, playing the heartbroken damsel...Maybe it _was_ ok to miss her and her stupid antics, just a little.

"Captain!"

Glancing up as he heard his title rung out in the characteristically enthusiastic voice of Bepo, he saw his navigator trotting out of the inn ahead to greet him.

"Oh? Where's Nayla? I thought I saw you walking up here with her earlier."

"To the station. She's at work." He replied neutrally, walking through the gap of the short stone wall that housed the inn's front yard towards him.

"Ah...She sure does work a lot…" The bear said in slight disappointment as his captain came to a stop in front of him.

"Yeah, but this will be a quick job, so inform the crew that we will be delaying departure for a few days until she returns. When she does we-..." Pausing and furrowing his brows as they heard an array of tiny, high-pitched mewls, he turned his head to the side, looking at the alley that led behind the building for a moment before deciding to tread quietly over to it.

With Bepo in close and quiet pursuit, they walked as silently as possible through the snow towards the noise coming from the behind the inn.

Glancing around the corner at the back courtyard, Law spotted the collection of the business' trash; neatly stacked in bags, boxes and within a dumpster that rest a little way from the back door.

Eyes flicking downward towards the source of the noise, he slowly approached the large, deep, wooden crate resting on its side, recognising it to be one his own crew had recently bought, brought aboard and unloaded during their stay. It had once housed basic repair materials and tools that they'd needed to replenish.

Crouching lowly, Law realised the inside of it had been lovingly lined with old, stained, faded blankets and bedding that appeared to match what was used in the bedrooms of the inn - probably what a certain someone had sweet talked out of a smitten old innkeeper.

"Are there kittens in there?" Bepo asked quietly, crouching behind Law and peering into the box from over his shoulder, the sound of his deep voice causing a trio of furry heads to pop up from between the folds of the blankets lining the makeshift home.

Chuckling as Bepo stood and backed up a little, mumbling an apology to the kittens that were frightened by his appearance, Law inspected the piled high plate of food and deep bowl of water Nayla had tucked into the rear of the box for them as they tumbled clumsily back to their mother in the far corner for comfort. The female cat near enough on her haunches as she stared wide-eyed at the unfamiliar intruders outside her new home. He had no idea when and where she got the hot water bottle he saw her sitting on.

"Bepo."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Be sure to bring them something to eat and drink each day." He said easily, standing back up and shouldering his weapon more comfortably.

"Captain?"

"Nayla-ya tried to give them enough to last until she got back, but the food and water are both already beginning to freeze over. They won't be able to eat it." He turned to make his way back to the front of the building, casting an amused smirk at his friend's confused expression. "Don't you think she'd be upset if anything were to happen to them before she returned? It'd be very kind of you to continue to look after them until she did, I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

"A-Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo agreed happily, startling the kittens that had bravely popped curious little heads back out of their box to peer up at them. "O-Oh, I'm sorry!"

Smiling wider as the bear stooped down to apologise for his loud outburst, Law cast him one last look over his shoulder. "It'd also be nice of you to refill the hot water bottle in there at night for them as well."

"Aye aye, Captain." Came his hushed reply, making him chuckle again as he walked back through the alley, leaving his navigator to try to smooth things over with the new, tiny responsibilities he'd just been tasked with.

He knew Bepo would enjoy his new side job, he liked animals nearly as much as Nayla did it seemed. Though with his height, size, claws and teeth, they didn't often return the sentiment, seeing as he looked like a frightening predator to them. It never did stop him from trying though.

Finding the small gesture of kindness the woman had left behind for them heart-warming and endearing, if not a little pointless and misguided in the larger scheme of things, he made his way inside, greeting the few crewmembers lingering in the lobby before heading upstairs.

He felt a little better, about her departure that was, but a light afternoon snooze still sounded appealing.

Stepping onto the first floor, he perked a brow at the small, uniformed woman near the end of the hall, seeming to be timidly attempting to knock on his door. Judging by the trolley beside her that held cleaning supplies and freshly laundered linens; the inn's housekeeper.

The inns they frequented didn't often bother with daily housekeeping, neither did this one. Aside from replenishing the fireplaces at least once a day in the guest rooms, all other chores and cleaning in this inn were done on a weekly basis. Five days was near enough he supposed.

Guessing by the older woman's slightly nervous demeanour, she knew exactly who the current occupant of the room she was unlocking was.

Smirking a little to himself, he approached her calmly as she grabbed a set of towels from atop her trolley and poked her head inside, scanning the room left to right for him before darting in.

Casually watching her plop his fresh towels onto his bed from the entrance, he leant against the open door. "Can I help you, miss?"

Though he'd made no attempt to move silently or hide his presence, the sound of his voice still made her jump out of her skin as she whipped her head back around to face him.

"H-Hou-Housekeeping, do yo-? Bedding? Towels?"

He chuckled as she gave up on full sentences and simply offered her services in the form of one word questions, indicating the bundle on his blanket. "Just leave the towels, a change of bedding won't be necessary."

"Y-Yes, sir."

He allowed her the courtesy of not inducing a heart attack by following her inside as she quickly ran into his bathroom to pick up his used ones, feeling significantly more cheerful in himself by the fact that he hadn't once made use of his own bed since they'd arrived.


	67. Birthday special

_~ A special that takes place a few weeks after the events of last chapter ~_

* * *

Wandering down the hallway, Nayla furrowed her brows in confusion as she heard the hushed, though still easily audible, whispers of the men she was looking for.

Even more puzzled to find the sound apparently coming from behind the closed door of the storage room up ahead and even more suspicious to hear the noise rapidly halt as she approached, she came to a stop outside the door, eyeing it expectantly.

Remaining still she rest her hands to her hips and watched as it was carefully and slowly pulled open just a crack, Penguin's eyes peering through it and rapidly settling on her. "Oh, it's just Nayla-chan." He sighed out quietly in obvious relief.

Hearing the exhales of what she assumed were held breaths, she looked past him as he opened the door all the way, her eyes widening as she saw how many of the crewmembers were held up in there; virtually everyone that wasn't currently seeing to a duty. That'd explain why she hadn't been able to find anyone around the ship or in the rec room.

"What the heck are you gu-?"

"Shh!" Shachi scolded, raising a finger to his lips as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside quickly, Penguin glancing up and down the hallway before pulling the door shut quietly.

Blinking in surprise at him before looking around at the other men crammed into what was usually a spacious storeroom; she pulled her wrist out of his grip gently. "Um, why are you all hiding in here together and being all secretive?…Is this some kind of weird sex thing?"

"What? No!" Ichirou quickly dismissed.

" _God_ no!" Dean added, sharing his horror as he looked around at his friends in unmasked disgust at the thought.

"…Could be, now that the lil lady's here." Jeff said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with his index finger as he looked her up and down in contemplation.

"Oi, knock it off!" Connor demanded angrily, elbowing him harshly.

"I wasn't serious, geez." He wheezed out, doubling over with a pained hiss.

"…Right well, all closet sausage fests and gangbangs aside, what are you guys _really_ doing in here?" She asked flatly, watching them as they exchanged unsure looks with one another before turning to Penguin as he finally spoke up.

"It's just weird and kinda mean to do it without saying anything to her."

"Yeah, I still think she should be in on this." Shachi agreed, looking at the others in the room for their approval.

"I don't." Kotta refuted from the furthest wall, arms crossed.

"Yeah yeah, we know what _you_ think already." Dean grumbled at him.

"Well, I don't either. She isn't a crewmember, it's really nothing to do with her." Ichirou chipped in. "No offence." He quietly added, looking her way.

"…None taken?" She said unsurely, shrugging in confusion.

"Ah come on, she's been here for ages already. She practically is." Jeff scoffed, standing straight, still rubbing his stomach tenderly.

"She isn't." Kotta said firmly.

"Well, _I_ think Captain'd probably appreciate it if she was involved, even if he may not say it. So does Jake." Dean said, levelling an annoyed look at the man as he mirrored his hostile body language and crossed his own arms.

"Why would he appreciate his _prisoner_ and or…" Kotta looked her up and down a moment. "'bit on the side,' involved?"

"Hey! What the fu-!"

Resting a hand to her shoulder to settle her as she took a step towards him with ill intent, Shachi pulled her back a little, clearing his throat. "It's all about making Captain happy, Kotta. Not you. And I think it _would_ make him happy if he knew she'd helped out."

"How would _you_ know what Captain wants?" The other redhead replied coolly, unwavering under the displeased stares he was on the receiving end of.

"How would _you_?"

"I-"

"Guys, guys." Nayla called their attention back, holding up her hands to placate whatever it was they were beginning to argue about. "Whatever it is, I really don't mind. Ichi and _Kuntta_ are absolutely right. I'm not crew, so if it's something I shouldn't know about then that's fine with me, really it is. I'll just leave you guys to it, was just wondering where everyone had disappeared to was all."

Ignoring the glare the medic gave her at the crude twist on his name, she reached for the door.

"It's Captain's birthday soon." Bepo spoke up quietly from his corner of the room, making her freeze and turn his way as he fiddled his paws together.

"…It is?" She asked in surprise, removing her hand from it as she looked around at the others for confirmation.

"Yes. I was told about it recently as well." Jean Bart affirmed in the silence.

"…Oooh, you're all planning something special for him?" She pieced together.

"Yeah, we get together this time of year when Captain's busy with something else to see what we can come up with." Penguin explained.

"Aww, that's so nice of you guys..."

"You wanna help us out, Nayla-chan?"

Sucking her lower lip, she scanned the other faces in the room unsurely, wondering what holy hell of a hard time she'd be given if she answered that question honestly. Though, to her surprise, she didn't see any teasing glances, taunting grins or sly elbows and shared looks between the pirates.

"…Yeah, I'd love to." She finally admitted.

"Great, it's in a couple of days. We're due to make landfall in a few hours so we're just trying to decide what to do for it, what we need to buy and who's gonna get what at the moment." Shachi filled her in with a smile.

"Ok, so what were you discussing before I got here?" She asked.

"Whether to take him out for it or keep it on the sub." Jeff answered.

"See, I think Cap'd prefer to stay aboard. Just us, ya know? He's not exactly that big a fan of busy places." Connor reiterated his point from before her arrival.

"Yeah but we should really decide that once we see what the town has to offer. Could be a real nice place that he'd enjoy and it may not be busy at all, considering his birthday's falling on a weekday this year." Dean reasoned.

Tuning in keenly as their conversation resumed, Nayla felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder.

"I'm sure it _will_ make Captain happy, he'll appreciate it." Penguin said quietly, smiling down at her.

Unsure of what to say she simply returned it, finding herself inwardly hoping that he was right.

* * *

"Geez, _whose_ stupid idea was this again?" Kotta grumbled, looking up at Nayla from the sofa opposite hers pointedly.

"If it's all too much for you then feel free to have a dainty little faint on that couch. I'll even bring you a cold compress for your forehead until you've recovered." Nayla cooed mockingly, pulling open the cardboard of another box of confetti.

Tutting at her, he tossed his empty one into the open trash bag on the floor between them. "It's just damn tedious. We should have just ordered the custom boxes." He sighed, sitting back and rubbing a hand over his face.

"Yeah but they said they couldn't guarantee it by the day. We're better off doing it this way and being sure we have some instead of finding out right before we need it that the order didn't arrive in time." She reasoned, sprinkling half the box's contents onto the small coffee table they'd set between them to work on. "Just be thankful I was genius enough to ask if they had any early Halloween stock and that they had plenty of black."

"Still got to remove all the orange though." He mumbled, watching her slide the said colour confetti out of the pile in front of her with her fingertips and to the edge of the wooden surface.

"Well it's all for _your_ captain at the end of the day, so if you really don't want to help then don't." She said nonchalantly, not missing the slight twinge of guilt on his face. "I thought so. So stop with the whining already, geez…More of a woman than I am."

"Not difficult." He shot back.

"What?"

"You, you're a tomboy." He clarified, leaning forward again to pick up another of his own boxes from the edge of the surface.

"Me? A tomboy?" She asked in genuine surprise, watching as he spilled the multicoloured paper sprinkles onto his side of the table.

" _You_ don't think so?"

"No, of course not. I wear skirts and heels, I paint my nails, I like wearing makeup, doing my hair, pretty jewellery and cute, fluffy things. I never enjoyed playing outside or sports or anything like that as a kid either, always played with dolls inside. I've never been called a tomboy in my life, why on Earth would you think I am one?"

"The things you say and the way you think. You're rarely girly. You behave more like a typical guy if anything, dirtier probably." He scoffed, plucking out another round of yellows from the confetti in front of him.

"Well, I-...Name one thing I've done that was tomboy-ish." She challenged, unable to deny her humour was _maybe_ a little more leant towards the male end of the spectrum.

"Heard you slammed a bottle over a woman's face in a bar brawl some time back." He answered without hesitation, a small, winning smirk not unlike his captain's on his lips as he glanced back up at her to watch her reaction.

"Oh…" Unfolding her defiant arms at that, she wondered if maybe he had a point. "…It wasn't her face, it was the top of her head…and it was hardly a 'brawl,' more like a little spat." She mumbled, hoping to downplay whatever it was he may have heard about it.

"Then that's much better." He said dryly, ignoring the glare she gave him as she grumpily resumed her task.

…

"How is your reading coming along?"

"Um, pretty good I guess. It's kinda hard to visualise the full examination techniques from just a bunch of instructional pictures though."

"Yeah it would be, it's much easier to pick up the techniques by watching and doing them for yourself. I'll demonstrate them for you, maybe some time next week, but for now just focus on what the _aim_ of the examination is. What should be normal, what abnormalities you may pick up and what diseases you should keep in the back of your mind as their cause. It shouldn't take you long."

"Yes, Kotta-Sensei." She smiled as he stopped what he was doing and looked back up at her exasperatedly.

"I told you not to call me that. If it weren't for Captain insisting on it, I wouldn't even bother wasting my time teaching an airhead like you." He huffed.

"An 'airhead' like me, yet you're so sure it 'shouldn't take me long' to learn what I need to?" She sang slyly, enjoying the annoyed look he gave her as he tossed his handful of yellow confetti into the bag they were collecting the Heart Pirates' colours into.

"Being academically smart doesn't necessarily make you a smart person." He backtracked.

"I'll be sure to tell Law you think that but at this rate, I'll have enough knowledge under my belt to ask him to start teaching me some basic surgical techniques."

"Dreaming." He scoffed dismissively, pulling the rim of the trash bag back up to the edge of the table before brushing the incorrectly coloured pieces inside.

"I have an operation in mind that I'd like to get skilled enough in to help people like you. So that you no longer need to suffer."

"Me?" He asked, looking up at her in surprise and halting tipping some more confetti out of his box.

"Yeah, Kotta-Syndrome must be a cripplingly miserable disease. It must be so painful living your whole life with that stick up your ass." Trying to keep a straight face at his offended expression, she brushed the orange paper aside and into the trash. "Don't worry though, as soon as I've perfected my 'Ass-Stickectomy' technique, you'll be my first priority."

"…Has anyone ever told you that you're an idiot?" He deadpanned.

"Maybe." She laughed.

Hearing the door to the room opening, they turned towards it, relaxing as they saw it was just Penguin and Shachi.

"See? Told ya they'd be in the quiet lounge." The former gloated mildly, holding the door open as his friend followed him inside.

"You're in the beast's lair, Nayla-chan? Brave of ya." Shachi said looking at Kotta in astonishment as he made his way toward them.

"The quiet lounge is pretty nice actually and we figured it'd be unlikely Law would have any reason to come down here if he re-boarded." She shrugged. "He still outside?"

"Yeah, it's just us that came back. Captain's having a wander around the town with Bepo at the moment." Penguin answered, closing the door behind him before trailing in after Shachi.

"Bumped into him not too long ago though, asked about ya." Shachi nudged as he came to a stop beside her couch, waggling his eyebrows as she sighed and looked up at him.

"He was wondering who you were tagging along with this morning. Told him you were hanging back here to help Jake with something - in case he asks. He'd never have bought it if I told him you were with Kotta." Penguin explained as he chuckled.

"How's it coming along anyway, you guys need a hand?" Shachi asked, looking between the bulging trash bag and the significantly smaller one filling gradually with black and yellow confetti.

"Slow but steady, I guess."

" _Really_ slow." Kotta added, handing a box up to Penguin in prompt.

Setting down his bags, he took it, sitting next to the man as he shuffled over and made room for him.

"How did things go on your end?" Nayla asked, looking at their bags as she pat the seat beside her in invitation for Shachi, holding up a box for him as well as he set his own down.

"Great, the guy had everything printed in half an hour flat." Penguin grinned.

"Ridiculous, they can print out dozens of cups, plates and balloons in half an hour but can't stock black and yellow confetti?" Kotta griped, shifting the pieces of paper around with his index finger to fish out any left behind yellows.

"Well they're geared up for custom party stuff like _that_ but ya gotta admit, it's probably not often they get orders for custom confetti, especially not in these colours." Penguin shrugged.

"Just be thankful we found a party shop that good at all." Shachi added.

"Still, it's gonna take hours to finish emptying these boxes." Kotta pointed out, looking at the mountain of bags of them that Nayla had brought back with her earlier.

"Yeah probably." Penguin chuckled, brushing aside his sorted yellows.

"Captain'll probably get more of a laugh out of how long this took us than out of the actual confetti." The medic sighed.

"Either way, if it makes him laugh then it'll all be worthwhile." Nayla reasoned, scooping her sorted blacks along with Penguin's yellows into their collection bag and lifting her head at the silence in the room to find all three of them looking at her oddly. "…Right?"

"…Right. Couldn't have said it better myself." Shachi said warmly as he smiled at her.

* * *

"How's that?"

"Think ya need a dab more, Nayla-chan." Penguin replied, watching Jake come to a stop behind her and peer over her shoulder at the bowl.

"Yup, lil more oughta do it hun."

"If I add too much, does it ruin it all?" She asked unsurely, unscrewing the small milk cartoon beside her.

Laughing, the jolly chef went back to his own task on the work surface behind her. "How many times ya gonna ask that? Quit being paranoid you're gonna ruin it. If it gets too watery just add more sugar is all, don't worry so much."

"I worry…could burn cereal." She mumbled, pouring a small dollop in.

"Come on, can't be that bad, lil lady." Jeff laughed.

"Yeah, even _he_ can cook a little." Connor added, gesturing to his friend sat beside him.

"Oh, it's bad. And _he's_ not a reassuring comparison, considering he's been hunting and eating defenceless little animals since he was kid."

"Guy's gotta eat." Jeff shrugged off the look she levelled him. "Could roast ya a mean rabbit though. Get the seasoning right, do it slow on an open flame and that sucker will just melt in your mouth."

"Aww, not bunnies! They're so cute, how could you kill a bunny?" She said aghast at the idea, pausing her stirring.

"Pretty easy actually, could get those fast little bastards between the eyes by the time I was ten." He winked, motioning a gun with his extended index finger.

"…Savage." She huffed, reassessing the mixture as she lifted her spoon.

"New one, ladies usually call me a beast."

Scoffing at his wolfish grin, she turned to Dean as he came up behind her, drying his hands on a towel. "Lookin' good, looks done actually. How's it taste?"

" _Super_ creamy, really nice. No idea how you did that but it tastes amazing." She smiled at him as he picked up a nearby spoon from the draining board and took a small amount of mixture.

"That'll be the secret smidgen of cream cheese and extra butter." He chuckled, having a taste and assessing the flavour and texture for himself. "Yep, nice job. You can do me another favour and pour it into a pastry bag now."

"A what?"

"A piping bag, ya know, those things that let ya squeeze out the icing slowly. I'll go grab ya one." He explained, tossing the spoon into the sink, as he made his way over to one of the cupboards on the side of the room.

"You started learning anything offa Jake yet, sweetie?" Connor asked, resting his forearms to the railing that ran along the length of the outer side of the canteen window, watching her start to scoop the mixture to one side of the bowl in preparation.

"Well, we've had a couple of lessons…"

"And what did ya learn to make?" Penguin asked curiously, watching as Dean brought the bag over with a poorly hidden grin of amusement at the conversation.

"…Didn't really succeed at it yet, just tried it." She admitted, watching as the chef thread through the right sized steel tip and secured it to the end of the triangular-shaped bag he held.

"Fill it up halfway please, Nayla."

"Sure."

"Well, what did you try then?" Penguin pressed, exchanging a curious look with Shachi, as Dean pursed his lips together tightly in an attempt not to laugh.

Clearing her throat as he handed the pastry bag to her she avoided their inquisitive gazes, responding lowly.

"A what, lil lady?" Jeff asked, leaning forward with furrowed brows in an attempt to hear her better.

"Speak up, Nayla-chan."

"…An omelette." Sighing at the loud laughter that followed the moment of stunned silence, she carefully scooped some of the icing into the bag.

"You can't even make an omelette, sweetie?" Connor managed out.

"It's not funny." She grouched, holding the large wooden spoon she held up at him threateningly as they carried on laughing at her. "…Can I help you with something?" She asked Dean who was still stood beside her, one hand on the work surface the other on his hip, grinning at her from ear to ear.

His smile only widening at her irritation, he chuckled and held his hands up in surrender as he made his way further back into the galley to where he was working.

"Geez, that _is_ bad. How can you not make something as simple as an omelette?" Shachi snickered.

"Oh, she's a talented one." Jake chimed in from behind her, chuckling as she turned to give him a sour pout. "Don't ya worry about it, I guarantee you'll have a few basic meals under your belt before you leave this sub, hun. Not gonna let ya wander off without knowing you can at least make yourself a meal if you need to."

Smiling at the warm-hearted grin he gave her, she felt a little better about being laughed at as she turned back to her task, scooping in some more of the white icing into the bag for Dean to use later.

"I don't even get what you were eating before you left home, how were you living if you can't cook?" Connor asked, settling down and wiping the tears of laughter out of his eyes.

"Easy. Cereal, toast, ramen noodles – the instant kind you buy in a cup and just pour boiled water into, um those powdered soups and tinned fruit and veg. None of those need any skill in the kitchen." She shrugged.

"Geez, no wonder you're so tiny." He huffed in response, looking over her small frame pointedly, earning a half-hearted frown from her.

"Don't get it though, never met a woman who can't cook _and_ hates kids so much." Jeff commented thoughtfully.

"What?" Shachi asked in surprise.

"You hate kids, Nayla-chan?"

Ignoring their questioning, she stopped what she was doing to look at Jeff coolly. "What are you trying to say, exactly? Do you think it's my _role_ to be good at cooking and want to plop out a half dozen kids because I'm a woman?"

Noting the slightly thin ice he'd inadvertently started treading on from her tone, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, holding his other hand up in placation. "No, no, no. Of course not. It's just…unusual is all."

Clearing his throat, Connor sat up straight with a hand to his chest. "Women are great for three things, when they're good at them. Cooking, cleaning and fucking – and I'm only interested in one of those." He said in his disturbingly accurate impersonation of Jeff's voice.

Listening to the men in the galley behind her stop what they were doing, she could feel them directing a glower Jeff's way at the same level of disdain as the men sat on either side of him.

"…Really, Jeff?" She deadpanned at him as he smiled apologetically at her.

"Well…four things if you add in that _amazing_ , forgiving motherly instinct thing you guys have too?"

"Nice try, pig." She muttered, scooping another spoonful of icing into the bag and holding it up to assess if it were half full yet.

"…Would it help if I said that the one thing I am interested in _wasn't_ fucking?"

"Do you think she'd believe you?" Connor scoffed.

"No one asked you." He hissed at him, swiping the bill of his hat down with a slap.

"Oh well, least I score two outta three. Not too bad." Nayla interjected, halting their play fight and freezing the other men sat on either side of them as she set the spoon back into the bowl.

"Well, you're great at cleaning…and…cooking?" Shachi asked uncertainly.

Leaning towards him through the cafeteria window over the thick, clear, acrylic shelving that usually housed the ready food, she smiled slyly at him. "We both know it isn't cooking, Shachi." She purred, knowing he was struggling _not_ to look at her chest pressed against the clear surface between them and enjoying the rapid blush that spread to his cheeks as she stroked the underside of chin gently.

"Nayla-ya."

Sighing as her fun came to an abrupt end, she turned to look at Law at the messdeck's doorway. He often slipped into his '-ya' suffix around the others, though she wasn't sure if it were in the same manner of a parent using a child's full name when displeased with them or if it were to downplay the intimacy of their relationship around the crew.

"Yes, 'Captain?'" She answered playfully, smiling as Law walked into the room with a look of pure exasperation on his face.

"What have I told you about teasing my men?"

"Oh right, sorry. Must have forgot." She said nonchalantly, releasing the poor man as she leant back into the galley.

"Again?" He said disbelievingly, making his way over to them.

"Again." She smiled as his steel gaze shot to hers in warning as he neared his crewmembers. "Happens. Just ask Kotta, he'll tell you how much of an 'airhead' I am."

"I do and actually, he speaks very highly of your intelligence. Though apparently not to you."

Humming in surprise of that she lifted the pastry bag up and twirled the empty upper half of it, carefully squeezing down any stray icing towards the tip.

"What are you doing?"

"Dean's teaching me some basic desert stuff." She lied easily, it was partially true anyway.

"…And what are _you_ all doing in here?" Law asked, eyeing the four barstools from the rec room his men had brought in to sit by the window with an arched brow as he shoved his free hands into his pockets.

"Watching the marvel master chef at work." Penguin answered with a grin, ignoring Nayla's mild glare at his dig.

"What are you after, Captain? Your usual coffee?" Dean asked with a smile, approaching the window.

"Yeah."

"Coming right up." The chef happily offered, heading towards the coffee machine at the side.

"…Master chef? I thought you couldn't cook." Law asked, peering over the clear barrier between them with an inquisitively raised brow at the bowl in front of her.

"Apparently she can't even make an omelette." Connor didn't hesitate to inform him, grinning widely at the look of shock on his captain's face as he turned to him.

"…Really?"

"Oh come on, lay off already! Like I believe any of _you_ can cook worth a damn." She grouched in annoyance as Law looked at her in surprise.

"Actually I'm not too bad in the kitchen. Shach is alright, Captain's pretty good too." Penguin said patting Law's back gently in indication.

"Really? _You_ can cook, Law?" She asked in equal surprise.

"I at least know the basics, Nayla-ya…Like how to make an omelette."

Sighing at his amused smirk, she looked at the bag in her hands, wondering if she'd somehow managed to do something incorrectly.

As if reading her thought, Jeff piped up, leaning forward to look at it as well. "Ah, you just need to check the tip isn't clogged so that Dean can get the icing out alright."

"Oh, really?" Noticing her naïve error the second she lifted the nozzle to her face, she realised it was too late as Jeff immediately reached over and gave the bag a hard squeeze, the icing squirting out all over her as she spluttered.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

Taking a step back out of her reach as she took a blind swing at him through the window, he laughed loudly with the others as she growled and wiped the excess icing from around her eyes to glare at him, avoiding Law's highly amused gaze as she heard him chuckle.

"You better not have gotten any in my hair, dammit!" She growled, hoping her ponytail had saved it from the assault.

"Oi! What have I told you about wasting food!" Jake yelled at him angrily over the noise, grabbing a nearby towel as he made his way over.

"Ah come on, it's just a little icing." He laughed, watching as she peeled away the thick layer on her cheek with her fingers. "Sorry, lil lady. Couldn't resist, you're just so cutely gullible sometimes. Gotta milk it for what it's worth whilst I can, before you get too wise to us." He said, grabbing the towel from Jake and reaching over with an apologetic grin to dab the white frosting from her chin and jaw.

Sighing at him, Jake took the bag from her and set it onto a work surface a safe distance from him before getting back to his own task.

"Know this, my revenge won't be swift and _will_ be painful." She promised, holding still for him and keeping her messy hand up so as not to dirty anything else.

"You're about as threatening as a one-winged baby bird that fell out of its nest, but if you feel like punishing me, I'm all for it, lil lady." He said with a wink, turning the messy fabric over to a clean side before going to wipe the icing that had landed on her upper chest.

"Give me that." She muttered, snatching the cloth from him before he could. "Jackass." She added as he gave her a dirty grin, pushing his face back through the window purposely with her messy hand.

Chuckling he wiped off the icing she'd gotten on his face, licking some off of his fingers, his brows rising as he tasted it. "God damn, this _is_ good…Here, try some."

"Not on your life!" Connor said in disgust as Jeff held out his finger for him.

"Your loss." He shrugged, popping it into his own mouth.

"…What are _you_ smirking at?" Nayla challenged, wiping her cheek clean as Law looked at her with laughter written all over his face.

"You should have seen that coming from a mile away, Nayla-ya."

"Well if _you_ did, why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Obvious questions have obvious answers." He chuckled, looking at the mess on her face in open entertainment.

"Bunch of jerks." She seethed, blindly trying to wipe her neck clean.

"Damn, that's nice." Jeff said, licking his lips clean and eyeing up the bowl on her side of the window.

"Yeah, it's really nice. Best I've ever tasted I think." Nayla agreed, sucking the excess off of her own finger with a delighted hum. "Tempted to eat the bowl of it myself to be honest." She mumbled around her next as she pushed it aside and out of his reach, anticipating another misbehaviour from him if she didn't.

Noticing the sudden quietness amongst the men, she looked up at them from contemplating the alluring bowl of pure, sugary, calorific goodness and deadpanned at their collective stare and the blushes on Penguin and Shachi's faces as she withdrew her finger from her mouth. Realising the splatter of white, creamy substance on her plus her innocent action of tasting it could be…'misconstrued,' she could only imagine where _their_ particularly dirty minds had gone to.

Waiting patiently for a moment to see if anyone would say anything, she wiped the icing that had nearly made it into her cleavage off slowly, watching their gazes follow her finger as she slid it between her lips with a lewd hum as she savoured the taste.

"Nayla, what did I _just_ say?!"

"Noff to teasph your men?" She asked Law innocently, sliding it back out of her mouth. " _I'm_ just tasting the icing, I have no idea what your guys are thinking about and it's really not my fault if your crew is full of dirty perverts. Maybe you should recruit better." She shrugged, answered his displeased glare.

"…Don't you have work to do?" He asked, sliding his gaze over to his silent men.

Belatedly realising the question was being directed at them when Nayla turned to look at them as well, Penguin was the first to speak up, snapping to attention and stuttering a little under Law's piercing gaze. "U-Uh, well. No, we're all off-duty at the moment, Captain."

"Find some."

"A-Aye aye, Captain!" They chorused, hurriedly getting up from their seats and taking the stools with them as they heard the irritation in his voice.

Watching as they shuffled past him quickly, Law sighed under his breath as Shachi tried to subtly rub his nose with a muted sniff as they left the room and turned back to face the cause.

Meeting his gaze steadily, she smiled brightly at him as she wiped her hands on the towel she'd been given, saying nothing as Dean chuckled and set his captain's coffee down atop the food-housing between them.

"Outta coffee beans up here, Jake. Gonna go grab some more from storage." The man called back to the head chef, choosing to ignore the unimpressed deadpan Law was meeting Nayla's practical glee with.

"Sure thing." Jake waved off, as Dean pushed through the galley's double doors and made his way into the messdeck, tipping his cap politely as he passed by his captain on his way out of the room.

Giggling quietly under her breath at the expression on Law's face as he leant his forearms onto the clear plastic surface between them, they shared a peculiar silence, a _very_ reluctant smile starting to pull at the corners of his mouth as she wiped a little more of the icing from her face with her finger.

"…I honestly don't know what to do with you sometimes." He muttered quietly, watching her taste it happily.

"If you've run out of ideas of what to do with me, I have a few for you." She offered suggestively, matching his low tone out of ear shot of the man further back in the galley behind her.

Smirking at the playful flirtation, his gaze dipped to her neck as she wiped away some more of the sweet, white sugary mess from her skin.

"Want some? It's pretty tasty." She asked slyly, catching his lustful gaze.

Ignoring the coated finger she offered, he looked over her shoulder briefly before gripping her wrist, pulling her closer and stealing a kiss, tasting the icing still at the corner of her mouth.

"Law!" She hissed quietly, pulling away from him in shock and whipping her head around to see if Jake had seen that, thankful to find the man's back still turned to them as he worked.

Chuckling at her annoyed glare, Law licked his lips, enjoying the taste. "Did you see anything of interest, Jake?"

"Not a thing, Captain." The man called back, kneading the dough on the surface in front of him with a big smile.

Feeling her embarrassment starting to burn her cheeks at the chef's subtle reassurance that he wouldn't say anything, Nayla sighed at the satisfied, victorious little smirk Law wore as he looked back at her.

"Go clean up properly and try _not_ causing trouble for a change." He said, leaning forward and planting a chaste kiss to her pouting lips.

"Never." She promised.

Finding himself chuckling as he straightened up, he turned and made his way out of the room, hoping the icing on his cake would taste nearly as good on it as it did on her.

* * *

"…So, you're the distraction they've given me this year, are you?"

Tilting her head up to look at the tall captain gliding down the street alongside her, Nayla made a mild, mocking attempt to feign ignorance at his question. "Whatever do you mean, Law?"

Side-glancing at her when he heard her sugary tone, he cracked a smile at her highly entertained expression. "You know what I mean. What are they doing this year that they sent you to try to get me off the sub?"

"Hmm, you say it like this is routine for you." She evaded the question, glancing down the road as more streetlights fluttered and hummed into existence.

"They do usually try to 'subtly' keep me preoccupied." He sighed, eyeing the row of eateries and bars lining the opposite sidewalk as he caught the varied aromas of hot meals and liquors on the warm breeze that blew past.

Following his gaze to a large restaurant as the entrance opened, they watched as the employees chatted animatedly with one another, pushing and securing the doors open with the hooks on the outer walls, anticipating their evening customers.

The crew had told her how much he disliked making a big deal of his birthday, that he always tried to downplay and minimise any celebration of it, even though they wanted to do near enough the opposite.

"It was nice of you to play along and come with me…You're a good captain, for humouring them."

Brows rising at her soft tone and kind words, Law looked back at her, finding her smiling up at him sincerely. "Seeing as they roped you into their antics this year, I could say the same for you too." He replied, deflecting the conversation in the hopes of making the unfamiliar, warm, fuzzy sensation in his chest subside quickly.

"Well, they didn't exactly rope me in. I volunteered."

Feeling it come back tenfold at her open admission, he found himself at a temporary loss for words as he glanced away, shoving his free hand into his pocket."…So where exactly are we going?"

Laughing quietly at his slight awkwardness, she bravely looped her arm through his, feeling him tense a little at the action. "I figured we could grab a bite to eat. You hungry? Jake pointed out a place around here you might like, said he hasn't had seafood that good in a long time."

"Seafood? You don't like seafood."

"Well it's not about what _I_ like, it's about what _you_ like. Oh, that's the place over there."

Following the direction of her pointed finger as they stopped, he spotted the large, expensive-looking establishment at the end of the street. This portside town, although small, was affluent. That had been obvious by the standards of the well maintained streets, the nature of the decorative buildings of the area and the friendly, relaxed, welcoming demeanour of the local, relatively classy, townsfolk that had been all too happy to usher in more foreign trade from travellers of The Grand Line…but this restaurant was still clearly a calibre above the rest….He was a little hungry, he supposed…

Feeling him relax, apparently forgetting her close contact for the moment, she watched him eye the empty outside tables of the restaurant in thought.

"Jake already asked when their less busy hours were, seeing as you aren't that fond of crowds. Early evening on a weekday, it's quiet." She reassured, laughing a little as he looked down at her in mild surprise.

Finding her guess and his head chef's prediction of what he was thinking equally impressive, he huffed in amusement of them both, a small smile finding its way onto his face as he contemplated the idea.

"My treat." She sang temptingly, trying to give him that extra little nudge he needed to convince him.

"Your treat, is it?" He smirked, her comically exaggerated eyelash fluttering as she looked up at him imploringly making him want to laugh.

"Of course. Not gonna make the birthday boy pay for his own meal now, am I?"

"It's not my birthday until tomorrow." He corrected.

"It's not your birthday until _midnight_ and that's only five hours away." She corrected back.

Rolling his eyes a little at what she clearly _thought_ was some kind of victorious statement of the obvious by her grin, he allowed her to tug him back into motion as they began walking again.

"…Alright." He sighed in faux defeat. Honestly, a decent meal out would be a welcome and rare treat to the usual, mediocre tavern meals that usually sustained him during time ashore. They always paled in comparison to what he was served on his own sub and he didn't often take the time to seek out the restaurants his chefs sampled and raved about. "But considering it's a seafood restaurant, let's try somewhere else." He suggested, turning his gaze from the proudly lit, elegant sign that read 'Blue Bayou' to its neighbouring options.

"Nah, let's go where Jake suggested, he said it was really pretty inside too."

"Then what are _you_ going to eat?" Law asked as they crossed the street towards the building, ignoring the 'pretty' part of her sentence.

"He said there were a few things on the menu here that I'd like too." Looking at Law as he halted at the low, open gating of the restaurant's outside eating area to look at her sceptically, she laughed at his disbelieving expression. "He _did_. Like fishcakes. They're far enough removed from tasting like and resembling real fish that I actually don't mind them at all…Though it's awfully sweet of you to be so concerned about _me_ , Law. I didn't know you felt that way." She purred up at him, resting her face to his arm as she curled her own around it more tightly.

"…Be quiet." He grouched, ignoring her falsely doting expression _and_ the little giggle that left her as they walked through the gate.

Inwardly pleased that he made no move to remove his arm from her, Nayla looked around at the empty tables on the patio on either side of them as they tread the thick, welcoming strip of carpet towards the main entrance.

Jake hadn't been kidding when he'd told her the place was upscale. Beautiful, cast iron tables with intricately carved, wooden tops and matching chairs were lined up neatly outside. Soft seating areas intended for customers that visited for light meals and drinks dotted between these and the bright floor lamps and large, lush potted plants filled the remainder of the open floor space beneath the warm, bright white canopy. If it looked this nice and inviting on the outside, she was honestly excited to see the inside.

"Ah, good eve-evening. Table for two?" The host at the large, wooden pedestal offered politely, looking up from the reservations book he had been jotting in with a bright smile on his face as they came to a stop on the carpet path in front of it.

Genuinely impressed by the man's quick recovery after double-taking Law (and the intimidatingly sized weapon resting casually on his shoulder) Nayla suddenly realised the strange…intimacy? Of being offered a table for two.

"Yeah."

Furrowing her brows in thought as she heard Law's blasé tone, she guessed the thought hadn't crossed his mind in the slightest. It made her wonder why it had crossed her own at all.

"Then right this way, please." Bowing graciously, the smartly dressed man gestured towards the open door.

Feeling a bit of her confidence wane, she walked alongside Law towards the entrance's welcoming, almost strangely ethereal, blue-ish glow, a waitress ready to greet and seat them standing at it with menus in hand and an equally professional smile in place despite the imposing, possibly recognised, visitor headed her way.

Why did this suddenly feel a little strange to her? Nayla hadn't so much as given going out to eat with Law a second thought. They'd eaten meals together countless times already…Maybe it felt a little different because they'd be alone this time?...Though she'd often brought up a small snack with his coffee the occasions she'd gone to fetch herself a hot drink from the galley in the evenings and they'd eaten together quietly in his quarters…Though they'd been sitting in separate places so it didn't really feel like they were eating together, necessarily…

Just as she was beginning to wonder when she'd regressed from a confident, adult woman back into a clueless preteen that nitpicked over every little thing that occurred between her and her crush at school, her thoughts halted altogether as they entered the restaurant, stunned still by the unbelievable sight.

A long, arched hallway met them, the walls and ceiling made entirely of glass, housing softly illuminated water, filled with colourful, exotic-looking fish.

"Wow…" She breathed, listening to the gentle sounds of bubbling water, heavily muted through the thick glass surrounding them as she watched schools of fish shimmy past them within the walls.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The waitress chirped proudly, enjoying her awe.

"It's gorgeous…The glass can take the weight of all that water right? It's not gonna collapse on our heads or anything, is it?" Nayla answered warily, looking upwards at the ceiling as some larger fish flew overhead of them.

"You'd be surprised how often we get asked that." The woman laughed cheerfully. "Rest assured, it's all brilliantly sturdy. Please, right this way."

Bowing politely as she held her menus flat to herself, the waitress turned and made her way down the hall so specifically designed to impress and greet the customers slowly, allowing them time to soak in the sight as they followed after her.

Admiring the touch of adding sand and coral reefs to the floor within the surrounding aquarium, Nayla wondered if the colourful reefs were real – somehow selected, harvested and plucked from the ocean to be placed here or if they were remarkably crafted and beautifully painted replicas before realising the man beside her hadn't said anything at all since entering.

Turning her head to look at him, she found him to be admiring the wall on his side silently as well, the dozens of fish swimming overhead and around them causing ripples in the illumination coming from their lit tanks to dance over his features in the most breathtaking way.

Feeling her eyes on him, he turned towards her as well, his steel gaze momentarily knocking the rest of the breath from her lungs as it locked with her own before she managed a smile, trying to ignore the way his unbelievable handsomeness could sometimes creep up on her and catch her off guard.

"You're quiet…being surrounded by this much water making you feel uneasy, Devil Fruit user?" She half-seriously asked, out of earshot of the woman ahead of them.

"If it did, I'd hardly choose a submarine as my method of transportation." He smirked at her, more humoured by her attempt to distract from how he'd just caught her looking at him than by her mild tease.

"Alright, here we are." The waitress announced brightly as they entered the spacious main dining area.

Simple, clean, airy tables draped in pure white linens lined the room neatly, the plain colours allowing the reflective, blue hue of the surrounding tanks to paint them and the flowing ripples and the dancing shadows of the fish that swam overhead to cast moving light over their surfaces. It gave off the most surreal and dreamlike sensation of being underwater.

A bar boasting more of the restaurant's clear decorative claim to fame took up the back wall. Glass, fluid-filled shelves that homed petite fish housed its rows of drink ware and bottles. The transparent shelving almost made it seem as though the small fish were floating around the liquors themselves.

"Please follow me to your seats in our 'Cove,' it offers a little more privacy." She winked at Law, causing him to arch a brow as they trailed after her into the small alcove off to the side of the main dining room.

Unlike the remainder of the restaurant, this area held smaller tables that were nearly entirely enclosed within curved, white booths.

Resting a menu on either end of the furthest, most tucked away table, the waitress then stood aside with a welcoming gesture to invite them to it. "Please have a seat, I'll be back in a moment to offer drinks and take your orders." She said brightly, walking past them back the way they came and leaving them to it.

"What is it, Nayla?" Law asked her quietly, noticing the look of slight confusion on her face and following her line of sight as she watched the waitress disappear beyond the clear walls of glass and fish.

"…Just trying to work out if she gave us this tucked away table because of your infamy or because she thinks we're a couple, for some reason…"

"However could she have gotten that impression, I wonder." He said dryly as he looked at the arm she still held in gentle hostage pointedly.

"Oh…"

Chuckling at her sheepish expression as she released him, he rest his weapon into the booth as she took her seat, sliding into his own and placing his elbows to the table as he folded his forearms onto it.

Although she were masking it relatively well as she looked around the empty restaurant in interest, he could sense a small, unfamiliar bashfulness coming from her, despite being her usual, confident self right up until arriving.

It was ridiculous, considering they'd been through a lot together in the months they'd known one another and had been living in close quarters this whole time – literally. Even more ridiculous when considering they'd already been sleeping together for a few weeks now.

It was strange seeing her this way, quiet and shy all of a sudden now that they were alone…She almost seemed like a normal young woman.

"Why are you giving me that annoying, smug, little smirk?"

Almost.

"You were the one that asked _me_ here, Nayla. Are you having second thoughts?" He leaned in closely, chuckling at her defensive tone and _her_ social discomfort for a change.

"N-No, not at all." She mumbled, leaning back a little as his face approached hers.

"Then what are you so worried about?"

"Well…I didn't mean for this to seem so…date-like. It wasn't my intention – I didn't even know the place would be this…ya know, posh, formal…" 'Romantic,' she said in her own mind, not daring to say the word aloud.

Humming at her admission of what was bothering her as she avoided his gaze, he sat back more comfortably. He found that she was always doing this in one way or another; trying to ensure she didn't overstep her boundaries with him. To be honest, inviting him out and having a meal, just the two of them, was not something he'd taken the meaning of too seriously and it obviously hadn't been anything _she_ had taken too seriously either until just a moment ago.

She always seemed worried he'd take her actions to mean more than they did, probably scared he'd think her becoming too emotionally invested in him and that he'd break off their arrangement.

It was as annoying that she'd think he may be so naïve and sensitive as to take things that way as it was endearing that she enjoyed his company to the extent that she wanted to be sure he was comfortable enough to continue things with her. They were still feeling out each other's comfort zones and limits…but they would eventually find what worked for them as they went along.

"…For future reference, I don't mind spending time with you like this, Nayla."

Watching the tension in her body language melt away along with her mild anxiety, he returned the small smile she gave him as she relaxed before glancing over her shoulder at the returning waitress, clasping two smaller drinks menus in her hands as she approached.

"What would you like to drink? Our bar also offers a wide variety of freshly made in-house cocktails and wines that have been expertly selected to match each dish we serve perfectly, if you'd like?"

Chuckling at the practical perk of Nayla's ears at the word 'cocktail' he waved off the drinks menu the woman offered politely. "I'll have whichever wine is best suited for my order…She'll have the sweetest, cocktail you have on offer." He correctly predicted, matching her amused smile as he opened the neglected food menu still resting on the surface of the table.

"Very good, sir. Then I'll be back when you're ready to order." She chirped, graciously bowing before taking her leave.

"…'Sir,' hardly." Nayla scoffed, eyeing the tattooed knuckles on the beige, beautifully embossed leather menu cover he held as soon as the woman was out of ear shot.

Laughing as he looked up at her from the selections on the page in front of him with a glint of playful warning in his eyes, she opened her own menu, silently thankful to him for putting her at ease and looking forward to the rest of the night.

…

As Jake had predicted, his captain did pick a grilled fish meal in the end, which he seemed to be enjoying. Inwardly happy about that, Nayla glanced over her shoulder at the restaurant, noting that a couple of far off tables were now seating a few people but that it was still near enough empty.

It wouldn't be for long though. The chef had told her this was one of the most popular places to eat in town, even on a weekday evening and from the tasty food and incredible ambience inside, she could see why.

Although it was undoubtedly pitch black outside now as evening drew on, it felt like daylight inside. Between the bright, wooden floorboards that deliberately resembled that of a ship's deck, the white furnishings, the vivid, blue-tinted illumination that came in through the surrounding aquarium, the tropical colours of the marine life that swam around them and the scent of saltwater and cooked fish, the environment reminded her of a calm, soothing, sunny day on the beach.

Sipping the straw of her fruity cocktail with a serene sigh, she watched Law finish his meal with a quiet, satisfied hum as he rest his cutlery down to his plate.

"As nice as Jake said it would be?" She asked as he picked up his glass.

"Better." He smiled, sipping his drink.

"Good…Though, I never would have taken you for a wine drinker. Would you like another or something stronger?" She asked, watching the pale gold fluid meet his lips.

"It seemed wise to have something lighter for now…seeing as I'm certain there will be a great deal of much harder liquor miraculously appearing on my ship before our return." He added slyly.

"They literally bought barrels full." She confirmed his suspicion without hesitation, earning a chuckle from him.

"Do _you_ want another?" He offered, gesturing to her own dwindling glass as he saw their waitress beginning to approach.

"Hmm nah, I'll save the rest of my tolerance for later." She hinted, smiling up at the woman as she came to a stop beside their table.

"How was everything?" The bubbly blonde enquired, glancing at the two near-empty plates on the table as she clasped her hands happily.

"Nice, thank you." Nayla replied, leaning back slightly to allow the woman to pick up her dish.

"Would you like another drink or a deserts menu?" She asked, turning to pick up Law's.

Exchanging the question between them silently, Nayla shook her head, allowing him to answer.

"No, that won't be necessary. I imagine I have a cake with a 'master chef's' expertise input waiting for me." He looked pointedly at the woman across the table from him, smirking in amusement at her expression.

"Oh I see, how lovely!" The woman exclaimed, placing their plates securely to her serving tray before leaning down and resting the edge of her fingers to the side of her mouth as she spoke in a loud, mock-whisper. "I do always say that homemade desserts from loved ones always taste the best!"

Watching the woman wink 'knowingly' at them before turning, Nayla bit the inside of her cheek in mild annoyance as she heard Law chuckle at her.

"Just so you know, all I did was prep the icing Dean made for him to use on top. Be thankful I didn't _actually_ make any of your cake, it would have been inedible if I did." She muttered, taking a sip of her drink.

Setting his own glass down, Law leant forward, folding his arms onto the tabletop as he watched some colourful fish swim up the curved wall beside them to the glass of the ceiling. Watching his steel eyes follow their movement, Nayla slipped the straw from her mouth, deciding to dare to ask a question that had been on her mind since they'd arrived.

"Have you ever been on a real date before?"

Brows rising as he looked back at her, the surprise on his face at her sudden question soon faded into his usual, sly smirk as he caught what he knew was an unintended meaning in her wording. "Before? Are you implying we're on one now? I thought you made it clear earlier that I _wasn't_ to take this as a date."

"Nice try, teasing me to rile me up and avoid having to answer." She scoffed.

An impressed grin making its way onto his handsome features, he decided to humour her. "No, not really." He admitted.

"Not even during your teens?"

"No…Though I can already guess you would have been popular enough to have been asked on many yourself by boys your age."

"I guess…" She reluctantly divulged, not expecting to have to talk about herself on the matter. "But I'd bet you were popular too, just not interested." She speculated, trying to imagine a teenage version of the man in front of her, in both appearance and personality.

"Near enough right. I just wasn't interested at the time, I had a lot going on."

Humming in thought of that, she sipped her cocktail, wondering just how early on he'd started forming the basis of his crew and the roots of the goal he was now so adamantly chasing.

"I'm enjoying it."

Letting the straw slide from her lips, she furrowed her brows in confusion at him. "Enjoying what?"

"My first date. How nice of you to ask me on one." He teased, making her laugh.

"Like I said, it wasn't really my intention…but I'm glad…I guess it is kinda one…" She admitted quietly, resting her own forearms to the table between them, glimpsing the tattoos on his. "…Though I would appreciate roses next time."

"Next time? I suppose you'll want a violinist to play at our table whilst we dine too." He offered, his smirk widening playfully.

"Of course, and lets visit one of those super elegant, traditional restaurants that are lit with those big, beautiful, crystal candelabras."

"Cheesy." He chuckled at her, making her drop her fake, girlish excitement at the prospect of a stereotypical romantic dinner.

"Very, though to be honest, I _do_ think candelabras are absolutely gorgeous. They give off the most beautiful, romantic glow." She sighed whimsically, resting her chin to her palm and turning her gaze to the glass wall beside them when something lightly-coloured caught her attention as it hovered in her peripheral vision.

Sitting back comfortably, he lift his wine back to his lips as he watched her lean her face closely to the glass and rest a fingertip to the thick, clear layer that separated herself from the puffer fish that had apparently taken an interest in her.

Chuckling quietly to himself as she smiled and tapped the glass gently, he sipped what was left of his drink, watching her eyes flit over the creature in open curiosity as it gaped at her, flapping its small fins.

"Hmm, who knew fish could be kinda cute." She mused aloud, admiring the deflated spines of her curious new friend as it gave up on apparently trying to taste the tip of her finger and swam a little more Law's way.

"'Cute' isn't exactly the word I'd use for it…" He replied, watching at the creature stopped short of the glass beside his face, inflating itself and raising its porcupine-like spines as Law turned his gaze to it.

Only too able to relate to the way the pirate's piercing gaze was probably making the poor fish feel she couldn't help but laugh at its reaction and Law's arched brow as he watched the fish seemingly back away from him before deflating. "Guess he sees you as a threat or a predator. Looks like fish are smarter than I gave them credit for too."

Huffing under his breath at her giggling at his expense, he draped his arm lazily over the back of the booth as she tapped the glass to regain the little creature's attention once more.

"Hmm, I almost feel like I wanna feed it." She said idly as it curiously investigated her fingertip again. "I wonder what blow fish eat…"

"Algae and small invertebrates." He responded easily.

Wondering why she should even be remotely surprised that he already knew the answer to that, she shook her head with a smile.

"Where did yo-…" Trailing off with raised brows as the puffer fish rapidly swam away at the approach of another, far more colourful fish, she watched as it languidly grazed at the red coral that peered over the edge of the top of the booth beside the glass, uncaring of the quick departure of the fish before it.

It grazed the coral with its small row of sharp teeth as she admired the glistening shimmer of its yellow scales. "I feel like I've seen fish like this one a lot." She said, wondering if she may have seen a few zip past the portholes during submersive travel over the last few months.

"Probably. It's a common species in tropical areas and a popular choice for aquarium displays because of the variety of colours they come in." He explained, watching the brightly coloured fish continued to pay them no mind as it gnawed away at its target.

"What is it?"

"A tang. Also known as a surgeonfish." He smirked in amusement.

"…Oooh yeah! I'd been meaning to ask what your sub's name was about for the longest time. I couldn't figure out the 'tang' part of 'Polar Tang.'" She grinned, finally pieced together the mingling of both a part of himself and of Bepo in the name of their home. They were an unlikely but sweet pair, she hoped she'd get to hear more about how they'd met and grown to be such close friends some time.

"…So why is this called a surgeonfish?" She asked, perusing the creature in curiosity, in search of the answer.

"Because of the 'scalpel-like' spines. They're exceptionally sharp."

"Hmm, they don't look that sharp to me…" She said unconvinced, idly running her finger on the glass over it.

"That's because you're looking at its fins, not its spines." He chuckled, resting his finished drink back down to the table before sliding closer to her in the booth. "These-" He rest his hand over hers, gently guiding it until her extended index finger slid across the glass to point at the correct place. "-are its spines, by its tail."

"Oh, I thought maybe the edges of the fins were what were supposed to be sharp."

"No." He said, finding himself not willing to release her hand just yet, instead curling his fingers warmly around it as she lowered it from the glass to the the small gap on the seat between them.

…

"Still, silly name for a fish." She said quietly, looking down at their joined hands as she felt her heart flutter.

"There are 'doctor fish' as well." Finding himself smiling as she laughed a little at that, he rubbed the back of her hand idly with his thumb, enjoying the sound as he always did.

"Seriously? Next you'll be telling me 'pirate fish' are a thing."

"I wouldn't be surprised." He chuckled.

"So why are they called 'doctor fish?' Do their lips look like they're pulled into smug, permanent smirks?" She teased.

"They're able to sustain themselves by eating the superficial layers of human skin and have been used for symptom relief in conditions such as psoriasis…Or as a peculiar spa treatment." He answered, resting the elbow of his free arm onto the top of the booth and his cheek to his fist, ignoring her dig.

"Gotta admit, that's pretty fascinating. Maybe all this sea stuff isn't so bad…" She trailed off in thought, looking back through the glass as a small school of silver-green minnow swam past. "…Actually…it's interesting…and unbelievably beautiful too."

Watching her dark blue eyes flit over the small creatures that streamed past and her sweetly fascinated, awed features illuminated by the soft lighting, he found he couldn't help the words that left his mouth quietly. "…So it is."

Chuckling at the surprise on her face as she looked back at him, realising his eyes had never left her, he couldn't help but feel…lucky. Somehow, he felt fortunate to be the one beside her in that moment, to be close enough to her to admire her beauty and that endearing curiosity of hers, to be on the receiving end of her kindness and to be sharing her company in this way, just the two of them.

Smiling at him, she felt unsure of what to say, opting instead to remain quiet and enjoy the surreal moment in their serene environment because she was certain, come tomorrow, she wouldn't ever believe she had been there, talking like this with him in such a gorgeous place as he held her hand and looked at her like that.

Unable to hold his unfamiliarly soft gaze any longer, she shied away from it, savouring the soothing sensation of his warm, soft skin stroking back and forth on hers she watched the fish float by again, allowing the moment to linger pleasantly between them.

…

"Hey, Law…Do you have-?"

"Aside from the one in my quarters, there's a marine biology book with medial focus in the infirmary." He answered, already knowing where her inquisitive nature would take her next as soon as she had down time aboard his sub.

"Is it a good read?" She laughed, looking back at him.

"It is. It highlights fish that contain toxins as well as those that have symptomatic relief and curative properties for conditions." He said softly, realising how much he was enjoying their relaxed, light-hearted, carefree conversation.

"Figures you'd pick up a book like that… I saw the plant one you have in there too." She added, finding the flutter in her chest return tenfold at the sight of the small, genuine smile on his face as he gazed at her.

"I'd say that herbalism one has been more useful though, overall…" He answered somewhat half-heartedly, his gaze drifting to her lips, his mind seemingly elsewhere despite answering her.

"Then I guess I'll give that one a look too." She answered quietly, her breath seeming to want to leave her as again as his steel blue eyes lifted back to hers, their stunning colour only accentuated by the glow of the glass beside them before he closed them and leant his lips to hers.

Letting her own fall shut as she felt the soft press of his kiss, she welcomed the way the world around them seemed to fade from existence completely in that moment.

They had kissed before, many times by now and in far more intimate situations, but it was these ones, these small, short, sweet, unexpected ones that came from him that made her heart soar its highest.

The slightest ebb of lust starting to gently flow through him as he felt her instinctively begin to tilt her head and part her lips for him, Law pulled away after the briefest taste of her tongue, not trusting himself to continue any longer in their temptingly secluded spot in public.

Watching her sit back, he took in the innocent smile on her lips that contradicted the edge of desire in her gaze that told him he wasn't the only one so easily aroused by their slightest of physical interactions.

Finding himself chuckling quietly at that, he rest his cheek back to his fist, returning her smile. "Have we given them enough time to do what they needed to do?"

"Yeah, this should be plenty." She replied, sounding more breathless than she'd expected and reluctant to suggest they get going she glanced down at their joined hands. "…Do you think Jake plotted this by suggesting this place?"

"Probably."

Laughing at his blunt reply and his amused smirk, she looked around them at their underwater scenery once more, taking it in one last time before their nearing departure and feeling brave enough to ask the question now on her mind.

"…Law, this was really nice…Do you think we can do it again some time?" 'I enjoyed spending time with you.'

"Oh? A second date already? Isn't it customary to ignore my calls for a few days first? You should probably try to play it a little cooler than this." He found himself unable to help teasing, earning a tut as she pulled her hand out of his hold and gave him a light slap of annoyance to his chest with it, making him chuckle.

…

"Of course we can, Nayla." 'I enjoyed spending time with you too.'

Her pout falling and her crossed arms relaxing at his belated answer she turned back to him, searching his face for any trace of his usual sarcasm or pity at her reaction to his taunting but finding none.

"…Ok, but you owe me three bouquets of flowers next time." She said, ignoring the excited skip of a beat her heart gave at his genuine answer and at the prospect of being able to enjoy Law's company in this way again in future.

"Three?" He questioned, arching a fine brow as he watched her get up from her seat.

"One for that hospital visit you paid me, one for this date and one for the next." She justified.

Scoffing at that he rolled his eyes, halted from resting his other elbow to the top of the booth as she held her hand out for him. "Come on, let's get going. The boys are gonna start to wonder what I've gone and done to their beloved captain at this rate."

Contemplating it for a moment as he felt reminiscent of the time she'd offered her hand to him in this way that night in the snow, he took hold of it gently before standing, lifting his nodachi with his other.

"I'll just drop the cash we owe on our way out instead of wasting time waiting for the cheque and bla bla. Then we can get your real celebration underway." She grinned up at him before trotting ahead to the waitress stood by the wooden hostess pedestal at the edge of the dining hall.

Finding himself smiling, as he so often did around her, he trailed after her slowly, chuckling as she pulled a far thicker wad of cash than necessary from her inappropriate storage space and handed it to the stunned woman.

"Alright, let's go." Nayla said happily, ignoring the lady's protests of the amount as she fell into step beside him, slipping her arm through his casually as they made their way through the stunning, arched aquarium hallway towards the main entrance.

Taking one last look at the shimmering fish that swam overhead before settling his gaze back onto the woman at his side, he decided that this was definitely shaping up to be a much more enjoyable birthday than he'd anticipated.

* * *

Strolling down the night time street of the quiet, pleasant, warm, summer isle, Law watched as the end of it drew closer before glancing down at the dainty arm thread through his as he wondered if it'd withdraw as soon as they turned the corner to the pier.

The crew suspected there was something going on between them, long before there actually was, and even more so since their reconciliation, but he and Nayla usually did their part to downplay the fact around them. Not really out of any sense of shame or embarrassment, nor did he particularly mind if the crew _did_ confirm their involvement one way or another…It was just a personal relationship that he didn't feel necessary to share with anyone other than her, something private, and keeping it that way only made things simpler, calmer and easier to manage. Although…

His gaze drifted from the top of her head to the bird's-eye view of her cleavage his height advantage graced him with.

…He'd be lying if he said there would be no sense of pride in the envy of others knowing that he'd had her. ' _I_ _s_ having her,' he swiftly corrected in his own head, a smirk finding its way onto his lips as every lewd memory of her every moan, every gasp and every image of her in a state of undress and unbridled pleasure from over the last few weeks surfaced in his mind…Though he never was one to 'kiss and tell.' Those memories would stay firmly locked within his own head for his own viewing pleasure only.

Seeing her lift her head from its resting place against his arm as they reached the end of the street, she looked up at him with a somewhat apologetic smile as she reluctantly drew back to a more friendly and respectable distance, though she left their arms linked.

"Ready?" She asked, the first thing said that broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them since leaving the restaurant.

"You say that like I'm going to turn the corner and find something's been done to my ship." He speculated as they did just that, turning onto the wooden planks of the long pier that ran along the coast and surprised to hear his voice sounding as relaxed as hers.

"Because you will." She replied simply, turning her gaze in its direction a few ships down as he did the same.

Brows rising as he spotted the large crowd of white boilersuits on deck, he took in the decorations that his crew must have been meticulously putting up since his departure earlier that evening.

The black and yellow streamers that had been thread painstakingly between each and every column of his ship's railings. The wooden poles that had been secured to the perimeter of it, connected by fairy lights and each hosting a cylindrical paper lantern. They alternated in colour between black and yellow, his Jolly Roger neatly cut out of each and illuminated by the candles held within, all helping to light the deck gently.

"Where did they get those from?" He asked her quietly.

"Don't ask." She laughed, recalling the look on the men's faces who'd spent hours the night before drawing and cutting their symbol from each and every lantern in the lounge when she'd suggested making a stencil and using a box cutter or scalpel instead. They'd done nearly half of them the hard way; by hand with a pencil and a pair of scissors before she'd arrived. "Though you should expect to see the yellow ones painted orange and used for Halloween by the end of the month." She added, refusing to answer his curious look at her cryptic response.

"Oh! It's Captain!"

He looked up at his crew as they ran over to their side of the railing as their arrival was announced by the first member that had spotted them.

"Captain!"

"Welcome home, Captain!"

"Surprise!"

"Welcome back, Captain!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPTAIN!"

"It's not his birthday _yet_!"

"Shh! Happy birthday, Captain!"

Coming to a stop at the bottom of the gangplank that led up to the deck of his vessel, Law glanced over the twenty, happy faces of his men as they welcomed him back warmly, grinning ear to ear and waving excitedly at him.

Watching as they hoisted his flag proudly, in obvious anticipation of his return, he pressed his lips together firmly as they cheered his return, pouring their heartfelt well wishes for him shamelessly and loudly into the night air, uncaring of the others on the pier and neighbouring docked ships that could hear them.

"You alright?" Nayla asked him quietly when he didn't move.

"Fine." He smiled, stepping onto the wooden gangplank and taking firm strides as they made their way up to the crew, their jubilant cheers and claps only growing louder at their approach.

Feeling Nayla slip from his side quickly as they reached the deck, he looked over at her questioningly before realising the reason for her sudden departure as two barrels full of confetti rained over him from behind to a roar of welcoming cheers and claps to his back.

Turning and looking up slightly, he saw Penguin and Shachi had hopped onto the railing on either side of the gangplank behind him, still shaking out the last of the paper rainfall onto him with toothy grins.

Huffing in amusement, as his crew welcomed him aboard, he held out a hand to catch some of the black and yellow petals as they fluttered down on him.

"I'd ask even less about where that came from." Nayla laughed quietly, reading the question on his mind from his expression as she brushed off the confetti that had still managed to land on her shoulder and arm even from her safer distance from him.

Chuckling at her and taking a closer look at what had been done to the ship in his absence, he noticed the instruments that had been brought up from the rec room set to one side and the tables that had been brought onto the deck on the other, laden heavily with specially made snacks.

Rack of beef and lamb still sizzling on their skewers. Chicken wings, chicken nuggets. Salads, chips, handmade dips. Meatballs, fish balls, weenies, cubed cheeses and other savoury, bite sized treats ready to eat with cocktail sticks in place. A stack of black paper plates with yellow Heart Pirates' logos printed in their centre sat beside their matching napkins, drawing his attention to their other custom printed counterparts that hovered above the tables. Watching the black balloons of the same design bob and sway gently in the breeze he couldn't help but wonder when and where they'd gotten them all made, admittedly a little impressed.

The literal barrels of liquor that Nayla had alluded to sat on the wooden floorboards to the side of the food, the kegs that had already been tapped to pour rest on the table next to them, sat beside bottles of more refined options and their mixers. Black plastic cups that must have come from the same store as their plate, napkin and balloon predecessors shone eagerly under the lights, soon to be filled to the brim with a night's worth of merriment.

A table full of desserts - glistening sticky layers, fluffy pastries, soft sponges and temptingly shiny fruit pieces decorated an assortment of sweet treats that distinctly spoke of Dean's outstanding specialty as a pastry chef, laid out in display around the large, three layer cake that towered over them.

Feeling his brows rise to the brim of his hat as he took in the sheer size and yellow colour of it, Law made his way over to that table, wondering how many times his chefs had filled the shelves in his ovens with pans of cake mix to build something of this magnitude to sate the ravenous appetites of his twenty strong crew...In fact, how long had they all slaved to prepare this much for him and just how much of the crew's personal funds had gone into all of this for his celebration?

Coming to a stop in front of the cake, he felt his smile grow wider as he took in all the fine details of it. The white icing he had walked in on them preparing lining the edges of each layer, his Jolly Roger expertly hand-piped in fine black icing around the circumference of all three and a large one proudly painted onto the top cake's surface, accentuated by white and a message that simply read 'Happy Birthday Captain!'

"Alright! Captain's here, tiiime to break out the booze boys!" Jeff excitedly exclaimed, inciting a small rush to the drinks table as the men cheered and eagerly began filling their cups.

Glancing at the small table in the corner as his men bustled beside him, eager to drink their fill; he looked over the mountainous pile of brightly wrapped presents and gift bags awaiting him.

"Where are your manners you dolts?! Captain first!" Jake scolded, halting the rabble as he snatched the cups that had been poured by his crewmates.

"Here ya are Cap, best rum in town." The chef winked at him, handing one over. "Sorry hun, ladies are a close second, today only." He chuckled, handing her the other.

Lifting his gaze from inspecting the tempting looking and smelling amber liquid in his cup, Law looked up at Jean Bart behind him in question as he heard the anchor raising and his sub's engines roar to life.

"The first mate authorised a trip around the island's perimeter, if that's alright with you, Captain." The large man explained, gesturing down to the bear beside him that looked like he was fighting the strong temptation to give his long-time friend a huge hug.

"Yeah, that's fine...Though won't that mean someone will miss the festivities by needing to be in the cockpit?" Not that he didn't appreciate the thought of a peaceful cruise in climate-controlled waters for a change and the privacy it would give them.

"We've got it worked out, we'll be taking it in turns throughout the night so no one misses out." Jean Bart explained.

Clearing his throat loudly to quieten everyone down and get their attention Penguin took to Law's side as the ship started to move. "We know you aren't big on parties, especially not your own, Captain..." He paused for the round of knowing snickers from the men on deck to subside. "But we know you knew something was up - hard to get anything past ya."

"No kidding."

"Can say that again."

The crew chuckled quietly as Penguin continued. "So, thanks…for letting us do this for you. For letting us show you how much you mean to us on your special day." He said sincerely, resting a hand to his friend's shoulder as he smiled at him, clearly getting a little choked up.

Stubbornly refusing the sniffle that wanted to escape him, Shachi lifted his drink up high, finishing the toast Penguin had started. "To the best Captain - and friend, a crew could ever ask for!"

"TO CAPTAIN!" Bepo proudly proclaimed, throwing both paws into the air eagerly.

"Yeah!"

"Here here!"

"To Captain!"

"Happy birthday, Captain!"

"Here's to the future Pirate King!"

"Yeah! We have faith in you, Captain!"

"To another year!"

"To the New World!"

"Happy birthday!"

Raising her own drink for the joyous toast, Nayla tapped it to her neighbours' before bringing it to her lips, glancing at the man of hour by her side as he lowered his, tugging the brim of his hat down slightly with his other hand.

Unable to see his eyes past the shadows cast by his hat but noting his set jaw, pressed lips and otherwise carefully neutral expression, she spoke to him quietly. "You sure you're ok there, Captain?"

"Fine." He managed out stubbornly, making her laugh a little under her breath, subtly rubbing his arm comfortingly as he took a sip of his drink.

* * *

Turning, Law rest his elbows to the railing behind him as he felt someone approach, Bepo turning to look at newcomer as well from beside him.

"Yo, Captain. You having fun?" Dean greeted cheerfully, walking up to them.

"Yeah." He admitted easily as the fellow medic rest his back to the railing on his other side.

"Ah good, glad to hear it." The man smiled, giving his captain an amicable pat on the arm. "How was the cake? Tried to tone down the sweetness a little to your liking but kept the icing sugary to satisfy little Miss Sweet Tooth over there."

Following his nod in her direction, Law watched as she danced happily with Jake in the centre of the deck, chuckling at the huge smile on her face as the chef carefully twirled her in time to the upbeat music the crew played.

"I kid you not, she was trying to lick that bowl of icing clean, took it off her but she kept the spoon. Told me I could pry it from her cold, dead fingers when I asked for it back. She's a diabetes case in the making." He snickered, the song coming to an end as they watched Jake jokingly removed his hat and bowed formally in thanks of the dance, making her laugh and curtsy in return.

"So, did you end up going to that restaurant we told her to take you to?" Dean asked as innocently as he could manage.

Side-glancing at the man as he 'casually' looked away, seemingly inspecting the décor on the other side of the deck, Law answered neutrally. "Yeah."

"Nice place, huh. Did you guys have a good time?"

"Yeah."

Looking back at his captain at his easy but short answers, Dean noted the subtle smirk on the man's face that told him he knew exactly what he wanted to hear and that he wouldn't be hearing it. "You're a tough one to crack, Cap." He sighed as Law chuckled at him, taking a sip from his drink. "…But I'm glad you two had fun, you deserve it."

Brow perking at the quietly spoken latter of the man's sentence, Law wondered what exactly he had meant by it but their attention was drawn back to the others as they heard Nayla giggle loudly, slapping Jeff's arm playfully.

"You're such a liar! You said that was yours."

"No, I implied I could _play_ it. You just assumed it was mine." He neatly side-stepped her accusation.

"Bull. You said that was _your_ guitar, it's freaking Kotta's of all people. Who knew that stick in the mud could even play such a cool instrument."

"…I'm right here." The medic grouched from his seat behind her, sat beside his other musically inclined crewmates in their makeshift band for the evening. Though Law had needed to, and been happy to oblige, in helping move the piano up to the deck from the rec room using his ability.

"I know." She answered unfazed, smiling cheerfully at him as he scowled at her before turning back to Jeff. "So, is telling women you can play the guitar just another lie of yours to get you laid, or what?" She asked casually, taking a sip of her drink.

"Ding ding ding!" Connor rang out dryly from beside his friend, levelling him a look as he took a sip from his own cup.

"It is _not_ a lie, I _can_ play." Jeff defended proudly, crossing his arms in exaggerated offence.

"Yeah, like, three, maybe four chords?"

"About enough to _convince_ a woman he can play." His crewmates snickered from around him.

"Have you ever managed to seduce a woman with just three chords?" Nayla asked, highly amused.

"You kidding me? I've serenaded the panties off of many a lady. Custom songs for each one too, to make 'em feel special." He boasted with a grin.

"Hmm." She hummed sceptically from around the rim of her cup.

Reaching over, he plucked the guitar off of Kotta's lap, ignoring the man's indignant protest as he dropped to one knee in front of her and rest the instrument to his other.

Strumming the strings once before placing his fingers onto the fretboard, Jeff cleared his throat, in apparent preparation of displaying the soothing serenades he used to win over his love…well, lust interests.

Playing a few chords, he set a slow, simple song in motion before beginning to sing smoothly.

"Oooh Nayla. I wanna nail ya. You're m-OW!" He abruptly stopped, clutching his head with a hiss.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO WE GOTTA TELL YA TO KNOCK IT OFF?!" Connor yelled, giving him another thump to the scalp.

"OW! YOU knock it off! I was just kidding! I was just kidding!" He defended, standing up and getting out of arm's length of his raging friend, as the others roared with laughter.

Chuckling as Connor kicked at him, chasing him away from her, Law watched their antics from the railing as the chef beside him sighed heavily.

"Ya know, Captain. No one would blame ya if you ever really did decide to neuter him." Dean reassured, watching as Kotta shot up and snatched back his guitar before any harm could come to it as Connor relentlessly pursued Jeff around the deck.

Watching Nayla laugh loudly at the scene, wiping a tear from her eye as the two play fought to the jeers and cheers of their crewmates, Law smiled widely.

* * *

Emerging from the main entrance back onto the deck, Nayla surveyed the scene with a raised brow, wondering if she had taken longer in the bathroom than she'd realised or if she simply hadn't noticed how long the night had gone on for.

Scanning over the empty plates, cups, fallen decorations, torn wrapping paper, unattended instruments and slumped piles of white boilersuits on the deck she spotted a few crewmembers still up, laughing and talking to one another merrily and Bepo walking towards her, on his way inside.

"Hey Beppy, retiring for the night?"

"Well, I'm going to go take over from Jean Bart. I'm sailing us back to port for morning." He explained.

"Ah ok, see you later then. I'll probably head to bed soon."

"Goodnight." He smiled, making his way past her.

"Night." She waved off, watching as he disappeared inside.

Looking over at the direction he just came from, she spotted Law at the railing, catching him watching her with an amused expression before turning his gaze back out to the ocean.

Smiling to herself, she made her way over to him, faltering a little at the dessert table she passed before picking up one last delicious treat.

Feeling a little guilt as she accidentally kicked aide some of the crumpled wrapping paper that had blown astray from the gift table, Nayla glanced over at it and at the presents Law had received.

It had been nice, fun even, to watch him open them at midnight, though the crew had spared him from having to endure their rendition of 'happy birthday.' Sitting through that song was something most _normal_ people found a little embarrassing and uncomfortable; she could only imagine how much someone like Law would dislike it...Though she couldn't help but snicker a bit at the thought of watching him shift awkwardly as the crew sang for him.

They had brought him some thoughtful gifts. Some new, customised clothing - tops that boasted the symbol he was so proud of. Some new texts, some new medical tools - the impressive, engraved set of professional scalpels from his medics for example to name a few.

She wouldn't ever admit to how many places she visited or how much time she'd spent looking for a gift for him too but hadn't found anything she particularly liked or that the crew hadn't already thought of. Although she was pleased with the gift she had managed to get him from Amazon Lily, she'd found it difficult this time around, hoping the meal they'd had together and what she had in mind for later would be ok instead.

Reaching him, she rest her free hand to the railing as he side-glanced at her. "Want me to grab you a Buffin too?" She offered, holding up the small cake-like treat, covered in coconut shavings with distinctly Bepo-like ears and chocolate buttons used for eyes and a nose.

"A Buffin?" He repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, a Bepo-muffin…Thought it needed a name. Though the guys didn't like 'Buffin' because it makes Bepo sound like he's buff, apparently." She mused, taking a small bite of the treat. "Kinda like a cupcake too though…Bepupcake? Bepuffin?"

Watching her twirl the treat in her hand as she furrowed her brows in thought, he plucked it from her, taking a bite and earning an annoyed frown at his thievery.

"I thought you weren't that big on sweet treats." She said, moving to take it back only to have him hold it further out of her reach.

"I'm not, I just don't want to hear you come up with anymore ridiculous names for them." He chuckled as she gave up on retrieving it from him and sighed. "You on the other hand…I hear you're willing to lay down your life for a spoonful of icing." He smiled, offering her back her dessert out of pity as he saw the disappointed pout on her face.

"A spoonful of _Dean's_ icing. The man is a _genius_ with sugar, I'm gonna put on sooo much weight whilst I travel with you guys." She smiled, taking it back from him and enjoying a large bite. "…Hey, if I get fat. You can just Ope Ope my blubber off, right? Liposuction part of my health plan whilst I work for you?"

"No."

"Stingy bastard…You better be into fat chicks then, 'cause this is where it's headed." She threatened.

Laughing a little under his breath as she happily chewed her mouthful, he looked back out at the calm waves of the night ocean, watching the coastline lights that glittered in the distance of the of the isle they were visiting as they cruised around it leisurely.

Enjoying the scenic view with him in silence, she finished her treat quietly, curling up the paper baking cup that had held it in her hand as they watched the glowing shoreline of the summer isle drift past. "…Did you enjoy your birthday?"

"Yeah." He answered, seeming to have been asked that many times that night.

"I'm glad…the crew figured you'd probably enjoy a private celebration, just you and them – and me I guess, better than going to any place on shore. I think they were right…They know you really well." He side-glanced her with a smile but said nothing. "…Ya know, Jeff really wanted to launch some fireworks from the ship for you, apparently he's been playing around with his gunpowder – you should really keep an eye on that by the way, and has 'figured out' how to do it. Only way we talked him out of it was to ask him what he thought you'd do to him if he scorched the deck or set the sub on fire."

Chuckling at the thought of the man's face, he twirled the cup in his hand idly, looking at the small amount of admittedly very tasty rum still in it.

Looking over her shoulder subtly at the few other men still awake, she confirmed their backs were still facing them before resting a hand to his arm, leaning over and kissing his cheek softly.

She smiled at him as he turned to her in surprise. "Happy birthday, Law."

Glancing over at the distracted crewmembers in understanding of her open action, he leant forward without hesitation and kissed her lips.

Feeling her back away slightly in her own surprise, he wrapped his free arm around her waist, in clear refusal of her retreat as he pulled her in closely and slid his tongue between her parted lips, a soft gasp leaving her as he tilted his head and swept it over hers, the taste of alcohol and sweet sugar mingling together pleasantly in their mouths as he stole a brief, lusty kiss from her.

"…I don't recall receiving a gift from you Nayla, where is it?" He asked huskily as their lips parted.

Smiling slyly up at him, she rest her hand to his chest, his gaze darkening as he felt her glide it down over his muscles through his shirt. "...I thought you'd never ask."

His hand sliding from her as she pulled away, she turned and walked back towards the main entrance.

Running his eyes over her figure as she left, appreciating the naturally seductive, feminine sway of her hips in her movement, he lift his drink to his lips as she rest a hand to the doorframe.

Smirking as she gave him a sultry 'come hither' look over her shoulder and curled her index finger at him in invitation, he tilted his cup back, swiftly finishing its contents before walking towards her.

Resting the empty container in his hand to a table as he passed by it he couldn't help but think that this was definitely the preverbal icing on the cake, that this had been one of his most memorable and enjoyable birthdays yet and that it was only going to get better as he followed her as she disappeared back into his ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Law's cooking ability - Mentioned it in a previous note but I'm assuming Law is capable of cooking at least adequately seeing as he made breakfast for Corasan before he woke in one of the anime episodes and considering he survived on his own after the age of 13.
> 
> Polar Tang - Really is the name of the Heart Pirates' submarine, mentioned by Oda in an SBS. I'm just assuming the 'polar' is for Bepo, it could easily be reference to the poles and their North Blue origins too.
> 
> Surgeon and doctor fish - Real stuff. Sadly, it seems as though 'pirate fish' are not a thing.


	68. Hearty Halloween

* * *

 

"Come on, I can't be the _only_ one in costume. That'd just be lame."

"Well, I never go in costume…I never know what to go as…" Penguin said unsurely, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lowering her drink from her lips, Nayla deadpanned at him. "Really? You never once thought of one possible thing you could have dressed up as for Halloween, _Penguin_? Not a single time has a costume idea that might suit you crossed your mind, _Penguin_?"

"Well a penguin is hardly scary." The man mumbled, crossing his arms in a huff as the other crewmembers at their tavern table chuckled at him.

"It's not really about being scary much these days but if you wanted to make it scary, a little fake blood splatter and call yourself a Killer Penguin or even a Zombie Penguin if it makes you feel better – _or_ just go as something else…You could do a literal Killer Whale on that note, Shach." She added, turning to him as she sipped her usual evening drink with the crew.

"Nah…I'm sure I can think of something better." He said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"What about you, lil lady? Got something in mind?"

"You know it. I'm dressing up as the most terrifying thing I can think of." She grinned proudly.

"Care to give us a hint?"

"Nope, it _has_ to be a surprise for the night. Just be sure to find us some place fun to go."

She watched him exchange a raised brow with Dean, before cautiously asking; "Why so secretive?"

'For my own safety,' she inwardly answered. "No reason." She replied cheerfully, ignoring their inquisitive hums as she sipped her cocktail happily and eagerly looked forward to the following night.

* * *

Listening to long, familiar strides muffled against the carpeting on the other side of the door, Nayla clasped her hands together in front of her as waited patiently for Law to reach it.

Pulling it open, he looked at her in mild surprise, arching a fine brow at her unexpected visit before resting his arm to the doorframe, a distinctively dirty smirk making its way onto his face. "Hmm…to what do I owe the pleasure, Nayla?"

Ignoring the smooth, sultry, suggestive tone and the way his eyes openly ran over her figure as best she could, she cleared her throat, talking quietly. "Not that."

Glancing over his shoulder to the clock on the wall behind him, he turned back to her. "Are you sure? You'll still have plenty of time to get ready." He reasoned, his voice dropping huskily as he slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her to him.

Quickly looking down either end of the thankfully empty hallway she pressed her hands to his chest as he pressed her flush against him, amusement in his steel gaze as she looked back up at him.

"I was just coming by to ask you one last time if you were sure you didn't want to come with us." She said with a huff, pushing him inside past the threshold of his bedroom so that no one could see them.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He replied, easing his hold as she turned to close the door behind her.

"So, what? You're just gonna sit here all night whilst we go out?" She asked, trying to sound neutral or disappointed that he wouldn't be going out. Really she _was_ disappointed he didn't feel like joining them for any festivities but if it couldn't be helped, then she was hoping that he would be staying put at the inn all night so that she could wear her costume. The pieces of which, she was _still_ trying her damndest to collect, but it was looking as though she'd need to return to the sub for them.

"I may go out for a walk with Bepo later." He responded nonchalantly, sliding his other hand around her waist.

"Oh."

Practically feeling the gaze on the top of her head turn piercing and analytical, she stopped picking at his top idly and made an effort to correct her slip of disappointed tone at his change of plans and her body language that she knew he was now reading interestedly.

"Where are you guys off to?"

Tilting his head a little as he took in her slightly off smile, Law hummed in thought but chose to say nothing about it, for now. "He'd like to see some of the Halloween parade they have planned to run through Main Street."

"Oh? But we offered to take him to it when he was talking about it earlier. Guess he'd rather go with you. Pfft, talk about favouritism." She mumbled in slight offence.

"It's not that. He doesn't want to go with you because you'd watch it from up close. He'd prefer to watch it from afar, away from the crowd. He enjoys Halloween but doesn't like being around other people much this time of year…They tend to think he's wearing an elaborate costume and ask him a lot of annoying questions about where he 'got it' and how he 'made it' that make him feel uncomfortable."

"Awww, I see. Poor thing." She couldn't help but laugh at the mental image of Bepo having people gush over how authentic his 'costume' looked and having kids tug at his sleeve excitedly as he tried to mind his own business and watch the parade. "Well then I guess it's nice you're gonna do something with him tonight, even if you don't wanna go out to a club with us or anything."

"I'm not very interested in fancy dress...Though I suppose it's about time for those 'Halloween costumes' you travel all year around with in your suitcase to be of use." He said slyly, making her purse her lips. "I can't help but be a little curious, Nayla. Which one will you be wearing tonight?" He teased, leaning close to her face.

"Not the nurse one." She said firmly, hoping to burst his smug, little bubble.

"Then which?"

"Well, seeing as you chose not to spend any time with _us_ this evening, I guess you'll never know." She said haughtily, folding her arms as she looked up at him.

"I'm sure there'll be pictures in the messdeck by the end of the week anyway." He chuckled, kissing her on the lips before letting her go and taking the few steps back over to his bed, peeling his top up.

"Getting changed?" She asked in interest, instantly drawn to the large tattoo on his back as it appeared.

"Taking a shower."

"An evening shower, huh. Unusual for you." She mused aloud, entranced by the way his bare muscles moved as he tossed his hoodie to the bed and started to undo his jeans.

"Lunchtime." He reminded her smoothly, glancing over his shoulder at her as she remembered their earlier…'activities' that day.

"Oh…You _did_ work up a pretty good sweat." She smiled deviously.

"And unlike you, _I_ had things to do afterwards. I haven't had a chance to shower since." He added, starting to pull down his pants.

"Hmm, sucks to be you then, doesn't it." She said, eyes trailing down unashamedly to his boxers as he turned back around at her taunting tone.

"I wouldn't say so." He chuckled, reaching a hand to either side of her jaw and tilting her gaze up to his from his open fly. "…Are you sure you don't want to join me?"

Humming at the enticing invitation as he brushed his lips against hers, she rest her hands to his warm, bare chest. "I would love to but I'd be late if I did…Maybe I can join you tonight when I get back?"

"Don't stay out too late then." He smiled, kissing her briefly before pulling away and walking towards his room's bathroom.

Licking her lips, she eyed the defined, muscular dimpling of his lower back that peered out from beneath his loosened jeans, now looking forward to the end of her night as much as the night itself.

"Stay out of trouble." He added, as per usual, turning at the doorway as he reached it with a knowing smirk on his lips as he caught her looking openly at his body.

Rolling her eyes at him, she sighed. "Yes, mom."

Chuckling at her childish pout as she looked away, he closed the door, missing the excited smile that immediately spread across her lips at her good fortune as soon as he was out of sight.

'Looks like I won't be needing to head back to rummage around in the sub for my costume.'

* * *

Taking a deep, relaxed breath as he emerged from the steamy En Suite, Law rubbed the excess moisture out of his hair with a towel as he strode back into his bedroom, heading straight to the wardrobe for something warmer to wear for the night.

Pulling open the door he ran his eyes over the few tops he'd brought ashore for their stay. Selecting and sliding his black sweatshirt from its hanger, he recalled the yellow hoodie he had tossed aside before his shower, turning to the bed to retrieve and hang it up...but furrowed his brows as he noticed it gone…Maybe he had mistakenly remembered throwing it there?

Glancing around the modestly furnished room, he found there was no trace of it over the back of the chair at the dresser, or the small armchair in the corner…Had Nayla folded and put it away for him before leaving? She'd gotten into the mild habit of doing so around his quarters on the sub now a days, occasionally putting things away he'd meant to or hadn't gotten around to yet for him.

Scanning the few items on the wardrobe rail once more before glancing at the shelves for his glaringly obvious yellow item, he confirmed he hadn't missed it in there before closing the door. He headed to his dresser and opened each drawer in turn, still finding a distinct lack of his top before the glint of metal caught his eye.

Closing the last drawer slowly as he stood straight, he narrowed his eyes with a frown at his unsheathed nodachi, resting where he'd left it against the wall beside the large bureau and missing the hat he had hung on its hilt as it all came together.

* * *

"Connor-ya."

Turning around from the bar with a confused expression as he heard the way he was addressed by his more…high-pitched than he remembered? captain, he looked down at his far shorter than usual 'superior' as she smirked at him.

Getting over his shock, he promptly burst into laughter, making the other Heart Pirates waiting at the bar turn to see what had him in stitches all of a sudden, quickly following his suit of stunned silence before roaring with laughter.

"Oh god, lil lady." Jeff coughed, his snickering coming to an end as the drink in his mouth went down the wrong way. "Captain's gonna kill you." He croaked out with strained effort.

"Oh, definitely." Another crewmember added.

"Nice knowing ya, Nayla-chan." Another called over in agreement, holding up and tilting his beer bottle at her in a mournful salute.

"…Captain?" Hearing Penguin's unsure question, as he and Shachi descended the stairs behind her, she turned around, stopping them in their tracks as they took in the thick eyeliner on her lower lids, her own gold hoops in place on each ear, the drawn on goatee and sideburns, her boots and jeans – her own pair of course, naturally she had no chance of fitting into Law's without taking up at least the last foot of them. What really sold her look was the genuine, stolen hoodie, stolen hat with her hair tucked beneath it and the all too familiar sheath she'd rest casually to her shoulder.

"N-Nayla-chan! Capt-!" Stopping his scold, Penguin turned to give his friend a tut as Shachi burst into laughter, causing another round to erupt from the men at the bar. Waiting for it to subside he sighed, glaring at the red head as he tried to settle down and stifle his laughter behind the hand he'd raised to his mouth.

"Captain's gonna be _really_ mad if he sees you dressed like that!" Penguin warned over the noise in the inn's downstairs bar, nearly solely occupied by the large gathering of costumed and un-costumed pirates.

"Agreed, Penguin-ya. Which is why we should begin taking our leave before he does." She said calmly, gesturing towards the inn door, bringing his attention to her drawn on 'D-E-A-T-H' and symbol on the back of her hand as the men laughed at her impressive impression of his smooth tone and well-mimicked smirk.

"I see you went with the Killer Penguin idea, it suits you. And you make a very handsome vampire, Shachi-ya."

Rubbing a hand to his face, Penguin started to wonder if this was the exasperation and frustration that his captain seemed to feel when dealing with her.

"Come on Pen, it's pretty funny." Shachi snickered, his fake fangs peering out from beneath his lips as he grinned and nudged his friend's side.

Pressing his lips together to stem his traitorous smile, Penguin removed his hand with a sigh as they made their way down the rest of the stairs. "I know it is. It's freaking hilarious but think of what he'll do to her when he finds out - _and_ I can't help but think we're gonna feel Captain's wrath as well."

Grin dropping from his face, Shachi's jaw slacked. "Really? You think so?"

"Can't imagine he's gonna be too happy with us if we let her go out looking like that." Jake chuckled from his barstool, enjoying the show.

"I think Captain-ya should take it as a compliment, considering tonight is about dressing as something fearsome."

"Dammit, stop it, Nayla." Dean snickered into his drink, nearly spilling what was in his mouth as she spoke.

"Don't tell me what to do." Her persona cracking at the round of snickers she caused, she giggled with them as she dropped her impression of their captain for the moment. "Let me have my fun, I'll take the rap for this. If he finds out-"

" _When_ he finds out." Jeff corrected, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, there's no way he'll go out tonight without his weapon. Think he's not gonna notice it's missing its sheath?" Penguin added, nodding his head towards it resting on her shoulder.

"He's gonna be _pissed_ you took that." Ichirou said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Well it's not like I took his _actual_ weapon. He'll just have to carry it more carefully for a little while is all." She huffed. " _Anyway. When_ he finds out, I'll just tell him I lied to you guys and said I okayed this idea with him first is all. You guys are off the hook, so relax…and let's get out of here before he gets out of his shower." She added, ushering them to follow as she turned and headed towards the door.

Slinging back the rest of their drinks, they chuckled and conversed animatedly with one another as they stood, placing their empty bottles and glasses down to the bar and tables as they left their seats, ready to hit the town.

"So what are you supposed to be?" Nayla asked Jeff as he reached her first, eyeing his similarly drawn on facial hair – a goatee and an exaggeratedly curled moustache, old-time garb, cape and slicked back hair.

He arched a brow and rest a hand to his chest, clearly getting into character to respond. "Me? I am Don Juan, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, senorita."

"Still telling ya you should have dressed up like a ham...or a pig" Connor sighed, swatting Jeff's hand away from hers as he bowed graciously to kiss the back of it.

"Like your werewolf costume, Connor. Suits you." She smiled as his amber eyes stopped glaring at his friend and rest back on her, the brown faux fur adhered delicately to the edges of his face only emphasising their wild colour.

"Thanks, sweetie..." He responded, eyeing her cautiously as if worried to return the compliment.

"You know you love it."

Snorting at that he rest his hand to his captain's hat, pushing it down over her eyes as they started making their way out.

"So where we headed exactly?" Penguin asked Jeff as he approached from behind.

"Thought we could stop by a few of the local bars on the way – free drinks for people in costume." He explained on a side note, earning the approval of his crewmates as they nodded in agreement. "Then we can catch some of the parade on our way to the festival."

"Festival?" Shachi asked, pushing open the door.

"Yeah. Drinks, food, games, live shows, live music, contests, carnival games and lots of spooky attractions. Figured it'd have something everyone'd like."

"Yeah, sounds good." Shachi grinned widely, holding the door open behind him as he stepped out into the night.

"Nice job, Jeff." Penguin chimed in, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Including a whole lotta ladies in hot costumes, am I right?" He nudged Nayla from her other side with a lecherous grin of anticipation, making her scoff as she peeled up the rim of fur a little from beneath Connor's hand to give him an amused look.

"…Gotta say though, Captain's never looked hotter." He added thoughtfully, glancing at her poorly concealed chest beneath the oversized top she wore, resting his elbow to her shoulder as they made their way through the large double doorway.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Jeff jolted from her side as though she'd given him a violent electric shock, turning around to see his displeased Captain staring at him sternly as he made beeline towards them from the staircase.

"And _only_ because I have more pressing issues to attend to." Law added grimly, turning his gaze to the woman frozen with her back to him still.

"Oh, uh, Captain. We…" Connor immediately lift his hand from her, belatedly realising how casually it had been resting on his captain's beloved hat as he caught Law's very displeased grey gaze.

"S-She said she'd gotten permission." One of the crew declared, taking her up on her offer to throw her under the bus without hesitation as they all stepped back a safe distance from her.

"So you're stupid enough to believe that or you're lying to me, which is it?" Law asked in a dangerously quiet, calm tone.

Biting her lips as the man audibly gulped and she felt Law's menacing aura come to a close stop behind her, she turned around slowly, meeting the Jolly Roger on his black sweatshirt face-to-face before reluctantly turning her eyes upwards.

He peered down his nose at her as she met his annoyed glare with a sheepish gaze from beneath the rim of his own hat.

He knew full well the 'small, cute, big eyed, innocent' appearance she was adopting was all to minimise his anger with her but it was absolutely, one hundred percent not working in the slightest...Probably…Alright some of the edge of his irritation had subsided - but only a little.

…

"I believe you have something that belongs to me, Nayla-ya." He said smoothly, staring her down.

Pursing her lips together, she slowly, hopefully and mutely offered him his nodachi's sheath.

Crossing his arms, he clenched his jaw irritably as he looked at it. "I believe you have _several_ things that belong to me." He firmly corrected.

Clearing her throat, she very reluctantly peeled the hat from her head, offering him both items silently as her hair fell around her shoulders.

Looking at them but making no move to take them, he took a pointedly long stare at his top before he shot his displeased gaze back up to hers in silent demand of _all_ his items returned.

"You are _not_ going out like that. Take that off." He forbid, his low voice ominously firm and authoritative. "Now." He impatiently demanded when she made no move to do as he asked…though he found the back of his mind idly wondering if her sideburns were drawn on with eyeliner or marker.

"You want me to take it off here or what?" She snapped irritably, dropping the quiet, innocent cutesiness as she saw it clearly having little effect in provoking any kind of leniency from the merciless pirate.

The corner of his mouth lifting slightly as her temperament awoke, he watched her huff and rest her hands to her hips.

"Go u-" Shooting an unamused glare Jeff's way as he heard the quiet 'yes' the man uttered in response to her question, he continued as his crewmember wisely began to cover his indiscretion with a series of forced coughs. "Go upstairs and change, immediately, or I'll be taking you up there myself."

'And tearing your hoodie off of me? – Just to clarify, that was not a turn on. That was a threat. – Yeah, of being manhandled, stripped and punished for our bad behaviour. – Does he _look_ like he's in the mood to play? - …We could probably get him in the mood to play. I say we-'

Sighing loudly, at both her inner thoughts and at him, she crossed her arms and stomped past Law, in much the same way a stroppy teenager being told to go change into something more 'decent' by a parent before going out might. "Right away, Captain-ya"

Narrowing his eyes as he heard his own smooth speech parroted back to him, he followed after her. "What have I told you about disrespecting me in front of my men?"

The words were angry but the tone wasn't really, despite him trying to continue to sound it.

"I'm not disrespecting you. I'm just..."

Stopping at the foot of the staircase, he gave her a sceptical, almost bored expression as she rolled the hand holding his hat in search of the right way to phrase it...'Lie about it,' in his opinion.

"Poking playful fun at you is all. No different to how I would with any of the other guys." She reassured, smiling up at him...It felt odd that she did so with 'his' goatee on her chin...It felt even odder that he still found her very attractive...He wondered if that counted as vanity or narcissism.

"Then why didn't you dress up as any of them?" He deadpanned, snatching his hat back and making her laugh as she started her way up the steps.

"Because they're not nearly as frightening as you are, it _is_ Halloween after all - no offence guys." She called down to them, knowing they all took some measure of pride in being a 'fearsome' pirate.

"Uh, none taken, I guess?" Penguin responded, sharing a peculiar look with Shachi.

"Want us to wait for ya, sweetie?" Connor called up.

"Please, I have a plan B costume lined up already so it won't take me long to change and be back down...Why are you following me? Gonna rip this hoodie off of me yourself?" She asked the latter to Law under her breath as he made his way up behind her.

"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?" He asked her lowly, cracking a smirk at that as he replaced his stolen item to his own head.

"Maybe." She answered just as quietly, sharing a subtly flirtatious look with him.

"I'm making sure you _actually_ change by taking my hoodie back. We wouldn't want you to, let's say, jump out your first story window and run off parading as me all night the second you're out of my sight, would we?"

Feeling her jaw slack as he accurately guessed the _exact_ idea she had only summoned into her own head a split second ago, she shook it as his smirk widened knowingly.

"You look ridiculous by the way." He added.

" _You_ go out looking like this." She shot back, flicking her hair haughtily over her shoulder as she turned back around and made her way up.

" _I_ look better in sideburns. I've told you before, not everybody suits them."

"Well _I_ wear your top better."

"Says who?"

"Says me. I look _much_ hotter in this than you do."

"...So you think I look 'hot' in it, do you?"

"Get over yourself."

"Coming from a woman that so proudly declared how 'hot' she is not more than two seconds ago."

"...Got an answer for everything, don't you? Smart ass."

...

Penguin was the first to break the collective hush that had fallen over the pirates standing in somewhat stunned awe by the exit, listening to the two's light-hearted banter grow quieter as they ascended."...Don't think anyone else would have kept their limbs after that if they'd tried it."

"Yeah...You were right though, they are kinda cute together." Shachi agreed quietly, a small smile finding its way onto his lips as he glimpsed the amused one on his placated captain's face as he disappeared after Nayla onto the floor above.

* * *

Dissolving the spun sugar in her mouth to naught, Nayla hummed happily around her disappearing mouthful of orange coloured cotton candy, waiting patiently by the open fence of the carnival with her less than patient company.

"God, what is taking that ass so long anyway?" Shachi sighed, resting his back against the poster on the wooden planks behind him with his arms folded. It advertised the 'Hell-ements' interactive attraction that had been on that night. Actors in costumes that simulated wicked witches that were raising the dead (thankfully, also actors), in the forest that bordered the fairgrounds. It had spooked a few of the boys but hadn't fazed her too much, she wasn't a big believer in the supernatural, which was virtually a prerequisite of finding an attraction like that frightening in the first place.

"He'll be here soon enough. Maybe the queue got longer, ride seems pretty popular." Penguin reasoned, watching a heavily costumed costume walk past them on their way out. A ghoul and his attractive, though undead, girlfriend or wife who were laughing and chatting excitedly about their evening.

"Oh it is, the queue was huge when me and Connor went." Nayla chipped in around her full cheeks.

'The Haunted Hayride' Jeff had wanted to check out before leaving, due to her and Connor's raving reviews, had been a lot of fun. A rickety wagon ride through open air jump scares, angry farmers and beasts that 'chased' you down. She could see why it was a popular and apparently annual feature for this town's Halloween celebrations.

Furrowing his brows at that, Penguin looked back at her in confusion. "I coulda sworn you two were on and off that ride in less than twenty minutes."

"Flirted with the guy managing the queue." She said nonchalantly, watching one of the carnival's street performers pull down his blood splattered mask and raise his fake chainsaw in anticipation of the teens coming around the corner of the food stand he was crouching behind.

"…With Connor right there?" Shachi asked in disbelief, following her line of sight just in time to see the teens scream and jump back in horror as the 'crazed killer' hopped out of his hiding spot and startled them. He didn't wanna count how many times he'd been scared out of his own pants the same way that night, the actors were everywhere. The townsfolk really went all out at this annual festival it seemed.

"And wasn't Ichi with you guys too?" Penguin recalled, chuckling as one of the girls threw her popcorn at the performer in a huff as he lifted his mask and laughed at them.

"Well of course flirting wouldn't have worked if the guy had seen me with other guys. I had them stay in the line 'til I called them over and yeah, Ichi was with us. Screamed like a lil bitch when we went under some trees and a fake severed head fell into his lap." Nayla grinned slyly, well aware of the teasing she had just caused the man as the two beside her cracked up, but with Connor having been there to see it too, the damage to the man's reputation was as good as done anyway.

"Yo! Sorry it took so long." Jeff jogged over, lowering the hand he'd raised when he'd spotted them, his cape fluttering behind him in his motion.

"About time." Shachi said, pushing off of the fence he'd been leaning on.

"Worth it though, cool ride. The zombie nuns were pretty hot too." He grinned, coming to a stop in front of them. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Penguin agreed, choosing not to address the zombie nun comment as he rolled his eyes and started heading out of the park with Shachi.

"Ready." Nayla chirped happily, gently tearing off the last of the fluffy candy from the stick it had been wrapped around.

"…I'm still taking offence to that eye patch, lil lady." Jeff sighed, taking in her stereotypical pirate attire.

Shrugging at him, she nibbled the last stray puffs of sugar from the wood as they began following after the two ahead of them.

It had been an easy enough backup costume idea to piece together should she have found no opportunity to steal what she needed from Law or should he have found out and stopped her before she could get out the door. A simple skirt, a white blouse, a black underbust corset, her eye patch from work, her red winter scarf wrapped around her waist like a sash and her swords had all been things she'd already owned…minus the long-sleeved white blouse.

"I think she looks pretty good." Penguin commented over his shoulder.

"Yeah, cutest pirate I've ever seen." Shachi agreed with a grin.

"I'm not saying she doesn't look cute...Actually kinda flattered you picked pirate to be honest, lil lady." Jeff added with a wide smile of his own.

"Somehow seemed like the right choice this year." She laughed.

"...Sooo, whose top is that? _Captain's_?"

She tutted at his taunt in annoyance as his teasing nudges knocked the arm she was _trying_ to use to hold the stick still so that she could suck the last of the sugar off of it.

"Mine actually." Penguin beamed back at him as they reached the street, fanning out once they left the walkway to the festival to stand side by side.

"Don't look so proud." Shachi muttered.

"Says you? You practically skipped all day when she picked _your_ top to sleep in over mine." His friend reminded him.

Ignoring the red head's grumble and Penguin's victorious grin, Nayla mused aloud as they began making their way back towards the inn. "Still, surprised any of you even _had_ a smart shirt like this to lend me."

"Yeah, not exactly many fancy occasions for pirates to attend. Few of us have a suit or two here and there though. Cap, for example."

Deadpanning at Jeff as he unsubtly brought up another excuse to talk about the man with her, Nayla was about to tell him to give it a rest when they heard a familiarly loud screech above their heads, soon followed by an explosion of bright lights and colours.

"Nice! Those coming from the festival?" Shachi exclaimed, looking over his shoulder back the way they came for the source of the fireworks.

"Nah, coming from the street the parade is on. Look." Penguin pointed out, shielding his eyes as they watched they newly formed streaks light up the sky from behind several rows of houses.

"Yeah, they're the midnight finale of the parade. Looks like it's over." Jeff explained, shoving his hands into his pockets as they stopped and admired the display, others on the street doing the same.

Smiling as they looked up at them together, Nayla wondered if Law were watching them too, seeing as he'd been heading to the parade with Bepo that night. Admittedly, a small part of her wished she were enjoying them with him...but with an inward scold, she reminded herself that she was already enjoying them with good company and that she couldn't have done any better.

Stuffing the now bare stick into her mouth, she looped arms with Penguin and Shachi on either side of her, giving them a happy grin as they looked at her questioningly before they returned her smile and started making their way back down the street.

"Man, they're going all out." Jeff whistled, impressed as the simple outline of a jack-o'-lantern lit up the sky via a series of skilfully launched fireworks. "…I should give that a try."

"No you damn well shouldn't." Penguin shot down immediately.

"Nah, feel free to blow yourself up all your want. On land though, away from us and away from the sub." Shachi supported, snickering at the man as he turned around to level him a look.

"By the way lil lady, just curious but, why are _you_ calling it quits early tonight? I mean we all have duty in the morning so I get us leaving but what about you? Plenty of others still at the festival, even a few of 'em heading off to bars and clubs after they're done there, why not tag along with them?"

Shrugging as she subtly pulled the men on either side of her closer to shield her from the chilly October evening, she pushed the stick in her mouth to one side with her tongue to speak. "Dunno, just didn't feel like staying out all night tonight. It's midnight, that's plenty for me."

Humming thoughtfully, Jeff turned to face her, walking backwards down the street as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Ah, I got it. You wanna head back earlier tonight because you're eager to get the spanking you deserve from Cap for impersonating him."

'Oh, _god_ yes.' "NO!" She snapped at him, pulling her arm free of Shachi to pluck the stick out of her mouth and throw it at him angrily.

"Wooow _that_ hit a nerve!" He laughed heartily, spinning slightly to dodge the makeshift projectile easily, hands back in his pockets.

"No, it didn't. I just get tired of your constant teasing, dammit. Don't you guys ever quit?! Geez!" She grouched exasperatedly, slipping her arm back through Shachi's and grumpily pulling both he and his friend closer to her sides, no longer caring if they realised she was stealing their body warmth for herself.

"D'aww, lil munchkin pirate is _almost_ scary when she's mad." He cooed mockingly, ignoring her frown as he turned back around with a toothy grin. "Although, you're still scarier than those rides and stuff had been."

" _You_ didn't get scared at all on those?" Penguin asked sceptically.

"Nah, empty jump scares. Getting startled is just a reflex reaction to something sudden, it's not _real_ fear…But, I did hear something pretty interesting when I was scoping out the hotspots for tonight."

"…Like what?" Shachi asked warily, finding the sinister turn to Jeff's grin unsettling as he looked back at them over his shoulder.

"Well, one of the attractions they had at that festival was based on a true, local, haunted house. Last year was the first and last time they ran it because apparently the real ghost didn't take too kindly to the townsfolk making light of her eternal misery and damnation and decided to spook the visitors for real."

"Her, huh."

"Yeah, real disturbing tale behind her too…Her house isn't far from here, still abandoned. The street at this next turn in fact. We should go che-"

"No." Penguin immediately dismissed.

"Seconded." Shachi agreed firmly.

"Figured you guys would be totally spineless little girls about it. Shame Connor called it a night so early, _he'd_ have come with me. Now _that_ guy's got _real_ balls between _his_ legs…Oh well, maybe I'll just go check it out myself if my crewmates don't wanna because it's too scare-wee to walk around an old, empty house on Hawo-ween."

Feeling the men on either side of her bristle at Jeff's obvious goading, Nayla peered up at them with a raised brow to find them both pursing their lips together tightly in a bid not to rise to it.

"You believe that, lil lady? And they call themselves pirates, _Heart_ Pirates no less. Not a sense of adventure or shred of bravery between 'em. As yellow bellied as the sub." He laughed, taking the turn off from the main street to head towards the supposed haunted house.

"Oi, just because we don't wanna go wandering around a dusty old wreck for no good reason doesn't mean we're cowards." Shachi grouched, making Nayla look up at him in surprise as he started following.

"Yeah, what's so interesting about looking at an old house?" Penguin mumbled, turning to follow as well.

"Um…" Nayla said unsurely, essentially being taken along for the ride as the men on either side of her followed Jeff.

"It's not about the house, it's about what the people of this town saw in there to have made an attraction based on it - and then what did they see to make them cancel it so fast?" He said mysteriously, earning an unimpressed tut and sigh from his friends.

"Don't _you_ find it at least a little intriguing, lil lady?"

"…Well not so much the house but, maybe the story behind the woman that lived there?" Nayla noted how the building density along this street seemed to get sparser and more rundown looking as they walked. The whole street in fact was gradually looking more and more deserted as they went; definitely an older and lesser used part of the portside town.

"Girl." He corrected, looking over his shoulder at her. "It was a little girl that died there, no older than ten I hear."

"In the house?" Shachi asked, a slight unease at the idea creeping into his voice.

"Yeah, she died a very long, drawn out death by the sounds of it."

…

"How did she die?" Penguin finally broke the terse silence, voicing the morbid question they all had on their minds.

"The little girl was born deaf and blind and back then, there wasn't much in the way of help for her or her parents. If anything, they were excluded and shunned by the townspeople after she was born."

"Why would they do that?" Shachi asked in confusion and disgust.

"Superstitions. Old-time way of thinking was to explain away any birth problems or conditions people didn't understand as having some kind of negative spiritual cause or as divine punishment."

"…Kinda like how people used to explain seizures as possession before they understood what epilepsy was?" Nayla asked quietly.

"Yeah, exactly." Jeff grinned back at her.

"…Still doesn't explain how she died." Penguin pointed out.

"Right, getting to that. Well, you gotta imagine it was real tough and tiring trying to look after and raise a little girl with so many needs. Especially when you knew she'd never be able to live by herself or get married and especially when the townsfolk were treating you like shit. - Ah, there it is, up ahead." Jeff pointed out the house coming into view, though it was still a little too far and too dark to make out much.

"The couple were loving to the little girl – and to each other, at first. Seeing as all they had was each other…But the years took their toll. The father started struggling to find work – unfairly turned away as being the man with the town's 'crippled dud,' the mother got tired of staying home all day everyday looking after the girl and her every need. The husband eventually lost his job, got depressed, started drinking. The couple argued over money, over his alcoholism, over whose turn it was to feed or clean up their kid – the neighbours heard them yelling at each other about it all the time apparently…"

He slowed down as the house drew close to them on the right. It wasn't very big, a humble size in comparison to the other homes nearby. Its age was obvious by its style; its entirely brick build and the waist-high, heavily rusted, cast iron fencing that separated it from the sidewalk.

"...The husband hung himself in the end. His wife found him in the basement."

Finding herself swallowing uncomfortably as that settled in, they came to a stop beside Jeff as he reached the small gate of the house's fence, left open and leading to the front yard's stone pathway to the door. The large, flat, rounded stones nearly completely obscured by the overgrown grass and weeds.

"The lady didn't cope very well after that. Not that I blame her for going off the deep end with virtually no money coming in and the full, lifelong responsibility of her totally dependent child on her shoulders…Little by little, the resentment and bitterness that had been building up over the years for her daughter, that she'd now come to see as a useless burden, started surfacing."

"Her mother killed her?" Penguin breathed out, almost not wanting to know the answer to his own question as they watched Jeff enter the yard, pushing the fence open a little further as he passed. The decayed metal made an unholy screeching sound as its rusted frame struggled to move.

"Essentially. It was just neglect at first, like not giving her little girl any reassuring or affectionate touches anymore. Then less and less of what little food the mother did manage to buy making its way to her daughter…to just downright leaving her to sit in her room hungry and in her own filth…Then it became outright abuse." He said grimly, inspecting the dishevelled, unkempt yard around him.

"All day outside hungry and cold, begging for spare change or a job, being spat at and ridiculed by the townsfolk and then coming home to a kid that depended entirely on her for everything - a kid she felt was the root cause of all her misery…The little girl was beaten, regularly. She became the mother's outlet, to vent her anger, pain and frustration."

"…Guessing the neighbours heard all that too and did shit about it." Shachi said in obvious disdain, looking away from the flakes of rust on the ground that had crusted loose from the gate to the neighbouring houses that were in markedly better condition, though as unoccupied as the one they stood in front of.

"Yeah…" Jeff said sadly as he looked the building over, his gaze settling onto the moonlight glossing over the old, rickety tiles of the roof and its gaping holes. "…One day, the mother went into town. Dolled up in her finest dress, cleaned up real prim and proper like, carrying a suitcase. She hadn't looked that well and rested since before her child was born. She happily declared that her daughter had gone missing, had run away from home nights ago and that she hadn't been able to find her. When asked why she hadn't reported it earlier, she simply shrugged with a smile and said she figured that no one would take looking for her seriously – she probably wasn't wrong." He shoved his hands into his pockets again as he started making his way down the path towards the front door.

"The lady said she had given up hoping the girl would find her way home and that she'd be moving outta town to put her tragedies behind her and start anew, that she was leaving the house to the town officials to do with what they wanted…So, let's check it out." He finished, a devious glint to his eyes as he turned around to look at them still stood on the sidewalk.

"Inside?" Shachi asked incredulously, looking over the house again as if assessing its structural integrity.

"Well yeah, inside. What did you think we came here for?"

"No way." Penguin quickly refused.

"What's the matter? Chicken? You guys wanna go home and tuck each other in instead?" He pouted exaggeratedly as though in pity.

"We're not chicken." He denied firmly, frowning at Jeff.

"It's fine if you are. You guys head on back, tuck each other in nice and snug and be sure to give each other a goodnight kiss." He mocked, turning his teasing grin Shachi's way.

"We _aren't_ chicken." The red head snapped at him irritably.

Looking pointedly down at his crewmates' feet as they stood cleanly on the other side of the house's property line, Jeff snickered, turning and assessing the front door with coughs that sounded suspiciously like 'chicken' and a series of clucks.

"...Fucking ass." Shachi grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets as be grudgingly trudged after the man.

"You can't be serious, Shachi!"

Turning around, at Penguin's shocked, disapproving tone, his friend frowned at him. "Would you rather put up with _that_ for the next week?"

Following the thumb he'd jabbed over his shoulder in Jeff's direction, Penguin and Nayla watched as Jeff looked over, folding his arms into flapping wings as he began to cluck openly at them.

Rubbing his free hand down his face in frustration, Penguin seemed to weigh his options...and with an agonised groan as Jeff began bwaking louder, started making his way towards the house.

"Atta boy! 'Bout time you two sacked up." Jeff grinned victoriously, dropping his 'chicken' act as Shachi reached him by the front door. "What about you lil lady, ya scared?" He cooed tauntingly.

"Yes." She readily admitted, glancing back the way they'd come longingly as she rubbed her hands over her arms at her sudden lack of man-sized heaters on either side.

...

Looking back at them when she heard no response, she found Jeff had dropped his teasing grin, Shachi was looking at her in surprise and that Penguin had stopped in his tracks to look at her in much the same way. Apparently not expecting her response in the slightest.

"What? _I_ don't have a penis. _I_ can admit to being scared when I'm scared...Ridiculous macho shit you guys do…May not be chickens but you _are_ idiots." She muttered, pouting sourly at the road that led back towards the nice, warm, safe, comfy, cosy inn.

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts and the like, lil lady."

"I don't. Because I haven't seen any. I'm not in any rush to change that."

"What you got to be scared of? You're armed, aren't ya?" He gestured to the swords on her hips.

"…I somehow don't think physical attacks work on spirits." She mumbled, glancing down at them distrustfully.

"Aww don't worry, there's nothing to be scared of, Nayla-chan. It's just an old house." Shachi reassured.

"Still, I'm not up for this. I think I'll just head back..." Hearing Penguin move closer again, she looked up at him as he grabbed one of her hands warmly.

"Don't worry, Nayla-chan. We'll be with ya, nothing's gonna happen to you."

"Yeah, like we'd let anything happen to our lil lady. Right Shach?" He asked the man beside him with a playful elbow, though he didn't wait for an answer. "What kinda pirates - men, do ya take us for?" Jeff grinned at her.

Pursing her lips in thought of their reassurance and the thought of walking back alone in the cold and dark, she allowed Penguin to gently tug her towards the house, eyeing it warily.

"Besides, if anything does happen, I'm sure Pen and Shach will be more than happy to lay down their lives to help us escape."

"What do you mean 'us.'" Shachi queried grumpily as he crossed his arms.

"May even remember to bring back help when we get back to the inn. Aye, lil lady?" He winked at her, making her smile a little as Shachi tutted and rolled his eyes behind his perpetual sunglasses.

Guided by Penguin's warm, secure hold and his settling smile she took in the house as they approached, it's rundown features becoming more prominent as she and Penguin drew closer.

The dried out, deadened grass and weeds of the front yard crunched briskly as they walked, crushed beneath their boots against the stone path they took redundantly. It seemed there had been little rain on the island despite the time of year.

The layers of rot, damage and mould painting the dark bricks that made up the skeletal framework of the simple structure became more apparent, as well as the filthy, caked up windows, all heavily obscured by decades of neglected dirt and grime.

They tread carefully onto the fragile, rotted wood of the small porch beside Jeff and Shachi as the former rest his hand to the peeling, discoloured paint of the front door.

Nayla glanced up at the house as Jeff began to fiddle with the aged lock, noting the break in the window above them before her eyes searched the others for smashed glass, settling onto the one that held thick iron bars. The only one that had bars.

Deciding grimly that this more fortified ground floor room at the front of the property was probably where the young girl had been kept, she was left to wonder if they had been installed as loving protection for the less able child or as a way of keeping the mother's new outlet for her frustration from fleeing from her.

Catching Shachi's gaze as he turned away from examining the same window they shared a silent, morose look.

Attention drawn back to Jeff as they all heard the noisy clunk of the lock he'd successfully opened, he grinned proudly at his handiwork and pushed the door open. The high-pitched creak of the rusted hinges forced to work past their prime worthy of a horror movie sound bite as they screeched loudly into the chilled night air...

Nayla started to question when it had suddenly gotten so cold or if it always had been and she simply hadn't noticed it until now...Maybe all the people at the festival and on the busier streets had made it seem warmer tonight?

"So, what exactly are you expecting to find?" Penguin's voice broke her inner musings as she turned away from the street behind them that she had started to reconsider, peering into what little of the house they could see highlighted by the moonlight that flooded into it from behind them.

"I dunno, nothing really. Just figured it'd be a fun and spooky note to end our Halloween night on." He wiggled his fingers in emphasis. "Something to tell the guys about when we get back."

"Wanna check out her room and go then?" Shachi said, his suggestion and slightly rapid speech betraying exactly how little time he wanted to spend in the darkened, abandoned building as he poked his head into it guardedly from around the doorframe.

"Where's your sense of adventure? We should leave that for the grand finale!" Jeff scolded, braving the threshold and taking a step inside. "...Or maybe the basement." He corrected thoughtfully, looking around the large, emptied living room until his gaze settled onto the door beneath the wooden staircase that leant its decrepit weight to the far wall.

"Why? Because the father died down there?" Penguin ventured as he walked in after Shachi, holding onto Nayla's hand securely as she followed reluctantly.

"Apparently the little girl did too. So, figures the most sightings have been down there." Jeff replied flippantly, striding out of the light that shone in from the doorway and into the darkness.

Shachi shared a concerned frown with Penguin at that, stopping in the centre of the vacant room as Jeff disappeared into the next, presumably the kitchen.

"…What kind of sigh-?"

Whipping around sharply at the harsh slam, Nayla pressed her back to Penguin as she stared wide eyed at the now closed front door. All three breathing heavily in the pitch black, they stood numbly as the sound gradually echoed into nonexistence.

"...What was that?...Guys?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat down, Nayla clutched the man behind her nervously as he answered the slightly worried-sounding Jeff. "The...the door shut...by itself."

She listened to his booted footsteps as he re-entered the living room and felt the two men with her turn to face his direction but Nayla couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze away from the door in front of them.

"...Probably just the wind." He reasoned.

"Says every group of idiots that ever entered a haunted place and had this exact thing happen in every horror movie ever made ever!" Nayla hissed at him irritably, not appreciating his cliché response in the slightest, considering they had just been stood in the doorway and she hadn't felt even the slightest of breezes.

"Well its true, lil lady. Was probably nothing." He shrugged calmly, their eyes adjusting to the darkness well enough to have seen the gesture.

"Don't you have another one of those lamps tucked away in that get-up of yours?" Shachi asked him, the slight croak in his voice as he cleared it giving away his slightly his frayed nerves.

They'd gone through with the idea of painting a few of the lanterns they'd created for their captain's birthday earlier that month orange for Halloween. They had made for nice hand held lanterns for fun.

"Nah, only had the one I gave away to that kid...What? He thought our Jolly Roger was 'sooo cool!'.." He answered the disapproving stares he could feel more than he could see. "...Ah come on, made him smile to wave that thing around. Practically free advertising...Anyway..."

Feeling their collective continued stares he decided to move swiftly on. "Not much left to see in the kitchen, just some old knife set on the counter, rusted blades and stuff. Let's head upstairs and work our way down to the basement."

Watching what she could see of him as he moved towards the stairs, Nayla frowned to herself as her brain immediately questioned whether it was rust or dried blood on the blades he'd seen, squashing the curiosity that made her want to venture into the room and see for herself and the morbid thoughts of those blades possibly running across a little girl's skin.

"So, these 'sightings' I take it were seen by the people that moved in after the mother skipped town?" Shachi asked, venturing after Jeff as he kept a cautious eye to the heavily creaking floorboards below them between his perturbed glances at the front door.

"Earlier than that even." Nayla could almost see Jeff's shake of his head in the darkness now as Penguin followed them, still holding onto her hand. "After the mother left, the town sent some officials here to value the place to put it on the market. It took them a few days to get around to it but when they did, they swore they heard weird scratching and muffled sounds. Ignored it, figured it to be mice or something...Guess that doesn't really count as a sighting though, seeing as she was still alive at the time..."

Squinting up at the ancient, narrow, wooden staircase as they reached the foot of it, she was thankful to spot some brighter moonlight fluttering in from the windows on the floor above. Though as for the stairs themselves…She could easily see frayed, splintered boards comprising them, littered with small holes and a banister that waned outwards as though giving in to its own weight as it struggled to stay upright with age.

"Is this even gonna support us without breaking?" Penguin voiced her thought aloud as he scrutinised the structure from beside her.

"Should do…You try it first Pen."

"What? Why me?"

"'Cause you're lighter than I am. I got more muscle on me than you do bird brain." Jeff grinned at him cheekily.

"You wish you did. Besides, Shachi is lighter than I am." He gestured to the man beside him with his free thumb.

"Once by like, one pound. We're the same weight Pen." Shachi scoffed, insulted at the implication of him being the least muscled and lightest amongst them.

"Well one of you go, if the stairs can't support either of you two lightweights than we're out of luck." Jeff said, excluding himself from the possibility as he left the two to glare at each other over the argument he'd started.

"I'm telling you, you're lighter."

"No, _you're_ the lighter one."

"You're the lightest one here Shach, deal with it and get going."

"I'm _not_ the lightest one here, I…"

Nayla pressed herself closer to Penguin's side as Shachi and Jeff turned to her simultaneously, a devious grin spreading across the latter's face.

"…Where are our manners boys? Ladies first." He gestured to the stairs with a slight bow.

"No."

"Come onnn, little thing like you will have no trouble getting up these."

" _No!_ " Her voice more muffled as she wrapped her arms around Penguin's arm and pressed her cheek to it, refusing to be the one to go up the shaky looking stairs of a creepy – supposedly haunted – house into the darkness. First, alone and on an adventure she hadn't even wanted to go on.

"Nayla-chan, if you don't feel safe just stop and come back down. We'll be right behind you." Penguin said softly to her, resting his free hand to the top of her head as she glanced up at him.

"Yeah, let's just get this stupid idea of Jeff's over and done with." Shachi added.

…

Reluctantly uncurling from Penguin's side, she glanced down at the small hole in the first step unsurely, silently agreeing to their proposition of heading up them first.

"Atta girl! Alley-oop." Taking a hold of either side of her waist, Jeff carefully lifted her up and over the first few broken steps to set her down gently as high up the staircase as he could reach.

Waiting patiently as she gingerly set her feet to the wood, he slowly released her as she placed a hand to the railing.

"There. How's it feel, lil lady?" He asked, removing his hands tentatively as she took on her own weight.

"…Actually, feels pretty sturdy." She said in surprise, looking down at her booted toes as she shifted her feet.

She started taking slow steps up, more and more reassured with each one and how solid it felt beneath her, despite the horrendously loud creaks that echoed with each movement she made.

"Looks good to me." Jeff said triumphantly, planting a foot to the staircase himself as he started to make his way up behind her. "Come along lads."

Exchanging a shrug with one another, Penguin and Shachi soon followed, keeping careful distance between them all so as not to over strain any one section of the old wood at one time.

Nearly at the top, Nayla peered through the banisters that lined the landing above, looking around at the doorways to the bedrooms as they came into view, mildly illuminated by the light that filtered in with great strain through the layers of grime on the window in the hallway.

Feeling movement over her fingers, she froze in place, glancing down at the ghostly soft sensation gliding over her skin and shrieked in horror at what she saw.

Heads snapping up as she screamed and jerked away from the banister, Penguin and Shachi watched as Jeff caught onto her before she fell backwards onto them. "What is it?! What's the matter?!"

Unable to form words she smothered her girly screams down to muffled squeals with great restraint as she closed her eyes tightly and shook her hand vigorously.

Seeing something small, dark and shiny briefly fly past his vision as it was flung from her hand, Jeff followed it to the ground, choking on his laughter before it finally erupted loudly.

"It's not funny, you _bastard!_ " She wrenched out his hold in annoyance, still shaking her hand as she shuddered violently.

Only laughing harder at that he held his stomach as she stomped the last two steps up onto the landing, her skin still crawling in disgust.

"What's wrong?"

"What's the matter, Nayla-chan?"

"She – there's - " Failing to form a sentence for his two confused friend behind him, Jeff moved aside and pointed to the banister where her hand had been as he cackled with laughter.

Following his gesture, Shachi lifted his sunglasses and squinted at the area of wood that appeared to be…moving?

Peering from around his friend, Penguin leaned forward carefully as he inspected the spot too, pressing his lips together in amusement as Shachi tried hard to hold his snickering in, watching the woodlouse and termites practically ooze from the area of exposed, rotted wood.

"Shut up!" Nayla yelled down at them angrily, crossing her arms protectively as if tucking her hands to her sides firmly could protect them from another creepy-crawly assault.

"We didn't say anything, Nayla-chan." Penguin replied, his voice thick with unreleased laughter as Shachi grinned up at her.

"You didn't have to!"

"Awww c'mere, lil lady." Jeff offered an apologetic hug, outstretching his arms as he stepped onto the landing in front of her.

"No." She moved back grumpily.

"We didn't mean to laugh at ya." He had the nerve to say _as_ he chuckled.

"Fuck off."

"Ooo, the language on this one!" He grinned, taking her into a bear hug against her will. "That was _some_ 'damsel in distress' scream lil lady, didn't know you had it in ya. Because of bugs no less, aren't ya just adorable."

"Fuff offf." Came the muffled reply against his chest, making him laugh again though he gave her an apologetic rub on the back before letting her go.

Looking at the other two men as they reached the landing, she decidedly ignored Shachi's chuckling and Penguin's highly amused smile as he cleared his throat pointedly before speaking. "Anyway, any reason to be checking out these rooms? Any of these 'sightings' happen up here?" He asked, getting them back on track as to why they were apparently there in the first place.

"Hmm, well a few. Thought to be the husband's spirit lingering around up here, but mostly down in the basement." He said, making his way towards the nearest of the three rooms on the second floor.

They followed after him as he disappeared into what they soon found had once been a small bedroom. Darkness and age obscured the colour of the walls though it appeared to have been a gentle, pastel colour. The kind that would have been suited for a young child, or even a baby. Though currently, it stood vacated of most of its innards other than the old, bare bed frame that rest in its centre, its head still pressed against the wall.

"The town officials that came to value the property put down some traps in the basement, ya know, 'cause of those noises they heard, to get rid of the mice. Even the people that came looking to buy it said they could still hear 'em scratching and shuffling away down there and turned the place down..." He glanced around the empty room appraisingly as he spoke, slowly making his way over to the window.

Nayla watched him swipe away an elaborately large spider web. Its size, thickness and complexity a testament to how long this building had gone undisturbed as he carelessly brushed it aside to peer out into the backyard of the house The webs that remained framing the old window admittedly looked beautiful and intricate, shimmering softly under the small amount of moonlight that shone in from their glass backdrop. The spiders themselves however…She shuddered, crossed her arms and turned away, subconsciously tucking her hands in firmly once more.

"Place sold soon after though, considering the temptingly low price. There were no noises anymore but about a week after the new owners moved in, they noticed the smell down there."

She watched Penguin and Shachi pause and stiffen from their tentative move to open the door of the small built-in wardrobe in the corner of the room, the cringe in Shachi's voice clear as he spoke. "…The little girl?"

"Yeah." Jeff said sadly, giving up on his attempt to examine the garden below through the dirty window as he turned back around. "The people that moved in here obviously didn't know that at the time though. Kept going down to the basement trying to find where it was coming from. Scrubbed the floors, the walls, checked every old nook and cranny for any dead rats. Nothing...'Til their own little girl noticed the weird 'shadow' under one of the walls down there."

Looking up from examining the lopsided, rusted metal bed frame, Nayla joined the other two men in the room in giving Jeff a look of confusion.

"The parents hadn't taken much notice of _that_ particular brick wall in the basement. It was relatively newly and poorly built in comparison to the others down there, thought to be thrown up to cover an old, unused furnace by the husband before he died. He'd been a bricklayer after all."

The three of them waited as Jeff paused, breaths held for the inevitably horrendous conclusion to the mystery he was about to offer as he walked past them towards the bedroom door.

"The new owners' child was the right height to spot the edge of the small, dried, dark puddle of blood that had oozed out from underneath it. A sledgehammer later, they found what was left of the little girl that had once lived here, sealed into that small space and left to die…It probably took a long while for her to and it in all that time, she hadn't ever screamed…"

Feeling her gut clench uncomfortably as Jeff trailed off softly on the morbid reveal of the girl's agonising fate, Nayla tried to push the sad reality of a small, neglected, abused, impaired child sealed between the cold, rough bricks of an icy basement by the one person who was supposed to love and care for her. She couldn't even begin to imagine how the helpless little girl had suffered or how she'd felt in the long days it had taken for her to die…Scared, hungry, thirsty, in a pathetically unhygienic state…Sad, abandoned, unable to understand where she was or why, unable to reach out for help from anyone...Why didn't she scream? Screaming when in pain or anguish is an instinctive human response not a learned one, she wouldn't have ever had to have _heard_ a scream to know how to do it…Had she instead learnt that no one ever came when she did and simply stopped doing it over her years of abuse?...Maybe she'd learnt that screaming only got her more of it…

Looking over at the other two men in the room as Shachi cursed under his breath, she could tell from both his and Penguin's grim expressions, clear even in the dark, how disturbed they were by the sheer amount of suffering the little girl must have endured within this house.

Swallowing thickly, she followed after Jeff as he walked back into the hallway, Penguin and Shachi in close pursuit.

"It took a lot of huge price drops and a long time for people to forget enough about what had happened here to want to try living in this house again but the story was always the same. Families moved in, families soon moved out. Disturbed by scratches, whimpering and what sounded like a small child sobbing coming from the basement at night. The eerie creeks of what sounded like something hanging from a wooden beam, swinging back and forth. The crazed face of a dishevelled-looking woman staring back at them in mirrors, reflected in glass and water…Objects moving on their own, nightmares, shadows, cold breezes, you name it, the people that tried to live here experienced it." Jeff explained walking into what had once been the master bedroom, larger than the previous though just as bare.

"…The sightings here, of the little girl…" Penguin started, remaining at the doorway. "…Is she a vengeful spirit?"

"…Wouldn't you be?"

They let his response linger heavily in the air as Jeff looked around the room, seemingly for anything out of the ordinary though there appeared to be nothing.

Remaining by Penguin's side at the door, she watched as Shachi entered as well, examining the discoloured curls of pale, peeling wallpaper that hung from the walls as he walked passed them.

She would be. Vengeful, that is. Without a doubt, Nayla knew that if she had endured even an ounce of what the girl that had once lived there had at the hands of her mother and the uncaring townspeople who not only caused but ignored her torment, she'd do everything in her power to ensure they suffered for their neglect and lack of humanity if they ever dared enter her reach. The horrifying tragedies that had occurred in that house could have been stopped before they had started, none of what had happened had needed to happen at all.

She shivered a little as the cold air from outside seeped in and swirled around them, belatedly realising that this room held the broken window she had seen from outside.

Looking up from the thick layer of filth and dirt sandwiched between her boot and the floorboards she watched the two pirates come back towards her and Penguin, seemingly finding nothing of interest in this room.

Stepping aside, she watched as Jeff walked past and began opening the door of the third and final room upstairs, a bathroom if the tiled walls and flooring that began appearing were any indication.

Everyone froze when they heard a heavy thud coming from below them. So heavy in force in fact that the broken glass of the bedroom window rattled loosely within its weakened frame in its wake.

…

"What was that?" She hissed quietly, becoming restless and impatient as the men remained silent, exchanging weary looks with one another.

"...Probably just the win-?" Jeff's meek explanation was cut short but the sound of another thump, then another, then another, almost as though they were heavy, laboured footsteps…with an odd sound in between them. A dry, sandy kind of noise...as if something were being dragged across the dusty floorboards of the level below them.

Heart beginning to race at the gruesome images that realisation summoned, Nayla gripped onto Shachi's arm subconsciously as she starred at the wooden banisters leading back the way they came...then the sound stopped with one last almighty crash and creak.

Feeling her nails beginning to dig into his arm, Shachi frowned and bolstered up his courage, stepping out of her frightened grip and towards the staircase.

"Oi, is someone down there?" He called down into the darkness loudly.

...

"We know you're there, who is it?"

...

Somehow the lack of response made it all seem far more eerie than if they'd received one. The red head looked back at them, clearly unsure of what to do next.

"...It was probably just nothing." Jeff tried.

"Really? All _that_ was 'just nothing?'" Shachi said incredulously, walking towards them more rapidly as he realised his back was to the railing and the unseen cause of all the sinister noise they'd just heard.

"Maybe just local kids sneaking in for cheap thrills on Halloween?" He wondered aloud thoughtfully.

"Like you?" Penguin muttered, displeased at the situation they found themselves in.

"And dragging a dead body across the floor?" Shachi added sceptically, voicing the morbid thought on all their minds aloud, the sentence hanging stiffly in the air as Jeff thought how to respond.

"…Well whaddya want me to tell ya? That it was ghosts?" He scoffed, pushing open the bathroom door all the way, its hinges squealing in protest of their disturbed years of rest.

"Whatever it was, whoever it was, we can handle it. Right, _men_?"

The other two pirates sighed at him.

"Yeah." Penguin grumbled unhappily holding the door open and ushering Nayla in ahead of him.

"Oh, and lady." Jeff added on belatedly tipping his missing hat in apology as she walked up to him.

"No..." She said meekly, eyes darting suspiciously around the room as if something could possibly jump out at any moment. "Can we go now?" She asked quietly, looking up at him pleadingly.

"... Aww, I'm telling ya, stop looking so worried! Poor little thing." He sighed, resting and arm around her shoulders and rubbing her arm comfortingly. "...Guess I'd be worried too if I only came up to people's kneecaps - Oof!"

Elbowing him roughly and choosing to seek comfort from Penguin instead she glowered at him as he laughed, the joyous sound bouncing off the old tiling of the room pleasantly, in a way that seemed to dissolve the tension they had felt just a moment ago.

"There ya go, that's better." He chuckled, watching her curl up against the other man pointedly with a sour pout before walking further in to the surprisingly spacious room, his boots echoing loudly around them.

The tiles may have been white, certainly a light colour anyway. It was difficult to tell because of their dirty condition and the lack of illumination. Cracks and chips littered them, both on the flooring and the walls. A simple pedestal sink stood against the left wall, a bathtub running along the near one and a toilet and some plain wooden shelving against the far one. The enamel worn and broken on all three, the shelving askew and falling apart.

The other thing the bathroom fixtures appeared to have in common was the rusted stains left behind by years of drops of water running their same course over and over again as they fell from their pipes. Crusted streaks of red trailed from tap bases, around drain holes and stained the dried out toilet bowl morbidly.

Nayla narrowed her eyes in thought as she noticed the markedly lighter tiles on either side of the toilet, squinting in the darkness to make out the finger like shapes in the grime, as if someone had been knelt at the bowl and placed their hands to the wall on either side of it...She couldn't remember ever doing something like that anytime she'd ever had the unfortunate need to vomit or knew anyone that did...Images of someone being forcibly held face first in the water and struggling came to mind...

Just as she was about to nudge Penguin to take a look, Jeff spoke up. "Gonna go see if the mother is gonna stare back at you, Shach?"

The man he addressed froze on his way to inspect the old mirror hung above the sink at his friend's tease, rethinking his venture before turning around and deciding he'd seen enough of this room and began making his way back out of it.

"Pansy." Jeff snorted in amusement.

"You look in it then!" Shachi yelled at him.

"Sure will, maybe the mom was a real looker." He grinned, walking past him towards the sink. "Wanna come with? I'll hold your hand if you like." He offered it, chuckling at his crewmate's scowl as he tugged his own hand further away from him in annoyance and followed stubbornly.

Penguin and Nayla watched quietly as the two approached the basin and carefully peered into the dusty, chipped glass.

"...Nothing." The word practically leaving Shachi as an exhale of relief.

Noticing the man beside him had tensed, the other three in the room did the same, a terse silence descending on them as Jeff leaned towards the mirror slowly, squinting at the reflection.

"What is it?" Shachi whispered.

"...Do you see that?"

Reluctantly following Jeff's pointed finger as he held it up to the glass, Shachi leaned in closely as well, unable to spot what had caused the other man alarm. "I don't see anything." He replied quietly, not noticing Jeff silently lifting his other hand behind his back.

"Well, _I_ do. Though I usually enjoy seeing…" He grinned when Shachi jolted and jumped away from him with a yell as his shoulder was tapped. "Pussies." He finished.

"IDIOT!"

Laughing as Shachi took a swing at him, Jeff danced around it and past him making his way back out the door swiftly with the angry red head in hot pursuit.

"Come on." Penguin said to Nayla quietly, sighing at the two as they followed after them. "Oi! Jeff!"

Watching as he carelessly bolted down the stairs, they were suddenly reminded of the unidentified source of noise they'd heard on the ground floor not long ago.

"Jeff, wait for us! We don't know what's down there!" Shachi called after him, anger forgotten as fear for his friend's safety took over.

"Ah it's fine, would ya stop already? I'm telling ya it's just wind, kids or old house noises." He scoffed, hitting the landing below and taking a look around. "See?" He grinned back up at them as they peered down at him from over the rickety banisters.

Seeming to wait a moment to see if anything would happen to him, they finally had the nerve to pull their concerned gazes off of him to look at each other. Collectively sharing a small shrug they made their way down the stairs after him, albeit a lot more cautiously.

Peering around the darkened living room, feeling the need to verify that yes, there was nothing and no one down there, Nayla snapped her gaze back to Jeff as he made a beeline for the only other room down there.

"Think that was the girl's bedroom?" Shachi asked, turning to Penguin, though it was Jeff that answered.

"Yeah, it was. Heard she was kept on the ground floor, for her safety, 'cause of the stairs. They had a makeshift bathroom in there for her too, tub and bucket and the like." He said, disappearing into it.

The mood amongst them distinctly shifted back into something more sober as they walked carefully across the vacant living room and with each step they took towards the walls of the house that held the dark reality of what must have been the little girl's day to day life and abuse.

Treading lightly up to the threshold, Nayla found herself holding her breath as she peered in after the men as they entered.

There was surprisingly little to see. Bare floors, bare walls, a single large window with its rusted bars that she'd seen from the front of the house…She wasn't sure what she'd _expected_ to see…Blood splatters? Body parts?

Taking a step inside she felt a distinctly sharp chill run down her spine, though unlike the one she'd felt upstairs in the colder room, this one had no physical cause to attribute it to.

By nature, Nayla wasn't a superstitious person. She had an aversion to things that weren't scientifically sound or logical or that could be reasoned. Anything that fell outside of those categories fell into the unexplained, supernatural and spiritual and bent a reality she was ready to accept…Her ability was one of those things. Acknowledging there wasn't a logical explanation for what had happened to her, who had given her power and where she drew it from exactly, opened doors to ideas she didn't want to accept as reality.

"Bars? To keep her in?" Penguin asked belatedly, laying a hand to one's roughened surface as he looked up at where it embedded deeply into the wall above the window frame.

"More like keep others out…The neighbourhood kids weren't too kind. Used to stand out there watching her, yelling at her to see if she really couldn't hear them, threw rocks – the lot, 'til one of the parents would notice and chase 'em off…"

Frowning sadly at the misery upon misery the former occupant of this room had endured in her short lifetime, Nayla ran her fingers idly over the bare walls. It was a far cry from the room upstairs that had, by comparison, been lovingly painted and decorated, seemingly in anticipation of a child…She wondered if the little girl's parents had simply seen no point in spending time, money and effort in doing the same with this room for her because she couldn't see anyway. It made sense, she guessed…though still seemed horribly cruel and uncaring.

Stopping as she felt her fingers dip slightly she leant down and peered at the wall, finding an indented, paler, rectangular shape there; a drill hole on either side of it…It reminded her of the kind of permanent imprint the metal of a wall shackle might leave after its removal…

Standing up as she felt another unpleasant prickle run down the back of her neck, Nayla turned and made her way to the door. "I've had enough of this, let's go."

The men turned to her in surprise of her abruptness, sharing a look amongst themselves as she stood by the doorframe waiting for them. "You ok, lil lady?"

"I'm fine, but let's just go. This place is giving me the creeps." She admitted, rubbing her arms as she looked around in the darkness behind her, making sure the living room was still empty.

"Let's just take a quick peek in the basement and be done then."

"Can't we just go _now_?"

"…You aren't far off stomping your foot in a tantrum, are ya, lil lady?" Jeff smiled in amusement at her.

"If it'll get me outta here faster." She grumbled as he approached.

"Come on, you made it this far. Quick look in the basement and we'll go, ok?"

"No."

"That's the spirit!" He cheered, slinging a heavy arm around her shoulders as he turned her and headed them towards the door beneath the staircase.

"I said no! How many times have I said no to you today?!"

"He has selective deafness." Penguin supplied from behind them.

"Yeah, seems to have trouble hearing the word 'no' from women in general." Shachi added, a note of disapproval in his voice.

She raised a brow at them over her shoulder before turning her unimpressed gaze up at the man beside her. "No means no. What are you, a rapist?"

"What? Nooo. I'm just an excellent…convincer?" He questioned aloud as they reached the basement door.

"After they say 'no' the first dozen times." Shachi muttered.

"No woman's ever said no to me a dozen times! Maximum three before they give in to my irresistible charm." He defended seriously, pulling it open with a growingly familiar creak and revealing the old stone steps that led into what could more accurately be called a cellar.

There were no windows that peered above ground level and the wall running alongside the stairs was made of bare bricks, giving the impression that the whole room would be and the stagnant air that hovered at the threshold was ice cold in comparison to the rest of the house.

"Irresistible my a-…" Penguin trailed off as the frigid air flowed from the room slowly, reaching him and Shachi and drawing their attention to the dark room below them.

Silence fell amongst them, the playful atmosphere waning and giving way to an unsettled, growing anxiety as they looked into the stark blackness, shades darker than the room they already stood in...

The temperature, darkness and stone reminded Nayla of a tomb...more so knowing that two people had actually been found dead down there.

...

"Ladies first?" Jeff obliged half-heartedly with an outstretched hand...though he withdrew it and cleared his throat at the unamused deadpan she offered him in response. "Right, point taken. I'll lead the way, stick close lil lady."

With that he rest a hand to the brick wall and began treading down the stone steps carefully.

Biting her lips nervously she looked at the two behind her, then at the front door beyond them - abruptly reminded of how it had inexplicably slammed shut of its own accord earlier, then back at them.

She wondered, not for the first time, if she should leave. Just use her better judgement, get out, walk back to the inn, have a nice hot shower, get changed, have some _amazing_ sex with a certain, very hot pirate captain and have a good night's sleep...

"Right behind ya, Nayla-chan."

Returning Shachi's warm smile, she wondered how many times they had reassured her that night...

They were idiots. For being here, for doing this...Then again, so was she, she realised as she began taking the steps after Jeff against her will...but she couldn't bring herself to leave them. If she went back now, it wouldn't be as if she really could just shower, relax and forget about them being here in this house. She'd only be worried about them until they got back, so she may as well stay...This little misadventure was almost over anyway...Besides, she was the only one that was armed should anything happen.

Lips pressing into a firm line as she justified her soft-hearted stupidity for being there to herself, she removed the hand she'd rest to the stone wall to support herself, finding the cold, hard, grazing surface unpleasant beneath her fingers and resting her hands to either of Jeff's shoulders in front of her instead.

They tread down into the cellar quietly, the other two pirates close behind. There was little to see – or that even _could_ be seen as they descended, though as her eyes slowly adjusted to the even darker environment she could just about make out the layout of the room below.

Stone stairs met stone floor. Stone floor was met on all sides by bare brick walls. The only discrepancy within the cold, hard room was the ceiling, made of the floorboards of the living room they had just been in, supported by thick, wooden beams – still sturdy looking in their antiquity...and probably what the father of the little girl had chosen to support his body weight for his untimely death.

The cellar obviously spanned the dimensions of the base of the house they were beneath, but had been divided into two rooms by another wall that had a door sized gap in it for access to the other side.

There was a small furnace in the corner. An ancient, iron-cast contraption, complete with a space to refill with logs or perhaps coal, and a rusted, grated door to contain them. It was impressively veiled by thick, lacy spider webs and years of dust but other than that, the room held empty and undisturbed.

"...I don't see the wall." Penguin said quietly as they reached the floor and looked around, the only light offered being that of the dimmed moonlight that struggled to stream down the stairs behind them from the open door above.

Nearly asking 'What wall?,' Nayla quickly realised he was referring to the one the little girl had been sealed behind and left to die.

Promptly shutting her mouth, she scanned the walls around them in search of it too. For any sign of a broken down layer of brick or a newer looking wall that seemed out of place to the rest of them, though that would be difficult to tell in the darkness.

"It's probably through ther-..." Jeff started then stopped, lowering the pointed index finger he'd lifted to indicate the other half of the cellar as they heard creaking.

Gasping in shock as she felt something faint touch her face, Nayla swiped it with her hand, taking a step back into Penguin and looking upward as movement caught her eye.

Collectively following her gaze as the eerie back and forth creaking grew louder, they looked up at the wooden beam above their heads. With each sound, the beam seemed to move, dust spilling from its cracked, splintered surface in small, hazy clouds onto them...Then altogether, the sound halted, leaving them in stunned silence.

...

"What was-?" Shachi didn't finish the obvious question he'd begun to whisper as a loud scraping sound – the sound of something heavy scratching and dragging across the stone floor came from the other side of the wall in front of them. Once. Then silence.

...

"W-Where are you going?!" Penguin hissed in horror as Jeff began to take small, tentative steps towards it. The sudden sound of his panicked voice making Nayla jump, his hands still resting on her shoulders from when he'd steadied her as she stumbled back into him.

"Something's dicking with us. I'm gonna find out what." He said quietly, edging nearer to the opening of the wall.

"Are you insane?! Let's get out of here!" Shachi whispered loudly, his unease as evident as his friend's.

Resting his finger to his lips in indication that they should be quiet, Jeff crept to the brick divide, taking a moment to collect himself sternly before peering carefully into the darkness of the next room.

Nayla could feel her heart pounding a million beats a minute as she watched him, she'd stopped breathing some time ago, minimising her own noises as her ears and senses heightened, on high alert for any other unearthly noises and sensations. Her hand was gripping the hilt of one of her swords tightly in anticipation, she couldn't even recall placing it there. It had been an instinctive, though probably futile action. She could feel adrenaline surging into her system, her mouth drying, her voice long gone, her legs weakening, her skin prickling with goose bumps and was only vaguely aware of how tightly Penguin had begun grasping her shoulders as they watched Jeff tensely, rooted to their spots.

Gulping as he peered around first one edge of the makeshift doorway, then the next, she bit her lips in anticipation...but nothing happened.

Bravely taking a step into the next room, Jeff took a full look to his right and his left, examining the space they couldn't see and letting out an audible exhale as he turned back around to face them, his trademark mischievous grin beginning to appear.

"Nothing in here, you guys should see your faces though. Look like you're attending a funeral." He laughed, though it was strained, obviously trying to mask the level of the unease he had just felt as well. He double took something off to his left as they sighed in relief at him, releasing their held breaths, too tense and too drained to address his tease. "Think I found the wall though, this one looks knocked hollow."

Watching him walk to the side and out of sight towards it, Nayla wondered if she really wanted to see it. The exact location a little girl had dwindled away and died slowly and painfully in, the cramped walled space that held the memory of the most horrendous, drawn out misery this building had ever witnessed.

Just as she was debating whether to hang back or not she snapped her focus back to the wall Jeff had disappeared behind as she heard his strangled yell, followed by the sound of his body weight hitting the floor, the end of his arm the only thing visible through the doorway as it flung back in his landing, his hand completely limp and motionless.

Frozen in horror and in shock, she inhaled sharply, willing herself to keep breathing, her eyes wide and her voice lost once more.

"J-…Jeff?" Shachi's voice barely came out above a whisper as they stared at what little they could see of him through the opening.

"T-This better not be your idea of a joke!" Penguin said more firmly, his grip on her shoulders tightening painfully, though Nayla was numb to it, the bruising strength he wasn't aware he was using betraying his intense worry to her.

…

A moment of tense silence followed, Penguin's angry – hopeful, words echoed back at them from the solid walls, fading into nothingness as they waited for any movement, any response.

Nayla screamed, her hands flying up to her face in horror as a dark, glistening puddle grew rapidly into view on the floor beneath his arm before it was dragged out of sight behind the wall limply. "JEFF!"

"OI!" Penguin held her firmly before she could run mindlessly towards whatever it was they couldn't see.

"BUT-!"

"Lemme borrow this, Nayla-chan!"

She vaguely processed Shachi pulling one of her swords from its sheath on her hip, nodding grimly at Penguin in a rapid, silent exchange of unspoken understanding before running towards where Jeff had disappeared.

"Wait! I-Pen, what are you doing?!"

He ignored her protest knowing her stubbornness and flung her onto his shoulder as he bolted back up the stairs. "Shach has got this, YOU get out and get help. Captain, crew, anyone!"

"But Shachi-!" The stairs were a dark blur beneath them as he took them two and three at a time, her last glimpse of Shachi was of him pressed firmly against the wall, ready to brave the other side of the cellar after his crewmate before he was quickly obscured by their ascension back to the living room.

"LISTEN TO ME _THIS_ TIME!"

Silenced by Penguin's seriousness as he brought up how she had deliberately ignored him before a wave had taken her and his captain overboard, she looked him dead in the eye as he deposited her safely at the top of the stairs, her emotions a flurry of fear, worry and anger at being treated like someone who was in need of protection or a burden in this situation.

"I'M NOT USELESS, LET ME HELP! JEFF AN-!"

"Help us by letting someone else know where we are! Please!"

Hesitating for a moment as she intuitively felt that he was still simply protecting her, she bit her lip and turned on her heel to do as he asked before they both heard Shachi's scream cut through the air like a knife.

"GO!" Penguin yelled firmly, pointing towards the front door as he turned and bolted back down the stairs without looking back.

"…Shit!" Gritting her teeth, she felt tears of helplessness, panic and pain burn her eyes as she ran as fast as she could towards the door, a painful lump stinging her throat as she struggled to swallow.

If she did go down and something happened to both her _and_ Penguin now, no one would ever know where they were or that they needed help, no one would ever know where to look or what had happened to them.

Where should she go? The main street was nearer than the inn or the sub, she would probably run into crew on their way back from their outings tonight but then would she run into anyone strong enough to help here? Would strength even be useful here? Maybe she needed smarts – Law. He'd be calm, collected – he'd think of something, she knew he would - The parade! Which direction was that street from here? How would she find him in the crowd? Maybe he'd left early for some reason or gone somewhere else afterwards though. Would looking for him waste too much time? What would she do if something happened to Jeff, to Shachi, to Penguin? She'd never forgive herself for leaving – maybe she _should_ turn back. She'd honestly rather die with them then go back to their crew without them – how would she be able to _face_ anyone if she were the only one to make it back alive?!

It was too hard to think under the pressure and lack of time. It wasn't exactly her first time being in a critical situation, she wasn't usually so severely shaken up that she couldn't form a coherent thought – but this was different. Her own survival, survival of people she worked with but didn't really know well – those were ok, she could think calmly and rationally – but not when it came to _these_ men. She'd grown to love them far too dearly.

Jeff's goofy grin, those green eyes that always shone with mischief – she loved those, they often reminded her of herself on a playful day. His constant flirting with anything in a skirt, those dirty jokes of his – he'd promised to he'd teach her how to use his guns someday, he still had to do that!

Penguin's warm smile, his kind-hearted protectiveness – he always offered her steady comfort _whenever_ she needed it, no questions asked. God she loved the way that practically angelic smile of his would turn devious whenever he and Shachi were up to no good. They were so close they practically had wordless, twin-like communication between them most of the time, they could read each other's minds like _that_.

Shachi was a little imp when he wanted to be too, she loved that about him and she'd picked that up early - his toothy grin often betraying his teasing nature. He really did have beautiful eyes too – and _he'd_ promised to show her what he could do with his katana, he couldn't die now either! He was so funny when he grew shy though, both he and Penguin. They were a lot of fun to make blush, so oddly adorable and innocent for the rough pirates they were supposed to be.

She couldn't bear the thought of making a mistake now that could cost them their lives. If anything ever happened to them, if she were ever responsible for any harm that came to them, she'd never be able to forgive herself. Decision making in a critical situation was usually something she wasn't bad at but it was far too difficult to think straight when it came to the safety of those she'd grown to love…Law could do it though.

He led this crew, they faced danger together all the time. Every moment of every single day he was ready to make life or death decisions about the lives of men that she _knew_ he considered his family more than he considered his subordinates _and_ take the repercussions of any mistakes he made. And he always remained calm. He was a far stronger person than she was, to be able to do this. In that moment, she truly appreciated the difficulty and responsibility of his role and his strength of character to be able to do it.

Someone like Law would know exactly what to do in this situation. She had to find him.

Head and heart full of the memories of and feelings for the three men downstairs, she shook her mind clear of the image of their smiles and the echoes of their laughter, repeating Law's name in her head over and over again in some kind of panicked mantra to help her focus.

Reaching the door, she pulled it open harshly, turning to look back over her shoulder as she heard Penguin's blood-curdling scream. Unable to stop her forward motion as she bolted through the door at top speed she collided forcefully with something firm on the other side of it, her frazzled nerves pulling another panicked shriek from her at the unexpected impact and as she was grabbed.

"Nayla?"

Immediately stopping her attempt to pull away, she practically melted into Law's chest instead as she heard his voice. His grounded, smooth, level, calmly-assessing voice.

Overcome with relief of his presence, she fisted her hands deeply into the fabric of his top and willed herself to get a grip, to quickly relay the urgency of the situation to him. Hopefully coherently so as not to waste anymore precious time.

Painstakingly peeling her face away from his sweatshirt, she looked up at him, his confusion and concern clear at her abrupt appearance and behaviour. "Law! The others! Penguin, Shachi, Jeff, they're in trouble downstairs! They need your hel-"

She whipped her head around to look back inside the house as she heard the echo of several loud roars of laughter coming from the open door to the cellar.

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES!" Shachi.

" _BASTARDS!_ " Penguin.

That maniacally pleased laughter that rang out above the others. Jeff.

They were ok, they were all ok.

Feeling every ounce of energy she had drain through the bottom of her boots in her relief, she wordlessly turned back around, burying her face to Law's chest with a shuddering sigh that shook her as she leant against him heavily.

Exchanging a look with Bepo, Law sighed as his furry friend shrugged at him. Wrapping the arm he'd used to steady her from their collision around her shoulders and nestling his nodachi more securely to the crook of his neck, he settled his free hand to the back of her head comfortingly.

Halloween. A clearly abandoned house. Jeff laughing his ass off. Penguin and Shachi promising him a painful and untimely death. It wasn't difficult to piece together what had happened here. She'd been frightened out of her wits.

Law found himself honestly surprised by that. He found Nayla to be a relatively brave person…very in fact, when he thought of it. He'd seen her do everything from confront Kuma unarmed on Sabaody, to walk into enemy territory armed with nothing but feminine charm and a dagger, to charging headfirst into swarms of soldiers and firing tanks and everything in between without so much as a hesitant step or a bat of an eyelash. Then here she was, practically shaking. He found it hard to believe she would be so spooked by any tacky scare tactic Jeff and his accomplices could have concocted here.

"You shoulda seen your faces!"

"Priceless!"

"You squeal like a liiil girlie, Shach."

"Fuck off." The red head grumbled, practically stomping into view from the open cellar door as he emerged back into the dark living room, Penguin close behind him, looking equally pissed off.

"Was sweet of ya to come running in after me though. Like my knight in shining armour." Jeff cooed from behind them, clasping his hands and pressing them to the side of his face, batting his eyelashes as he matched Shachi's unhappy glare with a teasingly dreamy expression.

"Fuck. Off." He ground out, turning back around and heading towards the front door, ignoring the laughter of the other men.

"Aww, I know you care really. Must do if you go putting yourself at risk like that for me. My hero!" Jeff's girly-voiced exclamation making the man stop and glare at him once more as his other crewmates still coming up the staircase howled to tears at his expense. "What is it, Shach? This the part where we smooch, ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after? Come onnn, gimmie a kiss. We all know you love me now."

"I SWEAR I'm leaving you to die the next time!" Penguin restrained Shachi's wrist as he raised Nayla's blade threateningly at Jeff's exaggerated kissy face and outstretched arms.

"Shachi." The men looked Law and Bepo's way as he drew their attention to his presence, making the man he addressed lower his borrowed weapon wordlessly with a frown and walk towards his Captain at his beckoning index finger.

"Yo! Captain!" Jeff greeted happily with a wave.

"Hey Cap." Connor grinned at him. "Enjoy the parade?"

"Yeah, it was entertaining. It seems as though you had an entertaining evening as well." Law replied casually, confiscating the sword Shachi grudgingly held out to him like a petulant child that had just been caught running with scissors and sliding it back into Nayla's empty sheath.

"Could say that." He grinned.

"Whatcha doing around these parts anyway, Cap? Aren't ya headed back to the inn?" One of the other men who had been in on the elaborate prank asked curiously.

"The main streets are full now that the parade is over and people are heading home. We were taking this route back as it was far less crowded…when we heard screaming." Law raised a brow with a pointed glance down at Nayla, indicating whose screaming he'd heard as she looked up at him.

"And you were just being a good Samaritan and dropping by to see if you could help out of the kindness of your heart?" She grumbled lowly.

"More like I was simply a little curious." He corrected just as quietly with a mild smirk. Though truth be told, he'd recognised her voice. He'd recognise it anywhere now.

Sighing tiredly, she rest her forehead back to his chest in her sudden exhaustion. The rush of tension and adrenaline leaving her body as she gradually relaxed.

"Nayla doesn't seem to have found this very 'entertaining.'" He chuckled, failing to hide his amusement.

"Aww, lil lady…" Ignoring the sound of Jeff bounding towards them, she buried her face more firmly to Law's comfortable sweatshirt.

"Hey, you alright? Did we scare ya too bad?" He asked, giving her arms a comforting rub and urging her to face him. She did so, reluctantly, her face pulled into a muted frown.

"Ya know, I swear I nearly caved when she asked if we could leave." He told Connor as he made his way over in concern.

"Aww, really?"

"Yeah, puppy dog eyes this one." He nodded in her direction.

"Poor sweetie, you ok?" Connor asked, peering at her from around Jeff in the doorway.

"Fine. You utter pricks." She mumbled stubbornly, her heart still pounding too heavily for comfort.

"Now I know _you_ don't mean that either." Jeff laughed. "You hear the way she screamed for me down there?" He nudged Connor beside him with a grin.

"Yeah, and here I thought you had a thing for Captain." He teased, his amber eyes glittering with mirth as she scowled at him.

"That was some emotion, I didn't know _you_ loved me too. Though a part of me always knew ya did~" Jeff sang, leaning down and pinching her cheeks.

Flinching at her rapid movement, he released her and took a step back in reflex.

"Temper." Law reminded her from behind, calmly lowering her caught fist back to her side, his voice chiding but a slither of amusement clearly audible.

Whistling at the near punch he'd taken, Jeff couldn't help but grin down at her. "Fiery one when you wanna be, ain't cha? Forgive me?"

"No."

"Please?"

"NO!"

"Pretty please?" He insisted, giving her a tight bear hug.

"You fucking bastard, I thought you were _dead_!" She yelled, wriggling out of his hold and stomping back up the stone path of the front yard towards the street.

"Still alive and kicking - never too late to declare that undying love of yours for me by the way!" He yelled after her.

Stopping as a thought occurred to her, she glanced back at him over her shoulder. "There _was_ no little girl, was there?" She ground out.

"None." He confirmed with a toothy grin.

Pressing her lips firmly together at his and Connor's growing smiles as she realised everything she had thought and felt in that house had all been in her head she growled under her breath and trudged the rest of the way back to the sidewalk as they laughed.

Sighing, Law looked at Bepo, tilting his head the way Nayla went in signal of their departure from this nonsense.

"What about you guys? You gonna forgive us?" Connor prompted, glancing at Penguin's unimpressed expression behind him in the doorway, the other men still ribbing him for falling for their prank.

"Not a chance." He mumbled back, pushing past him to join Shachi outside as he started walking back to the street behind his captain and Bepo.

"Not even if we tell ya we're going back to pick up some more suckers for another round?" Jeff sang temptingly after them, making them halt in their tracks and glance at each other in reluctant contemplation.

…

"Like who?" Shachi asked quietly.

Sharing a look with his main co-conspirator, Jeff hummed in thought before replying. "How about Ichi? He's probably still at the festival with Vereck."

"That or Koush, he's been a real pain in the ass to work with lately. Constantly making me recheck stuff I _just_ did – not that there's anything wrong with being _extra_ sure, Captain." Connor added on quickly as Law peered over his shoulder at him at his griping.

"…Well Ichi's kinda been a pain too lately, keeps stiffing me on portions I swear. Prick when I point it out to him too, says I'm fat enough as it is." Penguin grumbled, crossing his arms.

"...Nayla-chan did say he screamed like a bitch earlier, maybe we should see for ourselves." Shachi grinned at him.

Rolling his eyes, Law stepped out of the yard as his friends quickly forgot their anger at the prospect of making others suffer and were easily swayed to the dark side. He called back to them without turning around. "Don't neglect to rest for your duties tomorrow."

"Aye aye, Captain!" They chorused back enthusiastically at his indirect green light to enjoy themselves at the expense of their crewmates as long as they got their jobs done.

"And I'm not treating injuries any of you sustain as a result of your idiocy." He reminded them, catching up to Nayla effortlessly with his long strides as he envisioned a very pissed off Ichirou decking one of them as soon as he found out he'd been pranked.

"We know, Captain."

"Have a good night."

"I'm sure you'll figure out _some_ way to make the poor sweetie feel better."

Law chuckled under his breath watching Nayla side-glanced at Connor with narrowed eyes at his taunt as he fell into pace beside her.

"What was that dragging noise anyway?" They heard Penguin ask curiously.

"Just an old sack of flour. Was in the kitchen, dragged it through the living room and down the stairs to hang it from the rafters to make that noise." Connor explained proudly, making Shachi hum appreciatively at the simplicity and effectiveness of it.

"Could probably do a few more noises around the house now that there's more of us though." Jeff pointed out.

"Yeah, could do."

The men's midnight plotting grew quieter as they made their way down the street. Law slid his gaze over to his smaller companion, the corner of his mouth lifting at her now crossed arms and irritable pout on her lips.

"You ok, Nayla?" Bepo asked her gently, her demeanour immediately softening and her arms falling to her sides as she looked at the bear she'd neglected to even acknowledge until now.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, sorry Beppy. How are you? Did you have a good time?"

Smiling in relief of her reply the navigator nodded excitedly. "Yeah, it was great! The fireworks were good too, did you see them?"

"Yeah, we did. I'm glad you had a good time."

"How was the festival?"

" _Really_ good actually."

"Scary?"

"Not too bad at all, I thought I'd be _waaay_ more of a coward than I was."

"What sorts of attractions did they have?"

"Oh, there was this real good one called 'The Chop Shop,' bunch of guys with super realistic fake chainsaws jump out at ya in a dark. There was a traditional haunted house like thing and - Oh and a-!"

Law gradually tuned out the idle chat between her and his first mate, her mood already visibly lightening as they spoke to one another animatedly about their nights. His crew had as much of a talent for pissing her off as they did for cheering her right back up again. Though it seemed Bepo had a particular knack for it. He'd put that down to the bear's genuinely kind soul, innocent demeanour…and fluff.

Watching her ease into a more amicable mood as they made their way back towards the inn along the quiet residential roads, he inwardly pieced together what had frightened her so deeply after processing her and Jeff's exchange. The level of fear that he'd never seen in her before made a little more sense now.

It wasn't whatever silly scare tactics that two of his most troublesome men had pulled in that house that had shaken her, it had been the thought that his crewmembers had been in danger, hurt or worse.

There was something inexplicably pleasant that swelled in his chest at that thought. A weird mixture of feelings that couldn't accurately be described singularly as pride, appreciation or gratefulness…Although he couldn't put what it was he felt about her deep concern for his men into precise words, he did know that the fact she felt that way about them made him happy. That he liked how much she cared for them.

The vice versa had become true as well; his men had begun treating her as one of their own. Though in this instance, it hadn't been to her advantage. They hadn't spared her from their prank.

Chuckling quietly at that, Law finally, subtly took in the apparent 'plan B' costume he'd forced her to resort too, his smile cracking wider at her stereotypical, though overly sexualised, version of a female pirate.

Turning to him as she felt his eyes on her, Nayla caught his amused grin, though he made no effort to hide it.

"If you're gonna laugh at me too then just get it over and done with already." She sighed in aggravation.

"I like your costume." He corrected, watching her unknit her brows as she realised it was actually his first time seeing it.

"Oh, well...I'm glad you do." She said quietly, looking back at the street ahead of them. "...Disappointed I didn't pick my nurse one?" She poked slyly, side-glancing at him to catch his expression.

"Contrary to your belief that I may have a thing for nurses, I find this costume much more appealing."

Smiling at his low, silken tone and suggestive glance at her chest, she thread her arm though his with a questioning hum. "Hmm? You like the idea of me being a pirate better do you?" She teased, laughing a little as he remained silent but his smirk widened.

'It's definitely an idea of growing appeal,' he admitted inwardly, enjoying her warmth by his side as they walked the chilly autumn night together.

 

 


	69. Saanta CLaws

"Up a bit higher." Nayla asked, lowering one hand back down to hold onto Dean from her seat on his shoulders.

"You can get it from there, stretch them little arms, lil lady."

"Don't worry, I got ya." The chef encouraged, smiling up at her and tightening his hold on her legs reassuringly.

Releasing him uncertainly, Nayla stretched both arms above her and leant forward, placing the star to the top of the large Christmas tree the pirates had brought out of storage, now sitting proudly in the rec room

"Nice."

"Looking good!"

"All set."

The crew grinned up proudly at the completed tree as Dean lowered her back down to the floor gently.

"Still don't get why _she's_ the one that placed the star though."

"Oh, here we go." Shachi sighed.

"Grinch time." Penguin added, resting his hands to his hips as they turned to look over at Kotta on one of the sofas behind them.

"Isn't it only fitting our guest be the one to put it up there?" Connor muttered, shooting him a displeased look at cutting through the jovial mood.

"Not a guest." He and Ichirou drawled out in unison from their seats.

Rolling her eyes at their stubbornness on the issue, Nayla chose not to bother answering. Not that it stopped the rest of the crew from doing so.

"What _is_ your issue anyway?" Jeff asked Kotta irritably, tiring of the man's attitude towards the woman that most other people on board had no problem with.

"Don't you think someone more deserving ought to have done it? Captain? A senior member of the crew? How about giving the honour to our newest crewmember, Jean Bart? Didn't any of you stop to think that maybe this is his first time being able to celebrate Christmas in years?"

The collective irritation of the others in the room evaporated as they followed his gesture to the large man sitting beside the tree, where he'd quietly watched them decorate it and the rest of the room together.

"Oh...geez, Jean Bart, I'm so sorry. Would you like to do the honours?" Nayla immediately offered, looking up at the man still easily able to tower over them from his seat on the carpet.

Cracking a rare but small smile down at her, he shook his head. "I'm happy to watch you all having fun. It brings back nice memories for me." He said quietly, earning a smile back from her.

"See? He's not bothered, quit stirring things up, jackass." Jeff hissed at Kotta.

"Oi." Penguin said in his seldom used authoritative senior officer tone. His one-worded reprimand telling Jeff to settle down and squash whatever fight was brewing between him and the medic immediately.

With a scoff, Jeff grudgingly backed down. "Anyway, room looks good this year. Almost makes up for the stupid bear making us miss Christmas on land." He sighed, helping himself to a nearby seat with a heavy plop onto its thick cushions.

"S-Sorry." Bepo hung his head in shame for the umpteenth time as he apologised for his slight but necessary aversion from their original course which had prolonged their voyage time and pushed back their arrival estimates.

"Be nice to him!" Nayla reminded, frowning at Jeff as she took a seat on the floor beside Jean Bart, crossing her legs as he did.

"You always say that." Connor grumbled, taking the seat on the sofa beside his long-time friend as the other men (and bear) in the room took their own.

"It was _just_ his birthday! You _have_ to be nice to him!"

"It was his birthday a month ago! And you made us be nice to him a month _before_ it too!" Shachi exclaimed, stunned she was _still_ using that to get the bear better treatment. They'd thrown him a huge party, been nice to him for the day and done their damndest to find him a female bear, what more did she want?

"Still counts." She said stubbornly, nose in the air as she shuffled close enough to Jean Bart to lean comfortably against his side, the larger man not seeming to mind her presence as he remained stoically seated with his arms crossed.

"...Ya know, come to think of it lil lady-" Jeff glanced behind him briefly as the rec room door opened, his captain breezing in casually, hands in pockets as he took in the festive decor, sweaters and hats his crew had dug up from storage. "-seeing as we just celebrated Captain's and Bepo's birthdays, I was just thinking, when is yours?"

Stopping his examination of the familiar faux, frosted holly leaf streamers and wreaths decorating his walls, Law looked over at her, a brow perking in curiosity of her answer.

The same question had crossed his mind a few times though he'd chosen not to ask it, at least for now, anticipating her evasion of answering him...but perhaps he'd be more likely to hear an honest answer now that one of his crew had asked her instead.

"And here I thought you were a ladies' man. Don't you know how rude it is to ask a woman her age?" Nayla attempted to deflect, thanking Dean quietly as he handed her back the drink she'd left on the coffee table before decorating the tree.

"Didn't say anything about ya age, just your birthday." Jeff easily pointed out, crossing his legs as he lay his arms to rest on either side of the back of the sofa he sat on.

"Well...actually…" Pursing her lips at the silence in the room as they awaited her answer, she stared at the glass in her lap for a moment. "...It was the same day your captain knocked me out." She said quietly, glancing up at him in time to catch the look of horror on his face; how he honestly felt about that as it briefly flit across his features.

"What?"

"Really?"

Quickly schooling his expression into something more passive as his men turned to look at him, he met their silently disappointed stares for a moment before her laughter brought their attention back.

"No, we did miss it but it wasn't that day." She managed out between her giggles, laughing harder as Law sighed heavily in silent relief behind their backs, narrowing his eyes at her to tell her that was _not_ funny as he buried his hands deeper into his pockets and made his way over to the bar in the corner.

"Geez, for a second there I really thought _that_ was your birthday." Penguin exhaled in equal relief.

"Waking up with a massive headache to 'Happy Birthday, welcome to Trafalgar Law's brig!' Can you imagine? Man, Captain woulda felt crappy about that." Shachi laughed, unfazed by the displeased look the man shot him at his comment.

"Well if that sort of thing bothers your captain then perhaps he should rethink his policy on abducting women altogether." Nayla said nonchalantly, talking to them though meeting Law's peeved gaze as he reached over the counter.

"It doesn't." He said firmly, plucking a beer bottle from the rack on the shelf beneath the bar, pointedly ignoring his men as they turned to look at him once more.

'Liar,' she mouthed clearly behind their backs before taking a sip of her drink, giggling into the liquid as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"So, wait. We really already passed it?" Connor caught up, not missing the silent exchange between them though the majority of the men in the room did.

"Why didn't ya say anything, lil lady?"

Shrugging as she finished off her drink, she set her empty glass down to the carpet beside her before resting her weight to Jean's side more comfortably. "I don't like my birthdays much anymore, I haven't celebrated mine since...Well, ya know. Since I lost all the people I used to celebrate it with...Besides, didn't you know? Women magically stop aging once they hit twenty-one." She finished lightly, earning a chuckle from him.

"Yeah, so I hear. Met a few forty and fifty-something year old 'twenty one's.'"

"Didn't stop _you_ from sleeping with them." Ichirou muttered, earning a loud round of laughs from the men as he tucked in his legs, clearing Law's route as his captain made his way to the armchair Bepo had occupied.

"And why should it? They don't call 'em cougars for nothing. Total animals - and some of them are still fine lookers." Jeff grinned proudly, completely unashamed of his exploits.

"Anyway…" Connor started, shooting his friend a slightly disgusted look before watching Bepo happily move aside for Law to take his usual seat. "When was it? We can make it up to you when we hit land or we'll have to make it up to you next year."

"If she's still here." Kotta added quietly, smiling cryptically at her from across the room and earning an equally sardonic smile back as a reply before she turned to Connor.

"It was between your captain's and Bepo's actually so no need, we celebrated plenty, but thank you." She declined politely, not wanting to make a big deal of the whole thing.

"Ya missed out on gifts though…" Penguin pointed out.

"Then you can get me a nice Christmas one instead." She smiled, seeming to satisfy their displeasure at dismissing the issue altogether as they hummed their reluctant agreements.

"Still, even Christmas presents are gonna be late. Seeing as a certain _someone_ promised we didn't need to do our gift shopping on the last island because we'd be on the next one with 'plenty of time before Christmas.'" Jeff said pointedly, glancing at the bear now sinking into the bean bag beside his captain's armchair with another mumbled apology.

"Lay off Bepo I said! He's doing his best to get us on land for New Year's Eve, cut him some slack will ya? He's not doing it on purpose!"

"Fine fine." Jeff sighed, lifting one hand lazily to wave her temper down. "Just sucks, was _really_ hoping to get laid for Christmas…" He paused and seemed to trail off in thought as he looked at her.

"Don't even think about it." Connor threatened, making him snap his head back around to face him.

"What, I can't even _think_ about it now?! Give me a break!" Jeff whined petulantly, folding his arms with a sulk and a sigh.

" _You're_ like a fucking animal, leave Nayla alone." Connor muttered.

"All high and mighty like _you've_ never thought of it? You've never _once_ thought of her that way in all the time you've known her?" He challenged, gesturing in her direction in annoyance.

Feeling his captain's gaze on him, Connor glanced over at the woman in question, watching as she winked at him suggestively and blew him a playful kiss.

Clamping his mouth shut and adopting the same posture as his friend, the mechanic sunk into his seat silently, avoiding eye contact with the grey pair that he could feel watching him closely.

"Right. I rest my case. Not one of you dirty bastards can tell me with a straight face that you haven't." Jeff rounded on the room of men, satisfied by their awkward, noncommittal silence.

"Yo, scallywags, who's up for some Christmas cheer!" Jake broke through it happily with his announcement from the door as he burst into the room, arms laden with trays and Vereck in close pursuit wheeling a serving trolley that she'd only seen the few times they moved food up to the deck, as for Law's birthday or to shore for the occasional barbecues.

"Whoa, you guys have been busy!" Penguin exclaimed, eyes raking over the unexpected treats that'd been brought in for them.

"Figured you boys could use a little more festive spirit, get ya in the mood." The jolly man chuckled, laying down the trays of delicious looking treats made of the leftovers of their Christmas dinner earlier that evening.

Fortunately, the always prepared Head Chef had had the foresight to buy plenty of choice cuts of turkey meat on the previous isle, despite the anticipation of being ashore for the holidays.

"Ooo, those look tasty!" Nayla peeled herself away from Jean Bart to crawl the short span of carpet to the coffee table as Jake lay down the bite-sized snacks he'd prepared for them.

"Got ya turkey club sandwiches, mini turkey burgers, turkey salad, mini turkey casseroles…" He pointed out each delicious looking item across the trays as he named them, smiling widely at her eager expression.

"Man, you out did yourself." Another crewmember complemented, eyes roving over the selection with a wide smile.

"Nice job Jake, Vereck." Another grinned.

"Yeah, thank you guys."

"Thanks!" Connor agreed gratefully as he leant forward and plucked a miniature burger off of the large platter by its seasonal cocktail stick that looked like a tiny candy cane.

"What are in these?" Nayla asked, pointing out the small pies. Pastry baked to perfection and layered lovingly on one another, still steaming from the oven.

Chuckling at her as she knelt comfortably, clutching the edge of the table excitedly, Jake moved back, allowing the others to begin helping themselves to the Christmas themed paper plates, napkins and snacks he'd lay on the table for them. "Nothing sweet hun, those are turkey and cranberry. Extras are on here." He gestured to the trolley Vereck pulled up beside them. "If you want the sweet ones, bottom shelf here." He pointed out the lower row of delights. "Gotcha leftover desserts from dinner. Some trifles, some Christmas pudding, some Christmas cake, some pecan pie, mince pies - some warm cream down there too."

She licked her lips unconsciously as he listed off all the delicious options, wondering what she'd be able to greedily fit into her already full stomach.

"Could ya bring out the stash we tucked away please, Vereck?"

The quiet chef nodded, darting back out of the room but quickly reappearing with a second trolley, the familiar noise of highly-likely-to-be-alcohol-containing-glass clinking against glass drawing the attention of every pirate in the room as he pulled it inside. This one filled with a variety of bottles, sugar and salt rimmed glasses, sliced citrus fruits, ice buckets, warming plates and novelty drink accessories ranging from everything from candy cane striped straws, to reindeer-themed shot glasses to a drink dispenser that, judging from the peculiarly placed spout on Santa's crotch, made it appear as though Old Saint Nick were peeing out the amber liquid inside when used.

"WHOA is that Cranberry Sea Breeze?! I haven't seen a bottle of that since we left North Blue!" One man exclaimed excitedly, jumping up from his seat to go inspect the nostalgic-looking bottle.

"Seriously? How'd you get that?" Penguin asked Jake in awe, the drink apparently being a native favourite though Nayla couldn't recall if she'd ever tried it herself before.

"Wasn't easy." Ichirou replied for him. "We've been looking for it on the last what, four, five, six islands?" He asked Jake.

"Least five, yeah. We figured once we hit the New World we'll really be outta luck, so we were trying to grab some whilst we could. Bought out what the store had, got a few extra crates in storage for ya." He replied.

"EGGNOG!" Another now stood to examine the trolley called out excitedly.

"Homemade." Dean chipped in with a smile, raising his glass.

"Oh _maaan_ , this is TOP shelf whiskey!" Shachi exclaimed, lifting the crystal bottle, the black and gold label wrapped snugly around the thick, patterned glass glinting expensively as he turned It in his hands.

"And rum, and cognac, and brandy and vodka. God _damn_ you guys, when did you get all this stuff?! It musta cost a fortune!" Penguin grinned eagerly, lifting the limited edition, seasonally packaged rum.

"Mostly last isle, consider it our Christmas gift to the crew." Jake chuckled, taking a seat on the carpet beside Nayla and smiling at her as she looked at him happily with full cheeks - a miniature turkey burger already into the food whilst she loaded up a plate with a selection of the offerings.

"Yeah, cause you won't be getting anything else outta me, that's for sure." Ichirou scoffed.

"Man! Thanks you guys!"

"Yeah, thanks!"

The crew ignored his slight grouch, used to his behaviour as they slapped him heartily on the back, high-fiving Dean and beginning to help themselves to the drinks, passing the bottles and glasses around to one another with laughs and grins.

"You want a different drink, Captain?" Penguin offered, turning to Law who had lazily slung his legs over one arm of the chair and rest a hand behind his head on the other.

Taking his eyes off of their largest, most stoic crewmember as he smiled at Nayla and silently took the full plate she offered up to him, Law glanced over at the tempting array of liquors. "I'll finish this one first, you go ahead and help yourself." He answered, raising the tattooed hand holding his bottle.

"Alright." Penguin grinned, grabbing a highball glass from the trolley.

Sitting back down beside Jake, Nayla wondered what she'd like to drink of the extensive selection just as the Head Chef spoke quietly to her. "I got you something special to drink, hun."

"Really? What is it?" She asked excitedly, watching as he leant over and pulled out a well tucked away glass on the lower shelf of the trolley of food behind them.

"Here ya are. Figured you might like something extra sweet for the holidays." He held out a long glass for her, her eyes widening at the sheer size of it, its chocolatey brown contents and its generous cap of whipped cream, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate straw and literal cherry on top, the glass warm to her touch.

"Cream liqueur, double strength, with double cream, caramel, chocolate sauce, whipped cream on top, sprinkles, the works. I know you like this stuff and that the crew aren't as keen on sweets as you are, so you have a few bottles of it in back of the pantry. You ever want me to whip ya up a glass like this you let me know." He smiled at her as she clasped the glass in awe. "Merry Christmas."

"…Marry me."

Laughing heartily as she wrapped her arms around him in a big hug, careful not to spill her lovingly prepared drink, he hugged her back as she started to lavish his cheek with playful pecks.

"Oi oi oi, what we gotta do to get that kinda attention?" Jeff called over, drawing the men's attention to them and making them laugh at the display as she rubbed her cheek to the blushing man's affectionately.

"Whoa, where'd you get _that_ from?" Connor asked, equally awed by the size of her drink.

"Never you mind. Mine." She bluntly stated, pulling away from Jake and wrapping her lips around her edible straw.

"But wher-?"

" _Miiine_." She reiterated, practically melting as the warm, sweet festive drink hit her tongue.

"Pfft, only selfish when it comes to sugar." Connor huffed, retaking his seat with his hefty helping of rum and coke

"If you're good to me I'll share." She teased slyly, some effort required to pull her lips away from her straw to speak.

"I'm _always_ good to you." He grinned, amber eyes betraying his words easily.

"Lies." She shook her head, using her straw to scoop a generous helping of cream from the top of her drink into her mouth, inadvertently catching Law's gaze as she licked it clean. A small smile breaking out as he smirked subtly at her from around the bottle he'd lifted to his mouth.

"Oh, we whipped up a batch of mulled wine too. Left it under one of the heat lamps to keep it warm, lemme go grab it." Jake remembered, moving to get up.

"I got it." Ichirou offered, waving the man to stay seated as he got up instead.

"You made mulled wine?!" Nayla beamed at him.

"Yup, heard a certain little someone was _very_ fond of it." He chuckled.

"Since when do _you_ like wine?" Penguin asked, brow raised as he made his way over to the trays of food.

"Yeah, only ever seen ya hittin' the hard liquors and spirits." Shachi agreed, equally surprised at her excitement.

"Mulled wine is made with fruits, cinnamon and _lots_ of sugar." Dean explained.

"Oooh." They both said in unison, understanding the appeal of it to her instantly.

"Yeah, it's _loaded_ with sweetness. Regular wine is alright, I guess, but the taste is usually way too refined for me." She added, leaning over to pluck one of the cooling, mini turkey pies from the platter. "Shut up Kotta." She halted the agreeing insult on the tip of the man's tongue before it started, his crewmates chuckling at the abashed, disappointed expression on his face as she took a bite of her delicious treat.

* * *

Yawning heavily, in no small part due to the generous helpings of food and excellent booze he'd enjoyed that evening, Law made his way down the hall to the rec room to see what was keeping his little troublemaker...Choosing to roll his eyes and ignore the 'his' in that sentence.

It had gotten late and although he had spent a significant portion of the night relaxing with his crew for the occasion, he's incessant thoughts of his looming plans had driven him to return to his quarters and go over the finer details of the information Nayla had last brought him, despite his promise to himself to attempt to take Christmas Eve and the following day of Christmas off.

Before he'd known it, it was well past midnight, the noise in the rec room had died down to nothing and he was left wondering what Nayla was up to downstairs.

Ruffling the hair at the back of his head, he pushed open the door, glancing around at the familiar sight of his overindulgent men in various states of alcohol-induced unconsciousness sprawled out across the room.

Sighing and shaking his head at the particularly loud snoring of one of his navigators sunk into a beanbag, Law slid his hands into his pockets and stepped into the room.

"And where might Nayla-ya be?" He asked the men in front of the TV, casting a disinterested glance at the screen to see what it was they were watching. Hopefully nothing cheesily festive.

"Ah, over there Captain." Shachi pointed out, drawing his attention to Jean Bart still sat to the side of the room by the tree, a large cushion across his lap and a very contented-looking woman lying on it. The size discrepancy between them and the way she'd all but curled up on the plush pillow made her look as though she were a spoilt pet snoozing on the lap of its owner.

"...Why is she sleeping on Jean Bart?"

"Well, she did start dozing off here halfway through the movie but-" Penguin started, only to be cut off by Connor.

"No reason." The man answered with a shifty side-glance to Jeff sat on his other side, doing a poor job of subtly tucking the thick, black marker beside him between the seat cushions.

"...Uh-huh." Law said in disbelief of the mechanic's poor cover as he focused his gaze on the person he'd come to collect. Making his way over, he watched as Nayla stirred and stretched languidly, cracking open one eye to peer up at him.

"Hey Law, what is it?" She yawned out.

"It's time for bed. I want to get some rest and I don't want you waking me by trawling in any later than this."

"Oh, is _that_ why you came to fetch me?" She teased him quietly, out of earshot of the men behind him as she sat up with another stretch and a playful smile.

Brow perking, he couldn't help but flit his gaze up to Jean Bart, the only other person in the room to have heard that suggestive reply, but the man said nothing and held no judgement on his stoic features.

"Yes, that's why. Get up and go get ready to sleep. We both know how long of a routine that is for you." He murmured, a small smile on his lips.

Sighing a little, she righted her Santa hat and painstakingly got off of her comfy throne to set her feet back onto the soft carpeting. "Alright alright, coming." She yawned again.

Satisfied, Law turned and began making his way out of the room, ignoring the curious, sly looks his men gave him as Nayla followed.

"Night guys, see you in the morning. Merry Christmas."

"Night, sweetie."

"Night, Nayla-chan."

"Merry Christmas, lil lady."

Pushing open the door as she bid the last few men awake quick hugs and pecks on the cheek from over the back of the sofa they sat on, Law waited patiently for her to catch up, stepping out into the hallway as she did.

With a last wave through the doorway, Nayla trotted after him towards the staircase with a happy sigh.

"...Have a good Christmas Eve?" He asked her, side-glancing at the satisfied smile on her face, hands back in pockets as he began ascending to the top floor.

"Yeah, it was great." She beamed at him. "Where did you wander off to? Don't tell me you actually did work tonight."

"A little." He smiled as she tutted at him.

"Can't even take one day off, I swear."

"Did you miss my company that much?" He teased easily.

"Didn't even notice you were gone." She returned just as readily, laughing at the amusement on his face as they reached the landing. "So, what were you working on that was sooo important on Christmas Eve?"

"It occurred to me that the ships you were hired to guard en route a couple of weeks back, although hired by Joker, were unlikely to be _owned_ by him. I was going about trying to find the owners, hoping for some interesting business partners to come up, but the search proved fruitless. I can try again with more resources at my disposal when we hit land in a few days." He explained.

Humming in thought as they reached his quarters, she couldn't recall anything about who the ships had rightfully belonged to, seeing as everyone aboard them had been under the pretence that they were simply Joker's vessels. It hadn't even occurred to her to double check who the licensed (at least, on paper) owners of those ships were.

"...I'll try to pick up that kind of info next time. You're interested in knowing his regular business partners?"

"Yeah." He pushed the door to his quarters open as they reached it, allowing her in ahead of him.

It was nice that he'd gradually began divulging what it was he was looking for more specifically, even if he still didn't want to share why. It felt a little more trusting of him. It made it easier and easier to focus her energy on bringing back things that would be useful to him and he'd definitely done it more often since she'd admitted to _wanting_ to work for him.

"I thought you said you were going to bed and didn't want me to wake you." Nayla said in surprise as he made his way back over to his desk.

"And that's true. But what I said about your long bedtime routine was also true. By the time you remove your makeup, wash up, moisturise, brush your teeth and change that ridiculous get up of yours etcetera etcetera, I'll be done with this." He listed off, rolling his hand as he recited her nightly routine that he'd come to know like the back of it.

Huffing a little at that, she trailed after him as he sat down in his imposingly tall, black, leather chair.

"My ridiculous get up, huh. What's wrong with it? I happen to think I look exceptionally alluring in a fluffy, red, reindeer sweater." She said mockingly snootily, hands on hips she came to a stop beside him.

Sparing her an amused scoff and glance up, Law reopened the pages of coded notes he'd started to make based on his and her findings about Doflamingo.

"Very. The 'Oh Deer' slogan and bulbous red nose stuck to the front of it is particularly attractive." He humoured, eyes beginning to scan over where he left off before fetching her.

"I thought so too. Although…" Placing her hand over the page, she met his gaze as he looked back up at her in question. " _I_ think the Santa hat really does it for me."

He felt a brow arch as she boldly used her other hand to rest on the top of his chair, leaning down over him as she turned it slightly to face her. "...Kinda grinchy of you not to wear one with us, or a goofy sweater."

"Not really my style." He smirked, inwardly enjoying her forwardness and the newfound closeness of her painted lips, eyes flitting to them in temptation as she spoke.

"Hmm, I agree. Not really mine either." She smiled back, standing upright and gripping the hem of her top with her hands. "I got you a present~" She sang, starting to peel it upwards slowly and earning a devilishly pleased smirk.

"Let me guess, you're wearing a scandalous 'Mrs. Claus' costume under there that you recently added to your collection?" He teased.

"Not quite." She laughed, breaking the act, reaching a hand up her top and sliding out the Den Den Polaroid she'd securely tucked away between her usual tank top and chest. "Though I will admit that I _have_ always wanted an excuse to buy one."

Grinning at the mild disappointment on his face and roll of his eyes as she pulled her top back down, she held the item out for him, waiting patiently as he sat up with a sigh and took it from her.

Flipping the small, warm image up the right way he broke out into a smile as he looked at the photo taken only a few hours ago in the rec room of his entire crew in front of their tree, all donned in their silly Christmas hats and attire, holding a handmade banner for the occasion that read "Merry Christmas Captain!"

"Noticed there hasn't been a full crew photo since the day you set sail on this sub. Figured with all the new faces you've recruited since then that you might like an up-to-date picture of all your nearest and dearest." She took no small pleasure in enjoying his silent, genuine smile as his eyes darted across the image in his hand, taking in every detail.

"You aren't in it?"

"Well _I'm_ not crew and someone had to take the picture." She laughed.

He hummed a little sadly under his breath at the reminder though didn't let it detract from the gift. "...You didn't plan this." He stated, noticing but not minding the last-minute nature of the hastily made banner.

"No, I didn't. I planned on shopping around at the next island before Christmas hit but, well, you know...Oh and if the crew try to take any credit for this, they're lying. All my idea, they still owe you their gifts. I'll buy a nice frame for it when we arrive though. Want me to see if I can get it blown up a little bigger? Could maybe even make a card out of it and let them all sign their own Christmas wishes to you on the inside for you as a keepsake, if you like?"

"No...It's perfect as it is." He replied quietly, setting it down gently atop his desk.

...

"You're welcome." She broke through his thoughts cheekily, giggling at his amused look as he snapped his gaze from the gift to her and sat back in his chair.

"Sooo…" She placed a hand to the armrests on either side of him. "What are you gonna get me?"

"Who said I was getting you anything?" He smirked as she rest a knee beside his leg on the chair.

"Oh really?" She challenged, looking over her shoulder, grabbing the picture she'd given him and moving to tear it threateningly.

"I'm sure I can think of something." He offered lowly, plucking it from her poised fingers and sliding his other hand up her bare thigh.

"I already got _you_ that for your birthday. Something original please." She teased, leaning forward carefully and resting her other knee to his other side as he placed the photo back onto his desk. "And no pre-packaged girly gift sets please. I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of those from the well-meaning sweethearts downstairs...Though on the bright side, I guess I won't be running out of moisturiser or bubble bath anytime soon."

"Then what would you like?" He asked, hands travelling up her sides to rest on her waist as she gently lowered herself onto his lap.

"Nothing really. I'm just kidding with you, you don't have to get me anything." She smiled, running her fingers back through his thick hair. "Although...You could do me one favour, I guess."

"What's that?"

"Do you think you could give the crew some kind of new orders or a formal update about my status on your ship?"

"They need one?" He asked, genuinely a little surprised at the request.

"Well, couple of them still insist on treating me like a prisoner until you say otherwise…" She mumbled, glancing out through the porthole on the wall beside them; the usual sight of the darkness of the sea's depths and the gentle glow of the sub's exterior lighting seeping in.

"Ah, Ichirou and Vereck." He recalled in apparent understanding.

Looking back at him in confusion, she tilted her head slightly. "No, Ichirou and Kotta."

"Hmm, him too." He agreed, chuckling a little at the other medic's mention.

"Vereck? He barely says two words to me at a time. Why would you think _he_ was giving me the cold shoulder?"

"It's not my place to discuss it with you, their reasons are their own…Does being treated like a prisoner by them actually bother you?"

"…I feel like if I say 'yes' then you'll _definitely_ not say anything to the crew." She replied, letting go of her newfound curiosity, for now.

"Maybe." He answered with a teasing grin.

Sighing and making to get up off his lap, he laughed again, holding her hips more firmly to keep her where she was. "I'll see what I can do. Anything else?"

"Oh? Well aren't you in a giving mood…" She started with a sly smile, peeling the Santa hat from her head and placing it gently on his, tugging the almost familiar white, furry brim down snugly. "And here I thought I'd never get the chance to sit on your lap and tell you exactly what I want." She purred against his lips lowly.

"I believe that's a privilege for well-behaved girls." He replied suggestively, pressing his lips to hers softly in a brief kiss as she hummed against him.

"Are you saying I've been a naughty one? How cliché of you, Santa C _Law_ s…Did you see what I did there?" She grinned against his mouth.

"…You are infinitely less attractive when you make puns of my name." He deadpanned.

Sighing but smiling mildly despite himself as she laughed, he wrapped his arms beneath her thighs and held her to him as he stood from his chair.

"Hmm, you gonna punish me for being bad all year?" She teased, wrapping her arms around his shoulders more securely as he carried her towards his bedroom.

"No. I'll be giving you _exactly_ what you want for Christmas."


	70. Poorly kept secrets

Awed by what must have been at _least_ a forty foot tall Christmas tree standing proudly in the portside town's centre, Nayla excitedly took in the incredible decorations around them that had been put up for the festive season.

The tree's extensive lights and tasteful decorations set the night air around it aglow, reaching high into the sky for the crowd gathered in the large town square in front of the city hall building to see and enjoy.

Although they were far away from it, she imagined it had banks of fake snow, empty gift boxes and maybe even some plastic, life-size models of religious figures or Santa at its base. There was no way of telling past the heads of so many people taller than herself. The only to know for sure would be to try to push through the hundreds of people gathered there tonight to ring in the New Year to get nearer to the front, which she and the crew had no intention of doing.

Considering they'd only just managed to reach the isle the previous morning, it had been a hectic day and a half for them to get everything that needed to be done finished _and_ buy and distribute all the late Christmas gifts to one another that they hadn't had the chance to prior to the event.

Plans of last minute scouring for local hot spots that still had places available for celebrations that night were easily thrown out in favour of a more relaxed, laid back option like simply watching the countdown and fireworks display in the town centre together instead.

She'd been surprised to find that this was also a winter island, apparently there were many clustered within this part of the sea that usually resulted in travellers visiting one after another in what was referred to as 'The Winter Walk of The Grand Line.'

Unfortunately, similarly acclimatised islands relatively close to one another didn't make the waters between them any more stable. In fact, it had been the freak icy gusts, hail storms and sheets of ice suddenly appearing within the sea that that caused their delay arriving to begin with, what with Bepo taking a cautionary detour that had cost them Christmas on land.

Not that she'd minded. Not that anyone had really minded in the end. It had been a fun, warm and cosy day, one that she would remember for a long time and one that had broken her long streak of isolated, lonely and miserable Christmases.

Pulling her eyes off the brightly lit star atop the tree, she followed the delicate, sparkling strings of white fairy lights that trailed from its branches to adjoin it to and line the architecture of the surrounding buildings. They ran in glowing streams through the air and onto the stonework of nearby structures. They particularly highlighted the beautiful features of the centre stage of this event; the town hall. They ran around the rim of the large clock built into the top of its front wall above the entrance that slowly but steadily ticked them towards the new year, down its thick, stone columns that supported the eave that overhung its grand steps to the public and some hung like twinkling icicles from the edges of its peaked roof.

All the surrounding buildings were lit in tasteful, matching colours that alternated in slow, soothing transitions. Windows of the shops and homes around them still held Christmas decorations, framed in frost. Glittery signs and banners glistened the number of the upcoming year under the glowing lights. Festive music rang out loudly over the speakers placed around the open air venue, echoing off of the stone buildings and ringing out into the surrounding night sky. The source of the upbeat, seasonal tune being the stage that had been set up on top of the town hall's steps where officials running the event chatted animatedly with one another, unheard over the song being played and the crowd present as all waited in anticipation of the nearing New Year.

The people were abuzz. The elderly stood arm in arm, huddled closely in the cold with creased smiles. Young couples did much the same. Families carried their young ones, hoisting them up onto shoulders to see the upcoming display - some tired, some excited by all the lights, noise and celebration. All in all the loud drone of their excited chatter was in close competition with the music volume and in competition to that, were the even louder merchants that had set up stalls around the edges of the large courtyard and that walked through the crowd with their merchandise haphazardly displayed on the vendor trays they wore around their necks.

Grown men in now outdated Santa hats with the upcoming New Year's number hastily stuck on tried to hawk their wares, targeting the younger children in attendance, holding their cheaply made items out temptingly to the toddlers dazzled by the tackily flashing items.

Others were selling glow sticks, wrist bands, streamers, poppers, sparklers and the like - banking on people's desires to do something at the shout of "One!" during that night's countdown. Others still, meandered through the crowd selling hot snacks and drinks, careful to not spill a drop of the generously filled plastic cups atop their trays - these merchants doing the best by far.

Flagging one over herself as she dug beneath the neck of her sweater, Nayla handed the man over some notes and took a steaming hot cup of cider from him, returning the cheerful "Happy New Year!" he bid her from beneath his thick moustache and fluffy beard with a smile.

Cupping her warm treat with both gloved hands, she blew over the liquid's hot surface, inhaling the honeyed, cinnamon scent deeply before glancing up at Law beside her as she felt his gaze.

"Want some?" She offered, getting nothing but a small grin and a shake of his head in response.

Smiling a little herself, she gingerly sipped her cider, watching the crew around them as they chat amongst themselves, bought their own treats from the passing vendors and grinned excitedly.

She'd been getting on with their captain well lately. Very well since the incident that had taken them overboard together a few months ago. A lot had happened since then.

Their daily banter was back in full swing, she still defaced his newspaper bounty every chance she got, on occasion he still tried (and in her opinion, failed) to discipline her like a naughty child, he'd gone back to escorting her to and picking her up from most of her jobs personally - though this time it didn't seem to be because he was trying to make sure she didn't run.

Although she still spent the majority of her days with the crew, she found she spent a few lazy days together with him as well; reading, working, studying or snoozing within the same space as him or simply exploring the town on an idle walk together to take in the local sights and shops - which she had enjoyed a lot.

They certainly spent nights together. Every night in fact. There wasn't a single one other than those spent away at a job that she hadn't spent in bed with him on sea or on land...The pillow and blanket that had been on the sofa in his quarters for her use appeared to be just for show now, he hadn't once shown any sign that he expected her to resume sleeping on it.

…

She was still having a hard time processing the belated Christmas gift he'd given her earlier though. She was still having a hard time processing he'd given her anything at all, really having convinced herself that he'd do no such thing (though she had secretly dared to hope).

They hadn't been out to eat, just the two of them, since his birthday. Although he had said he didn't mind spending time with her in that way and that he'd enjoyed it enough for them to go do it again sometime, a part of her...hadn't actually expected him to do it?

Imagine her surprise when he showed up at her inn door earlier that evening to suggest they go out for dinner. His treat this time, as her Christmas gift from him. Imagine her surprise at the three bouquets of flowers that were already waiting for them there at a table for her. He'd played it off as mocking jest of their last conversation in such a setting, saying that she _had_ demanded all three of them which had only made her laugh but smile all the same.

...She wished she knew more about flowers and their meanings because she wondered if there were any behind the beautiful selection currently sitting in their vases in her inn room. The man never did do anything by accident and he did know way too much about just about anything for his own good. Maybe he did carefully select them, maybe he didn't and had simply bought whatever had caught his eye or that the place had recommended. Either way…

Nayla slid her arm through his, curling up to his side comfortably in the brisk night air as he looked down at her in question.

...What she found so unbelievably and unexpectedly adorable about Law, was how blissfully unaware of how romantic he was.

Perking an inquisitive brow at the growing grin she gave him, clearly on the verge of laughing, Law finally asked: "What are you finding so amusing?"

He had absolutely no idea.

Laughing a little under her breath she said nothing but took a sip of her drink around her smile, causing him to sigh. "I don't think I'll ever understand your sense of humour."

Only laughing harder at that she couldn't help but think it was a shame that he weren't the committed relationship type. If he could make so many effortlessly sweet gestures without ever really trying to then she had no doubt that he'd have made a special woman very happy some day.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

All eyes falling to the stage as the music died down and a man in a very distinguished suit spoke into the microphone, the crowd hushed in anticipation of the speech that would usher in the New Year that was minutes away.

"I thank you all for coming out to enjoy the fireworks here with us tonight in the great town of Novus Nenkan. It is my great honour that so many of you have chosen to come celebrate here, together, as the wonderful community that I am so very proud to be the mayor of." The crowd cheered in pride of their hometown and of their apparently well-liked elected official.

"As we are mere moments away from the start of the New Year, I'd like you to take this opportunity to remember all of your successes this year, as well as your failings. The brave risks you took to enrich your lives and the times you missed golden opportunities to do so. Now is the moment you can best reflect on the previous year as it comes to a close in hopes of doing better in the next. The new chances, the new opportunities, the new possibilities of rebuilding old relationships, of forming _new_ relationships, of doing greater, of being happier, of reaching your goals, hopes and dreams are just around the corner!"

The clock above and behind the man giving the impassioned speech lit up with the number 'ten' as the countdown began.

"My fellow countrymen, my friends. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all the best fortune and happiness possible for the year to come!" He closed as the crowd cheered and began to countdown in unison.

"Seven!"

Nayla watched as the man turned to the DJ on stage with a handshake, giving the man a warm smile and a pat on the back.

"Six!"

She hadn't heard such a heartfelt New Year's speech in a long time. It made her feel energised, motivated and ready to take on whatever the New Year had in store for her.

"FIVE!"

Laughing at the drunken, boilersuit-clad men around her as they loudly joined in the countdown, looping arms around shoulders, hoisting drinks in the air and grinning ear to ear, she guessed they were ready for it too.

"FOUR!"

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE! - HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The town hall's clock's chimes of midnight were drowned out by the deafening roar of the crowd's joyous cheers, the thunderous explosions of fireworks as they launched and the loud broadcast of Auld Lang Syne beginning to boom out through the speakers surrounding the large courtyard.

Looking up as the first firework erupted into a vibrant display above, Nayla smiled to herself as she heard the pirates and people around her begin to 'ooo,' 'ahhh' and drunkenly sing half-correctly remembered lyrics of the aged, annual song that probably hadn't been sung by any of them since this time last year.

Hearing quieter booms amidst the loud gunpowder of the extensive fireworks display, she looked directly above at the rooftops of the buildings around them; large cannons manned by town officials had begun firing huge rounds of glistening confetti over the heads of the crowd in tandem.

"Wow…" She whispered in quiet awe and admiration to herself, watching as the bright petals rained down gently from up above, the midnight breeze helping them disperse as they reflected the bright, beautiful lights of the fireworks still whistling happily in their ascent to their dazzling demise.

Slipping her drink into the hand she had thread through Law's arm, she held up her other to catch some of the glittering paper as it finally began to flutter down lowly enough, smiling as some landed on her glove, feeling the tickle of them as they began to land on her hat and hair.

It was a wonderful moment. The music, the visual display, the atmosphere, the excitement, the buzz of the crowd, their palpable happiness in the air and the mutual well-wishes they held for one another in this uniting moment. It had been a wonderful day and an amazing night, she was so thankful in that breathtaking moment that she'd had the opportunity to share it with her friends as they celebrated around her, including Law…

Feeling the man beside her slide his arm out of her hold as her thoughts fell to him, she looked up at him in question as he turned to face her, not getting even a moment to process what he was doing before he leant down and pressed his lips to hers.

Eyes widening as he slipped his tongue into her mouth with her shocked gasp, she pressed her free hand to his shoulder to push him back only to feel him smirk against her lips, swat it aside and wrap an arm around her lower back, pulling her in closely as he tangled the fingers of his other hand into her hair, tilting her head back and delving his tongue in more deeply.

Her eyes fell shut against her will, her mild fight back began to weaken and wane as the sensation of his tongue sliding over hers in slow, strong, passionate strokes quickly crumbled her resistance along with the way that he held her. In that strong, insistent way of his that told her he _would_ be getting what he wanted, that for some reason, she found arousing instead of infuriating as she should.

Only mildly remembering to try to keep her hot drink upright as he dipped her, she thread her free fingers through the back of his hair beneath his hat automatically, melting into the affectionately heated exchange before he began pulling away.

Finally breaking their kiss, Law looked down at her, still dipped beneath him, her cheeks flushed and a sweetly confused look on her face at his sudden boldness...Which quickly transitioned into an annoyed pout as the stunned-silent crew around them began cheering and wolf-whistling loudly.

Biting the inside of her cheek as his smirk only grew and he made no move to let go of her, Nayla tried her hardest to hold onto her irritation and not the way her heart flipped at the sight of the way the fireworks still launching in the sky above him highlighted his devilishly handsome grin or made his highly amused eyes glint, or how the confetti still rained down upon them both in soft tickles and grazes.

"I _TOLD_ YOU! PAY! THE FUCK! UP!" Connor yelled in hard-earned satisfaction, raising his arms in triumph, his drink partially splattering to the ground in his excitement.

"WAY TO GO CAPTAIN!" Penguin yelled as Shachi whistled loudly from between his fingers.

"OW! Get a _room_ you two!" Another crewmember taunted, a round of loud laughs at the partially intend pun erupting from the men around him.

"They kinda already did, how long they been sharing Cap's quarters now?" Jeff suggested with a dirty eyebrow wiggle at the man, slapping Connor a high-five he approached.

"Starting the New Year a rich man! Come on losers, pay up, pay up!" The mechanic greedily encouraged, holding his palm out and flexing his fingers as his crewmates grudgingly groaned and began reaching into pockets for their wallets.

Sighing heavily in defeat in Law's arms as she heard the fallout of his actions coming from the men around them, Nayla tuned them out and narrowed her eyes up at him in question of why on Earth he thought it'd be a good idea to subject them to this.

That was a good question. He'd never been one to give in to impulses or one for public displays. Perhaps it had been the influence of the enthusiastic words of the mayor's zealous speech, or the contagious elation of the crowd, or the sight of others around them enjoying _their_ New Year's kisses coupled with the displeasure he felt at having to restrain himself from doing the same...Maybe it had simply been how beautiful she had looked watching the sky above, catching confetti, blissfully unaware of his gaze on her smiling lips and his sudden, burning desire to taste them.

Chuckling quietly, he leant back in closely to answer the unspoken question all over her unamused face. "It was a poorly kept secret anyway." He murmured, kissing her gently, some of her irritation ebbing as she felt his mildly apologetic lips...which were hard to take seriously considering they were still pulled into a highly amused smile. He wasn't sorry in the slightest. Doing as he pleased, when he pleased, was part of being a pirate after all.

He stood her back up though made no move to release her, resting both hands to her lower back, his smirk widening still at her perturbed expression.

"'Bout time you two just outed it already!" Dean yelled over the noise.

"Yeah, no kidding! Never had me convinced you guys weren't a thing though." Connor turned to look at her over his shoulder, flashing her a winning smile as his sour crewmates counted bills into his outstretched hand.

Breaking away from the loud singing of Auld Lang Sine from the crowd around them, Jeff began a song of his own as he slung an arm around his suddenly very wealthy friend. "Captain and Nayla, sittin' in a tree~" Laughing and joining in with the immature tune, Connor started to sing along too.

"K-I-S-S-I~"

"F-U-C-K-I~"

Abruptly stopping at the mismatched lyrics, Connor gaped at his friend. "That is _not_ how the song goes!"

"Is when I sing it." He replied, earning loud laughs from the crew around them as Connor sighed at his ridiculously toothy grin.

Looking back at the woman in his arms as she groaned and held a hand to her face, clearly envisioning her inevitable weeks (probably months) ahead of this, Law pulled her in tightly, planting a kiss to her temple, his smirk still in place as he spoke into her ear. "Happy New Year, Nayla."

Sighing heavily into his chest, she found herself smiling against her will, her arms moving to wrap themselves around him as well. "...Happy New Year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Eve kiss - A tradition with lots of different meanings behind it, my favourite ones being that it brings good fortune to budding relationships and strengthens ties you want to maintain in the future.


	71. Changes

It was the little things that had changed. Slowly, gradually, subtly. More and more often Law noticed how his day to day routine and his life in general had altered.

Strangely, it didn't bother him. What was strange however was just how much had changed before he'd even realised it. It had been so slight that he was surprised things had slipped by him so easily without him noticing until he purposely stopped to reflect on them.

He was sure it was the same for her as well. Actually, he was sure that Nayla hadn't noticed a lot of the little things that had changed. Like how she had begun to refer to the sub as 'home.'

Simple slip ups, like on their final day ashore last week when he had been within earshot of her and Penguin and she had asked him if they were done in town and ready to return 'home' yet, referring to the vessel.

Law had never pointed it out or corrected it, a little worried that making her realise she'd started calling it that would make her feel as though she shouldn't and prompt her to stop. It wasn't as if it did any harm or bothered him at all that she had begun to consider his home her own as well. It didn't stir him in any special way other than shock when he'd first heard her say it…and something like pride, maybe a little happiness. It was nice that she felt that way about his ship, about living here with him, with his crew.

In all actuality, his vessel _was_ her home now, temporary or not, and the crew certainly didn't seem to notice the change in what she called it. It seemed to fall onto their ears naturally seeing as all in all, she _had_ been living with them for nearly six months now.

Spitting his mouthwash out into the sink in front of him, Law turned the tap back on and rinsed his toothbrush before sliding it back into its holder, beside hers. Generally, he'd grown used to the presence of her belongings around his quarters, around his vessel even. He'd noticed the new, distinctly more femininely designed mug sitting amongst the others in the cupboard downstairs in the galley that she used consistently.

How he felt about her personal items around his quarters had changed. From a neutral patience to irritation as more and more of her things crept out of her suitcase and began nudging his own…to actually not minding seeing her things around in the least.

In fact, he'd actually not had any issue in allowing her an extra drawer, the use of the bedside cabinet on her side of his bed (seeing as it was unused and empty) or a small amount of space on the other side of his wardrobe to place _more_ of her items in when she had asked. The wardrobe was far too large for his amount of clothing anyway.

There was something almost nice about seeing her things around now, especially when she was gone. A foreign sense of comfort in the reminders of her he subconsciously took in as he moved around his rooms and his ship as a whole. Speaking of which…His gaze slid over to the red lace slung over his towel rack to the side.

Of all the things she left around, her underwear, by far, had caused him the most frustration…but those days were over. The days of inwardly fighting down his want of her whilst simultaneously refusing to acknowledge or sate it and then having to see what lewd little panties she'd been wrapped in beneath her tiny skirt the day before had not been helpful in stemming his desires in the least.

They were no longer an irritating, invasive, tortuous eye sore. It was honestly a pleasure to see the skimpy delicates he'd enjoyed peeling off of her the day before hanging up to dry on a daily basis now.

Smirking in satisfaction at that, he heard a tired yawn and the soft pad of small feet on the tiles by the doorway to his En Suite.

"Mmm, morning Captain." Running her fingers back through her long, dark hair as she leant against the door frame, Nayla smiled at him sleepily.

That was something else that had slowly changed over time as well that again, he was sure even she didn't notice she had begun doing. His title. The word she had initially spat out in disdain or punctuated with sarcasm was often said with sincerity and respect now…and more than often, seductively purred.

"Did you sleep well? All done with your shower?" She asked, stepping into the room with him, still slightly humid from the shower he'd had whilst she'd slept. He opened the bathroom door for her now when he was done, a compromise they had reached so that she could have enough time to wash up before breakfast.

"Yeah." He replied watching her in the mirror as she wrapped her arms around his bare torso from his side, tiptoed and kissed his cheek in greeting, the silk of her short, black nightie pleasant on his skin.

She had stopped borrowing his night clothes to sleep in and had begun using her own. In return, he'd gone back to wearing only comfy pants to bed and had stopped bothering to pull on a top at night – something he had only taken to doing once they had begun to share a room, but as they'd both seen each other naked numerous times already, the courtesy of night-time 'decency' had long become redundant.

"'Yeah,' what? I asked two things." She laughed a little, grinning at him in the mirror as he smiled.

"I slept well. There's no point in answering the second, seeing as the answer is obvious." He gestured to the towel around his waist, as if the humidity in the room wasn't enough of an indication.

"Gotta be a nitpicker." She tutted, reaching a hand up to run her fingers over the smooth, soft skin of his freshly shaven jaw. "If you're done dolling up for the day then shoo, let me do the same."

Chuckling, he peeled her hand away from his chin, kissed her forehead and made his way past her. "Don't take too long, I want to get down to breakfast soon."

Waiting for one another to go downstairs to meals together was also something they had wordlessly begun doing. You'd think it gave her fewer opportunities to get to his newspaper first, but it didn't. She still always found a way to take a pen to his face in the mornings and he still always allowed her. The gesture had gone from an attempt to annoy, frustrate and embarrass him to playful teases and subtle shows of affection. An inside joke between them that he wouldn't change, even if he could.

He wondered what he would look like today when he reached the centrefold. He'd almost begun to look forward to it.

* * *

The crew were still annoying her. That wouldn't be changing anytime soon.

Strolling down the halls of the second floor, Law idly swirled the coffee he held before lifting the mug to take a sip, his ears perking as he heard a familiarly teasing tone and an even more familiarly aggravated one coming from the open door of the rec room up ahead.

"-don't see what the big deal is, you may as well just tell us." He heard Connor's voice reason. Law imagined the man to have accompanied that sentence with a nonchalant shrug.

"It's none of your damn business." The only feminine voice aboard snapped back, as he reached the doorway, stopping and taking another casual sip as he glanced inside at the couple of crewmembers whose job it was today to clean the room, obviously keeping themselves entertained with their usual banter. Though their idea of entertainment since New Year's Eve was relentlessly taunting Nayla these days it seemed.

"Ah come on, you can tell us, lil lady. Just how long have you and Captain been f-?"

"Stop asking! Just because you have money on when we - LAW!" She yelled as she spotted him in the hallway, not missing the amused smirk he tried to mask by the rim of the mug he lifted up to his mouth. "FIX THIS ALREADY! TELL THEM TO STOP IT!" She demanded, pointing at the other two men in the room with the rag she'd been wiping the porthole clean with.

It _had_ been a month since New Year's Eve, her patience with their constant teasing and questions was beginning to run dangerously thin.

"Stop it." Law offered blandly, earning an unimpressed narrowing of the eyes from her at his lazy repeat of her words.

"Aww come on, Captain." Connor whined from behind the bar, resting the bottles he'd removed to dust the shelves onto it with a sulky thud.

"Is that an order?" Jeff pouted, leaning his chin to his hands over the end of his broom.

"It is." Law confirmed with a nod, smiling as he took his leave and continued down the hall towards the crew cabins to find Bepo. He listened to the disappointed sighs and mumbled 'Aye aye, Captain's as he walked away, followed by a short lived silence.

"…So I figure you guys have been at it since-"

"What the fuck?! He JUST _ORDERED_ you to stop it!"

"And we did, lil lady."

"He just didn't tell us how long to stop fo-mmph!" Law would hazard a guess that the dirty, wet rag she'd been holding had just found its way into Connor's mouth.

"Fuck the both of you."

"Now now, as much as we appreciate the offer I don't think Captain would like that very mu-OW! GEEZ!" There was a distinct crack of wood. Law supposed he'd be seeing 'replacement broomstick' on the next required inventory list when they hit land and a suspiciously shaft-like bruise on Jeff's person somewhere that he would _not_ be sympathetically offering any treatment for.

Chuckling quietly to himself, he looked over his shoulder as he heard the characteristic, angry little stomps of Nayla's heeled boots as they reached the hallway behind him. She wasn't sharing his amusement, that much was clear by the glare she sent his way as she walked briskly to catch up with him.

She was still a little angry with him for his impromptu reveal of the nature of their 'relationship' on New Year's Eve, which he could understand considering the amount of harassment she'd been given since. He didn't regret it though, and if she were honest, she didn't either. He hadn't done it to cause her hassle; he'd done it because he simply wanted to.

Although he wouldn't like to call it a change to his usual behaviour, because he wouldn't like to think any woman could cause such a thing in him, having Nayla around definitely did encourage his more spontaneous side. He'd never been opposed to acting on his whims, doing what he wanted as he wanted, but that night and more than once, she had caused him to act on the spur of the moment. Which he surprisingly liked. It was liberating and exciting, small and simple breaks from his usually well calculated actions. She had become a source of genuine fun and little thrills that seemed to only add to his enjoyment of his daily life.

"I'm glad _you're_ finding this all so funny." She scolded, crossing her arms as she fell into step beside him.

"I am." He replied easily, side-glancing down at her with a growing grin. "…You know it was bound to come out eventually, Nayla. It's easier this way, we've been over this."

They _had_ been over it, many times.

The small novelty of the excitement of sneaking around behind the crew's backs had been short lived. It had soon become tiresome to tiptoe around the issue in front of others and going through the motions to keep up the façade had become irritating and pointless. Continuing to book two rooms for them at inns to save face in front of the crew when in fact one always went unused for example. It was going to come out sooner or later, whether they liked it or not, they both knew and accepted as much.

She was still annoyed about it though. She'd lost count of how many times she'd yelled at him for that display on New Year's Eve, that lack of warning and lack of discussion…The yelling often ended with his snide, completely unrepentant remarks only further aggravating her…which somehow always seemed to end up in passionate sex…She wasn't sure how those dots connected.

It seemed a lot of the time these days when she was mad at him, he'd mysteriously seduce her into forgetting or venting her anger in steamy, satisfying sex…Mysterious was too strong a word, she knew it was on purpose, she just wasn't sure how she kept falling for it. One second she was sure she was giving him a piece of her mind, the next she couldn't remember how she'd found herself half-dressed underneath him on his bed…or sofa…or desk..or floor…

Shaking the arousing memory of their last argument-turned-sex-frenzy from her head she closed her eyes with an aggravated sigh and uncrossed her arms. "I know, I know, just…couldn't you have done it some other way?"

"Would you have rather I sat the entirety of my crew down for a serious talk and rationally explained that we'd come to an agreement to engage in casual sex with one another for the foreseeable future?" He drawled lazily, taking another mouthful of his coffee.

"Well no…just…some _other_ way. There must have been a better one you could have picked." She grumbled.

"Suggest one."

…

Turning her head to the side, she deliberately ignored his victorious smirk and re-crossed her arms. "I'm just saying there was probably a way to do this that wouldn't have caused such a freaking excitable uproar then suddenly shoving your tongue down my throat."

She flinched as she felt lips leant swiftly to her ear. "As I recall it, you didn't seem to mind much at the time, Nayla."

"Oh would ya stop teasing me? You're as bad as they are." She sighed, slapping fingers over his smirk and pushing him away before his seductively silken voice could get the better of her. He knew exactly how effective that husky tone of his was.

Breaking out into a small chuckle, he withdrew from her personal space. "Do you really regret kissing me back in front of them this much?"

Pursing her lips together as a smile threatened to break out across them, she shook her head at his smug expression and at the laughter in his eyes. He already knew the answer to that. "No…it was a really nice kiss actually." She admitted quietly.

Smiling but saying nothing, he inwardly agreed that it had been a memorable and enjoyable moment for him as well.

"…Doesn't stop me from being mad at you or at your crew though." She added, slowing as they approached the entrance to the training room.

"You're going to train?"

"Yeah, I have the sudden urge to beat the living shit out of your men right now for some reason." She said, casting him an equally peeved, equally amused look.

"Speaking of." He started, turning around to face her. "How is your Haki training coming along?"

She avoided his eye contact almost guiltily, feeling more and more inadequate every time he asked and every time she had to give him the same answer. "…Still nothing. I mean…I know the theory and the basics, I know I do, it's just…nothing ever actually emerges no matter how much I try."

"You _are_ still focusing on just Armament Haki, aren't you?" Law knew she'd have a natural affinity for it once she got the hang of it, it shared a lot in common with how she utilised her existing ability.

"Yeah…Like I said, it's just a willpower thing. Know all the techniques but just don't have the spiritual strength to actually summon or use Haki." She sighed eyeing the training door, feeling a lot less vigour and energy all of a sudden.

"Because you're doubting yourself and selling yourself short. Trust me, you're strong enough for it. Once you get over your self-inflicted mental block, you'll easily master that variation of Haki."

Sliding her gaze back up to his at the certainty of his reassurance she smiled at him as he took another sip of his coffee. "You sound so sure."

"I am. I'm not wrong about these things, Nayla. You _will_ learn how to use it...even if I have to teach you myself." He added darkly, a sinister edge to the smirk on his face.

"Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" She laughed, feeling the underlying threat of a promisingly harsh training session under his tutorage if she didn't manage to accomplish Haki control with his crew.

"How is the crew's training _from_ you going?" He chuckled, moving on.

"Oh, not bad at all actually! Most of them hardly ever fall for stupid girly tricks anymore, you should come watch when you're done, talking to Bepo?" Gesturing the direction he was heading in question she waited for his affirmative nod before continuing. "Yeah, come by. You haven't seen them in action in ages, you'd be very proud of them!"

"They've gotten that much better?" He huffed in almost disbelieving amusement at her excitement.

" _Much_. Pen barely blinks when I pull stupid shit now – I mean he may blush and sweat a little but he stays _really_ focused. Dean is rock steady now, doesn't fall for a damn thing. Shachikins hasn't had a perverted nosebleed in over a month – though he did have his first traumatic one last week because I _finally_ managed to land a good punch on him, didn't mean to get him in the face though. Jake is amazing – can't believe how fast that guy is on his feet! And Jeff is…well actually Jeff is the only one that doesn't seem to be improving, no matter how many times we train together…"

Lowering his mug from his mouth, Law perked a brow, silently prompting her to continue.

"I _could_ be wrong-" She shot him a sceptical look that clearly read that she didn't think that she was. "-but he kinda seems a little too content for me to flash him or pin him to the floor with moves that I'm pretty sure he ought to know how to avoid by now, if he isn't entirely stupid." She added bluntly with an unimpressed deadpan.

"…Don't train Jeff anymore."

Nodding in approval she rest a hand to the door. "Mhmm, don't train Jeff anymore, got it." She repeated in affirmation, using her other hand to wave, smiling at him as she pushed it and entered the room.

* * *

"You should definitely have gotten one of these to go, you're missing out." Nayla chided almost gleefully as she pressed her lips back to the sweet, creamy coldness of her pierside ice cream and began making her way up the sub's gangplank.

"I'm sure I'll live. I don't have a sweet tooth as big as yours." Law replied, looking up at her as she sucked the chocolate chip and cookie chunks from...was that her tenth or eleventh ice cream she'd bought during their stay on this island? It was honestly hard to tell and he was certain she had snuck more when he hadn't been around.

"Well I got two scoops, you can still have one of mine if you change your mi-HEY!"

Glancing past her onto the deck as she yelled at some of the crewmembers on it, Law watched them flinch and back away from the railing quickly as they heard her.

"I told you to knock off those spitting contests of yours, nobody cares who can 'hawk a loogie' the furthest. It's disgusting! And you know your captain is gonna get mad if you get any down the side of the ship - and you _will_ , so stop it already, don't make me say it again!"

"Yes, ma'am." They droned in unison, shuffling guiltily.

Laughing heartily, Jeff pat them on the back. "You heard the lady, lads. Now step aside, the real competition is abou-"

"No peeing over the side either, you get that thing out you are _not_ gonna like how I put it back in." She warned, prompting him to zip his boilersuit back up...hesitating slightly as he reached his collar as if wondering if he _would_ like how she put it back in.

"Trust me. You won't." She said sternly, watching him rapidly zip his suit back up all the way. "Geez, men are so disgusting." She muttered to herself before turning and walking into the vessel, satisfied.

Chuckling at the one-sided exchange and as his men looked at their feet like scolded puppies, Law followed after her.

Initially, he'd felt mildly misplaced as an authority figure and a little surprised at how quickly his men had taken to actually listening to her, but he'd grown to appreciate the humour in it.

What may have started as his men's subconscious attempts to impress someone of the opposite sex aboard the ship had simply morphed into wanting to stay on her good side. A mixture between wanting to avoid the consequences of her violent temperament and genuinely wanting her to be happy with them.

Overall, he found the presence of a woman on board to have been far less troublesome and much more beneficial than he had anticipated. The crew were generally more well behaved, more polite, more hygienic and poor habits that women would certainly _not_ find attractive were greatly reduced (much to his own relief as well).

Aside from that, he found that her being able to get on with most anyone aboard and becoming a mutual friend between them had encouraged them to break out of their usual niche of friends.

As with any large group of people, cliques were inevitably developed between those that shared personality types and more of each other's interests. His chefs tended to stick to socialising with the other chefs, his medics with his other medics, his mechanics with his other mechanics, his combatants with his other combatants and so on. Which was fine, normal and expected. They still got on and worked with one another perfectly well as a crew should...but when a woman had joined the ship the thin boundaries between groups became even less apparent.

Excitement and interest had enticed his men from all parts of the crew to spend time with her and by default, around one another more often as well, and that still held true as she formed more and more friendships amongst them and as they found new interests with one another coincidentally as well.

He'd never really seen Jake partake in horseplay with the other, slightly less mature members of his crew, but it only took one pleading look and a war cry of 'Team Nayke!' or 'Team Jayla!' - whichever silly name they had finally settled on, to convince him to play with her and the others.

Nothing would ever cure Jeff of his crippling female addiction...but to his shock, Law had seen the man turn away from a few pursuits in favour of spending time with her in the evenings when they went out and by default that meant he spent more time with his crewmembers.

Koush was more social in general. Ichirou had significantly warmed up to her since his renouncement of Nayla's prisoner status to the crew shortly after New Year's Eve. Connor appreciated her sympathy in dealing with his counterpart and often took reprieve from keeping Jeff under control to spend time with her, happy to indulge her interest in his work around the sub. He'd even taken to doing more reading outside of his expertise, enjoying spending some quiet time away from his boisterous friend to read the silly fiction and interesting non-fiction ones she had been through. Kotta surprisingly spent less time alone in the quiet lounge and more with the crew in the rec room - though whether that was to spend time with, annoy or distrustfully monitor her, Law wasn't entirely sure. Whichever, the man mixed more with his crew and that was undoubtedly a positive thing.

The fact she trained alongside his men now drew more of them into the training room more frequently - possibly to help her with her Haki training, possibly to help her with her general hand-to-hand and weapons training, possibly to spar with her out of curiosity, possibly in some sort of macho need to flex their endurance, strength and stamina in front of her, possibly to receive a little of the training _she_ had to offer...Very likely to ogle her in the inappropriately short, small and tight training clothing.

Law had _told_ her not to wear those, for obvious reasons, but of course she had ignored him because; 'it was a moot point considering she was trying to desensitise them to women in the first place, he couldn't tell her what to wear, he wasn't her boss (yes, he was), he apparently had _no_ idea how expensive a decent sports bra was and if _he_ wanted to find another one that worked _and_ was 'more appropriate' then he was more than welcome to.

Rolling his eyes as he recalled that particular conversation, Law decided that whatever the reason for most of his crewmembers spending more time in training, there was no arguing with the great benefit of it and that overall, he liked the changes he saw in his crew.

* * *

He still found her in the most random of places around his vessel.

Peering into the ajar door of the dark storage room curiously, Law scanned it in search of the noises he could hear. Unable to, he made his way inside, stepping around the secured rows of boxes and shelves and stopping when he spotted the tempting behind that was peering out from beneath the short hem of a familiarly short skirt.

Beyond the shelves at the back of the room, Nayla was stooped over, waist deep into a crate as she rummaged noisily within its contents.

He perked a curious brow as he glanced around the room she'd obviously been too lazy to switch the light on in and then back out into the vacant third floor's hall looking for whoever it was she was apparently helping with their chores. That or he'd just caught her randomly going through his things.

Shrugging to himself as he saw no one, he made his way over to her as she stood straight, pulling out a couple of tins of food before reaching above her head to place it inside a box sitting on the top surface of the shelving unit it in front of her.

Watching her strain to push them in by her fingertips, he fought back the urge to chuckle at her shortness and absolute obliviousness to his presence, despite being so close to her now. That and at the strange habit she had of biting her lips or sticking the tip of her tongue out when she was trying particularly hard to do something.

A lot of her habits, good, bad and weird had become apparent to him over time. The strange things people did that they often refrained from doing around others they didn't know well but that always came out eventually. He was sure he had his own that even he wasn't aware of, but then he was sure none of his were as strange as hers.

Unclasping her bra with a sigh of relief as soon as she returned to his quarters for the evening and was away from the prying eyes of the crew was one. He was sure it was common amongst women, particularly when they were as generously endowed or adamant on wearing more aesthetic than functional bra choices as Nayla was.

Her habit of checking the size of her ass in his mirror had been one he'd taken amusement in early on, though it had become more frequent as she grew more comfortable around him.

The ridiculous habit she had of pronouncing the names of his crew in cutesy ways, especially when she wanted something from them. He had developed his strongest aversion to her '–kins' suffix. Jakeykins, Shachikins, Ichikins…though Jeffydoodle, Pengy, Koushycoo, Beppy and the like were not much better.

Oddest of all her strange habits, by far, was her tendency to swear at inanimate objects. Not the relatively understandable explicative someone may utter after stubbing their toe that was generally directed at the offending item, she was a little more…'conversational' than that. He'd sincerely caught her bad mouthing his microwave of all things, scowling at it, holding the finger she had somehow managed to trap in its door and calmly and seriously telling it that it could 'go fuck itself and its mother.'

Nearly snickering aloud at the memory of the eccentric display he'd walked in on in his galley last week, he stood behind her, openly taking a generous view as she leant over to scoop some more tins from the crate in front of her.

"Nayla." Watching her whip around at the sound of his voice so close behind her she clutched the food in her hands to her chest with a shaky breath.

"Dammit! Law! Stop doing that!" She exclaimed irritably, never finding the way he snuck up on her so easily and made her heart race a mile a minute a pleasant experience.

"Doing what exactly?" He asked simply, sliding his hands into his pockets with his usual lopsided smile of amusement.

"Skulking around silently like a freaking cat!" She tutted, turning away from him to unpack the items in her hand into the box above as their predecessors. "Swear we need to put a fucking bell on you one of these days."

Chuckling at her bitter grumbling he watched her just about manage to stack their preserved vegetables neatly into the precariously high box before reaching for more. "What are you doing?"

"The boys rearranged the stuff between the storage rooms a little to make things more efficient. They decided to shift the lesser used things into this one. Seeing as Jake has an allergy to using non-fresh fruit and veg unless 'absolutely necessary', he had Ichi and me move some of the tinned stuff back here. This is the last of it, I told him to go ahead and start helping with making dinner instead." She explained reaching up on tiptoes to place the items in her hand into the box.

"How kind of you." She froze as he leant over and slid a hand along her outstretched arm to the item she held, plucking it from her grip and setting it easily into the box on the top shelf. "But you seem to be struggling. Perhaps you should bother turning on the light and finding a step ladder." He teased lowly into her ear, pinning her empty hand to the shelf as he leant smirking lips to her skin.

"…Perhaps you should stop making it a habit of jumping me in random places on your ship. The storage room, 'Captain?'" She asked incredulously, eyes closing with a breathy sigh as she felt him press against her from behind, sucking her ear lobe.

A quiet, deep, rumbling chuckle was her only reply as he lay his hands to either side of her waist, pulling her to him as he kissed her neck, hers already reaching up to thread into his hair as she hummed and tilted her head to give him more access.

Law had never imagined he'd find himself engaging in sex around his ship. Public display or the prospect of getting caught had never been ideas that appealed to him. They still weren't, but more and more these days he found himself taken with sudden, strong and unexpected rushes of desire when he caught her alone around the sub.

One of her hands left his hair to weave delicately down between them, rubbing against his hardening crotch. Humming in approval against her skin, he turned her around, pressing her back to the wooden shelves behind her and quickly sliding his hands up her skirt, pulling her panties aside as her fingers swiftly undid and unzipped his fly.

Worryingly, his physical infatuation with this woman wasn't lessening over time as he'd predicted and hoped. At least, not yet anyway. He had been certain that once he'd had his fill of her, had done every dirty deed there was to do with her, had taken her as many times as he needed to vent his pent up cravings for her, that he would slowly begin to lose interest. And vice versa. He was sure that eventually, the sexual desire and lust that they had for one other would mutually fade as the novelty and thrill of their new engagement wore off.

Giving him her usual, impishly pleased little look as she pulled him from his pants, gently stroking his firm, heated flesh she reached her other hand to the lid of the crate, shutting the large box before sitting herself on it.

A devilishly amused grin in place, he allowed her to pull him down on top of her as she leant back. Their lips meeting in a searing kiss as he gripped her thigh, curled one leg around his waist and swiftly entered her, devouring her pleased moan as he started taking her hard, rough and fast on top of the harsh wood beneath her in the back of one of his ship's storage rooms.

How easily, quickly and unintentionally they incited one another's carnal desires and dissolved into raw, lusty sexual encounters, hadn't changed.

* * *

A cursory half-knock at his door that didn't actually wait for his reply before pushing it open was of course, Nayla.

It was a behaviour he didn't see much point in correcting, it wasn't as if she didn't already know most of the sensitive affairs that went on aboard his ship or hadn't already seen him in every indecent state he could possibly be in hundreds of times over by now.

It also seemed less and less fair to expect her to have to knock and await permission to enter her own living space as time went on. He was inwardly a little surprised she still bothered to knock at all, but he'd take it as a small courtesy or show of respect for it still being, for the most part, _his_ personal space.

Huffing silently under his breath at the thought, Law glanced up from his desk as Nayla entered his quarters, carefully holding the small serving tray from the galley that used to make its way to up to him each evening in the hands of one of his chefs. Something she justified as a favour to them. Relieving them from having to go out of their way to deliver it to him which seemed 'silly' seeing as she was on her way up here already. Partially true he supposed, but on evenings she intended to spend in the rec room, she was just as much going out of her way to come upstairs with it before going back down as they were.

Closing the door quietly behind her, she made her way over to him, delicately placing his usual evening coffee onto the desk beside him, in his usual black mug with his yellow Jolly Roger on it, mildly sweetened with a small amount of sugar, just as he liked it.

A few of the miniature cookies Dean had baked that day on a small plate accompanied his drink today. She'd usually bring up some sort of small snack for him, something to 'keep him going' as he worked.

"Coffee for the captain." She announced habitually, her usual sweet smile in place as she leant down and planted a soft peck to his cheek before turning away with the tray.

On evenings she intended to stay with him in his quarters, it would carry an additional mug of her usual tea. On evenings she intended to spend with his crew in the rec room, she would carry it out empty.

There was tea still sitting on it tonight, she would be resting with him until retiring to bed and as per their newly developed routine, he watched her set it down on the coffee table on the opposite side of the room before planting herself on his sofa. Pulling out her notebook and pen from its resting place on the table's lower shelf before curling her legs up onto the cushion beside her and settling in to relax. She would either spend her time doodling in her notebook or reading a book there – something Kotta had asked her to study before their next meeting or something of interest she picked from his own shelves or ashore.

He'd examined the contents of the notebook she carried long ago when going through her things. There was nothing in there but random lists of things to do, things to buy, coded notes that he assumed related to the jobs she took and peculiar drawings that made little to no sense to him. He assumed it was the latter she would do in there for a little while as she finished her tea and relaxed before bed.

Letting his eyes linger on her a moment longer, he felt a small smile tug at his lips as he resumed reading through the article holding information about a nearby rival crew that held noteworthy hearts worth considering. The moistness of her lips lingering on his cheek as he reached for one of the cookies on his desk made him feel so very spoiled, in the nicest possible way.

In an hour, perhaps two, she'd grow tired, get up from his sofa and begin getting ready for bed. She would remove her makeup, she would have her evening shower and brush her teeth, and then she would bid him a seductively suggestive goodnight from his archway before lying in his bed as though she belonged there. Whether she decided to continue reading her current book that she would store in the bedside cabinet on 'her' side of his bed or simply snooze lightly until he joined her depended on how tired she was.

His bed had grown significantly more tempting these nights, when his quarters were warm and filled with the humid, feminine fragrances of her shower and post shower products, when she smiled the sly invitation to him that they both knew he'd accept in her scandalously scant nighties...but he was always adamant to press on with just a little more work before giving in to the temptation that he knew was awaiting him beneath his covers.

The sooner he figured out his best opportunity to get rid of Doflamingo, the sooner he could do so, the sooner he could repay his debt to a man who had given up everything for him and the sooner he could get on with his life...and the sooner she would be gone, he sadly realised.

Stemming the unpleasant thought immediately, he reminded himself for the millionth time to not dwell on it. It was not news to him that she would eventually leave and as _she_ ironically, constantly reminded him when she sensed his mind spilling into that void, there were far more important things to occupy it with. It was simply a matter of enjoying one another whilst she was there and whilst it lasted.

Aside from the occasional mental naggings he had to keep swatting aside, he wholeheartedly enjoyed the small changes in his routine aboard his ship.

* * *

"And the fatigue?"

"Still there but not as drained as last time…How long did I sleep?" Nayla asked with a yawn.

"Twenty hours." Law replied matter-of-factly, eyes flitting over her face, seeming to assess her condition.

"Wow, that's _really_ good for me after a war." She replied tiredly, smiling up at him from the infirmary bed she'd woken up in.

"It's still nearly a full day."

"Still better than a day and a half." She laughed mildly.

"And you were still in a very deep state of unconsciousness." He frowned, more to himself than at her as he recalled his hourly checks on the moving lines of her tattoo that hadn't settled into stillness for well over sixteen of the hours she was out like a light.

"What's the big deal in that?"

"If your power is unchecked like that then it means more black substance is leaking into your blood uncontrolled during the time you're sleeping. Obviously counterproductive to me extracting it from you. We either have to find a way to reduce the depth or duration of your unconsciousness or I may have to consider continuing to do periodic extraction until your power is stable again...Though how much and how often is anyone's guess…" He trailed off, tapping the end of his pen to the clipboard he held in thought for a moment before speaking again.

"The soreness in your muscles?"

"A little less than last time."

"Pain scale, out of ten." He demanded more specifically, glancing up at her.

"Mmm...A five I guess."

Humming quietly in mild disapproval of that, he noted down her response, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"...It's still better." She reassured quietly, taking in his furrowed brows and thoughtful expression as he stared at the notes in his hand.

"Not by much." 'Not by enough.'

She couldn't help but laugh a little at his seriousness, finding it and his doctor mode all very sweet. A little before the New Year, she had taken up a mercenary job for Joker and it had been a legitimate three week long contract. No funny business, no add ons, no extensions, just as Joker's people had promised her agent. Though Law was adamant that he knew better, that Joker's people would not stick to behaving themselves for long, that it was only to smooth things over with her a little before beginning to mess her around again. He was probably right, he seemed to know Joker's mindset more than she did, she figured it was probably because he'd been looking into the man long before they even met.

After that job, Law had grudgingly not stepped in at all with his Devil Fruit when she had returned, wanting to see what the 'normal' aftermath of her 'normal' maximum use of her ability really looked like, seeing as she had told him time and time again that what he saw after four weeks on Pugna was more severe than her usual recovery.

He hadn't liked not intervening when she had returned...but it was necessary to take a ground zero round of observations, otherwise he wouldn't know if or how his extracting the black substance from her with his powers was affecting her.

This time, he had done so. He'd cautiously removed some from her blood as she slept, hoping that it would shorten her unconsciousness, reduce her pain, lessen the damage it was doing to her. It had, he supposed, but not by nearly as much as he'd hoped.

If all her tests came back proving her systems were stable despite his extraction, then he'd be more comfortable to remove a larger amount next time, maybe a lot more. Perhaps he should extract it from more than just her blood, maybe focusing on removing deposits in her tissues would have more of a beneficial impact?

"...You were right about my stomach though, I do feel kinda nauseous." She admitted quietly, pulling him from his thoughts as she closed her eyes tiredly and rest her head back to the pillow behind it.

"Most likely because you usually sleep through the effect on your stomach lining and don't feel it. I anticipated this being an issue, I already have an anti-emetic ready." He said, setting his clipboard onto the bedside cabinet next to her as he got up.

Huffing gently, she listened to him as he made his way over to the counters on the other side of the large room. "That's so like you." She said quietly.

Glancing back at her he chuckled a little at the softly amused smile on her face before beginning to wash his hands and deciding to take a more optimistic approach. "On the plus side, your chest was far clearer this time and you've had no haemoptysis." He offered, pulling a few paper towels out of the dispenser by the sink and drying his skin thoroughly.

"Yeah, breathing feels a lot easier this time." She agreed, opening her eyes as she heard the familiar sound of him removing a pair of latex gloves from the box on the counter.

"...You don't appear to have had any adverse reaction to my sudden removal of the substance in your blood, Nayla. So next time, I will try removing significantly more." Pulling them on with a satisfying snap, he picked up the tray he'd placed the two syringes he'd pre-emptively drawn up for her and began walking back over to her bed.

"Ok."

"Just 'ok?'" He questioned, setting it down beside his clipboard with an arched brow.

"Yeah, you do what you think is best. I trust you." She replied as he picked up the smaller of the two plastic, fluid-filled tubes missing their usual needles and uncapped the cannula in the back of her hand.

Pausing a little at the doting, genuine smile on her face he scoffed at her honesty. Sometimes it'd take him by surprise or catch him off guard. She seemed to flip between childish denial of things they both knew were true and open, mature admissions of what she really felt and thought.

"Oh, is that right?" He questioned, connecting the syringe to the plastic tube and gently pressing the plunger to flush it clear with a little saline. "You're willing to trust the medical expertise of a 'quack' now, are you?"

"Well, you _are_ pretty knowledgeable. For a quack."

Smiling as she laughed, he set the now half empty first syringe aside carefully before picking up the one that contained the anti-emetic medication. He'd secretly grown to adore the sound of her laughter, though he wasn't sure he'd ever have the nerve to share that with her.

"But I _am_ still a quack?" He questioned, slowly administering the fluid for her after connecting the syringe to her cannula.

"Oh yeah, definitely." She agreed, giggling as he glanced up at her from her hand, amused grin in place. "...Thank you for all the help."

"...You're welcome." He replied, pulling the syringe away as it emptied and picking up the first again. "Though you don't have to thank me. I'd settle for you not calling me a quack."

Humming in thought as he flushed her cannula clean with what was left of the saline before securely capping it shut, she watched him set aside the now second empty syringe into the tray. "Maybe...No promises though, it's a lot fun to call you one. Even if you really are a good doctor."

Sighing at the tease but having to let it slide at the genuine compliment she had slipped in with it, he couldn't help but smile a little at her as she laughed softly again.

"Awake a couple of hours and already trying to get on my nerves." He murmured, stroking his gloved thumb over the back of the hand he'd never released as he leant down and kissed her on the forehead.

Feeling himself allow his lips to hover on her skin just a little too long as his nose met the familiar, fragrant softness of her freshly washed hair, he started pulling away, stopping when he felt her hold onto his hand.

Catching her gaze for a moment, he found himself leaning back in with closed eyes and traced the plump skin of her lips in a soft, lingering kiss. The sharp, tingling, sentimental sparks and the deep ebb of smouldering sexual desire it provoked was a sensation that he had grown to expect, though it didn't ever seem to reduce in its intensity.

"Get some rest." He breathed against her skin before standing upright, returning her smile. "...You're going to need your strength for when the crew bound in here and bombard you when they hear you're awake."

Laughing at the thought but looking forward to it, she watched him pick up the tray and move to discard the used syringes.

Three weeks seemed like a long time for her to be away now. They both enjoyed it when she came back and she enjoyed having a warm, welcoming place to wash up and recover safely in, as well as the reassurance of knowing there were dedicated medics around to help her if she needed it.

Although he was still playful yet professional and she was still cheeky and mildly disobedient, there was a definite change in the way her examinations and treatments went now. There was definitely no more tension, sexual or otherwise.

Just a quietness, calmness and kindness to one another that was a change that they both enjoyed.

* * *

She still went away for work regularly, that hadn't changed, but how he felt about it seemed to.

It was a mixture of things that was hard to put his finger on. A reluctant inner admission that he _did_ miss her company when she was gone, the anticipation he felt when looking forward to her return, an excitement he experienced at the thought of what she might bring back…and a discerning amount of trepidation.

The more Law stopped to realise what he was doing to her, the more he worried about her. He was directly feeding her into the jaws of his most callous enemy who, at the slightest inclination that she were betraying him in some way, would snap them shut on her without mercy.

A prospect that had always been a possibility but that hadn't moved him much when sending in an informant he didn't hold much personal investment in…She wasn't just some informant now. She was Nayla. Someone he'd grown to like, someone he'd developed a level of genuine trust and friendship with, someone he had eaten with, lived with, slept with, laughed with, someone who his crew adored…someone they would greatly mourn if anything ever happened to her and he was to blame…This was _exactly_ why he hadn't wanted to get involved with her, why he had wanted nothing but a strictly professional relationship with her.

He could kick himself all he wanted for his idiocy of getting too involved but it would get him nowhere, what was done was done. It had almost seemed unavoidable.

Taking a deep, calming breath, he reminded himself yet again that she was a professional. She had been doing this sort of work for years without him for other shady, dangerous clients and she was good at it.

He had faith in her ability and in her intelligence. She would know if something was off, if she was suspected, if she were likely to get caught and he had told her, many times now, that if she felt even the slightest thing wasn't right, to forget the job and leave. To forget about wanting to work for him and to not return to the sub, to just focus on making sure she was somewhere safe. Law hoped it never came to that but they'd had to discuss a contingency plan should the worst happen. Joker was a very, very dangerous man who wouldn't take kindly to being made a fool of…

"Are you sure it'll take you a week?" Law asked, watching the familiar sight of Nayla applying the finishing touches to her makeup in his bathroom mirror.

"Yeah, 'fraid so." She replied absentmindedly, running a thumb over the slight smudge of her eyeliner to fix it.

"Hmm…"

Glancing at him in the reflection behind her, she leant back from the mirror and zipped up her cosmetics bag. "I _could_ be a little faster, but that would make me less thorough. I think I could loot a lot of paperwork for you on this job, if I'm careful and patient."

"Especially careful." He grumbled, pushing off from the wall with his arms crossed and moving over to her.

"I will be, I'm no amateur don't worry." Catching the look on his face that told her he was about to reply with his usual dismissive response, she beat him to it. "Yes yes, 'who said I'm worried about you?' I know."

Her knowing what he was about to say made him feel a slight pang of guilt as he realised how often he brushed off any insinuation she made about him caring about her, even if it were meant as a half-joke. He was sure she knew he was joking. He was sure she knew he cared.

Sighing inwardly at that he watched her run her fingers through her hair, fixing the front of it slightly as she picked up her makeup bag and turned around to him, ready to leave his En Suite, his quarters, his sub, him and his crew for a week.

"I'll meet back up with you guys on the next island, ok?" She leant up and gave him her departing kiss on his cheek, leaving her usual fresh mark on his skin as she smiled up at him.

Tilting her head at his lack of response and slightly solemn features she wondered where his mind was and what it was working on. "Geez, don't look so glum...You-?"

"'Really going to miss me that much?' No. Nowhere near what I was thinking about." He cut off her customary parting taunt at his quietness.

She laughed as he perked up slightly at her tease, a little of his usual smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Then cheer up a little, I-oh! I know."

Turning back around she looked up at their reflections in the mirror before reaching behind her and tugging him slightly into place more closely to her back, making him raise a brow in question. "What are y-?"

"Hold still." She hushed, squaring up her index fingers and thumbs into a hammy, makeshift frame as if she were a photographer trying to line up the perfect shot. "Down, juuust a little, like you usually stand here in the mornings when you're washing up."

He narrowed his eyes at her as she reached up and gripped his chin, pulling his face into position as she spoke. "Nayla…"

"Perfect, stay just like that." She smiled before leaning forward and pressing her lips to the glass, the lipstick print she left behind lining up squarely over the reflection of his already marked cheek. "There."

"...And what's that supposed to do?" He deadpanned at her.

"This way, you'll always get your morning kiss. Feel more cheerful now? It'll be like I never left." She grinned at him.

"One, I said I wasn't thinking about 'missing' you. Two, I don't. Three, I'm not 'glum' and don't need 'cheering up.' And four, even if I did, why would leaving a mess on my mirror make me feel better?" He grumbled.

"You didn't seem to mind leaving that 'mess' on your mirror for a whole month when I was away in Pugna." She replied easily, causing him to sharply close his mouth as she caught him off guard at the casual reminder, giggled and walked out of the room, leaving him to try to find a plausible excuse or explanation for that when he hadn't even remembered or thought of it in so long.

...

He never did manage to summon a comeback for that at the time. Maybe she'd won that exchange; she certainly seemed to think she did as she smiled silently in victory to herself the rest of the time it took her to pack up her bag before bidding him goodbye and leaving.

Spitting his mouthwash out into the sink, Law turned his tap back on as he glanced up at the mark still on the mirror in front of him, perfectly aligned to where she would come in and kiss him in the mornings. Where she would kiss him as she set his coffee down for him...and where she would kiss him goodbye each time she left.

Every time she went away for a job now, she'd leave him a kiss on his mirror, be it on his sub or in their inn room, and every time, he'd wonder why he left it there. It was nice he supposed, to see it there every morning. Maybe it was a genuinely sweet but misguided gesture or maybe it was her slightly manipulative way of reminding him of her, of their little 'arrangement,' whilst she was gone. An unsubtle hint or incentive for him to want to continue their intimate relationship and not pursue another woman whilst she was away.

Snorting mildly in amusement at the idea of her purposely attempting to keep him pining for her, at least physically, he turned his tap off with a shake of his head. He wouldn't put it past her, though if it _were_ anything to do with that, then it was a wasted effort on her behalf.

Worryingly, he still had no foreseeable interest in the thought of bedding someone else. He was content with how things were...more than content.

...More than anything, it was probably just an affectionate gesture from her. She gave him plenty and he found himself returning them without so much as a second thought these days. He barely realised he was doing so. Also worrying.

She had become a little too astute to his moods than he'd like. She could nearly always pick up when he was beginning to question his behaviour with her... and she'd often confront him on it. Asking him childishly simple things like if he enjoyed the gestures they shared. Following up with the equally childishly simple: "Well if you enjoy it then do it. Stop questioning it...I like it when you do those things too."

Scoffing a little to himself as he recalled her reassuring expression yet slyly amused eyes as she said that to him, he smiled. Eyeing the thoughtful but unfortunately poor substitute on his mirror, Law sighed to himself as he turned to leave the room, looking much more forward to the real thing.

How easily they had fallen into their comfortable daily lives with one another was both reassuring and alarming...but his new daily life now, with her as a prominent addition to it, was also a change he had come to both enjoy and welcome.


	72. The one thing that would never change

For all the differences that had come about in his life and aboard his ship, it became clear that one thing, above all, would never change.

Law attempted to suppress the nostalgic twitch that threatened to develop beneath his eye as he did his best to go about his day and ignore the people doing a poor job of 'subtly' stalking him around the sub.

"-about two days, give or take, if that's alright with you, Captain?" Koush questioned, pointing out the proposed work he was advising at their next dock on the schematic Law held.

"Yeah, it's fi-…"

Both men glanced over their shoulder down the hallway as they heard whispering and snickering that abruptly ended in childish hushes as attention was drawn towards their noise.

Narrowing his eyes at the glimpse of white boilersuit and long, dark hair that had disappeared around a corner, Koush looked back at his captain in question. "What are they-?"

"I don't know and I don't care. Don't humour them, just ignore it." Law sighed, handing back the man his clipboard before making his way towards the door to the lower deck he'd been heading to before Koush asked him about some upcoming maintenance work.

Watching his captain walk into the sunshine outside then glancing at the edge of the corner he'd seen people duck behind, the mechanic waited a moment for them to emerge. When they didn't, he shrugged to himself, deciding it was best he took his captain's advice, none of his business and made his way back down the hall.

Taking a deep, soothing breath of the air that grazed the surface of the calm, blue waters and filled the clear, bright skies, Law soaked in the warmth of the afternoon as he walked over to the railing to take a moment to relax and enjoy the sight.

It seemed as though they had been travelling through cold, turbulent waters for some time now, it had been a pleasant change to be cruising through temperate, peaceful ones this week.

Whatever Nayla and whoever she was skulking around with were up to, they'd have no place to hide if they dared follow him outside to continue doing…whatever the hell it was they were doing.

One last glance back at the open doorway of the lower deck and Law saw no one, growing hopeful that he was going to be left alone to enjoy the peace and serenity of the less commonly stable waters of The Grand Line.

Letting the technical thoughts Koush had just left him with and the constant background droning of his mind subconsciously working over possible ideas for his larger future plans melt from his mind, Law took off his hat and combed his fingers back through his hair, letting the sea breeze ruffle and lift his locks freely as he closed his eyes and inhaled the familiar scent.

It was rare to take these breaks and simply enjoy the sea, sailing. To appreciate the small things he always seemed to forget he enjoyed about it these days, like the tranquil sounds of the waves…

Just as he began to focus on the soothing rushes of the water gliding past the hull below him and the more pleasant early sailing memories it brought back, he distinctly heard the unmistakable sound of the main deck's entrance above him opening quietly. Or, well, as quietly as someone _could_ open a thick, solid steel submarine's air-locking hatch door.

Sighing under his breath as he guessed his less than stealthy tag-alongs were attempting to sneakily watch him from above, Law adamantly stuck to the plan of simply ignoring them. They'd bore of whatever game they were playing and move on eventually, as long as he didn't feed into it.

Slipping his hat back on, he rest his elbows to the railing and tried to simply enjoy the view though couldn't help but begin to overhear the words of the whispers that had been trailing him around the sub for the last half an hour mingled between the sounds of the ocean surrounding them.

"And 'ere, we 'av zee long-legg-ed beast 'imself, zee Surgeon of Death. A rare and intriguing animal, zee alpha male of zis pack."

Chewing the inside of his cheek as he heard Nayla's hushed, phony accent talking about him as though she were some sort of journalist filming a nature documentary, he fought the urge to engage her and whatever stupid thing she was doing.

"He maintains order sruu 'is powerful presence and aura, keeping zee others in line through fear of their superior predator. Rumour 'az it, zat zee fur upon zis magnificent creature's 'ed was zee pelt of 'is first kill. Zis is a rare show of sentiment in zis otherwise merciless, broody, bea-"

"Nayla." Law finally addressed her, losing his patience with this game as he heard the two men with her beginning to lose their struggle to suppress their snickers.

"Ah! Sacré bleu! We 'av been spott-ed!" She exclaimed, turning to Connor and Shachi with a look of exaggerated shock as the three stood from their crouch, Connor biting his lips to silence himself whereas Shachi pressed a hand to his in an effort to stifle his laughter quickly.

"What are you doing?" Law demanded levelly, turning away from the railing to look up at them.

"Beloved viewers, should you encounter zis dangerous creature, it is best to keep your distance." She ignored him, speaking to the men on the main deck beside her. "You must not be fooled by its seemingly calm be'aviour for it is simply a trap to lure you closer – wizin striking distance! If you are unfortunate enough to catch zee beast's gaze, zen it is zery likely he is already picturing you in petite, little pieces." She emphasised, pinching her finger tips shut.

"Nayla."

Looking back down at Law at his distinctly low warning tone, she decided she'd had her fun and that it was about the right time to start making a retreat. "One must approach zis situation wiz much caution, zis volatile beast may snap at any moment and reveal 'is truly violent nature."

" _Who's_ the volatile beast?!"

"See! We must flee befor-mmph!" Turning to run back into the ship at Law's outburst, she found herself muffled against the man's chest as he appeared on the deck in front of her.

"If anyone on board this ship is an animal then it's you." He retorted more calmly.

Peeling her face from his hoodie she looked up at his irritated expression, always taking great entertainment in ruffling the man's feathers enough to earn it. "…What about Bepo?"

He narrowed his eyes at the obvious laughter in hers. "…Jeff is more of an animal than Bepo, and _you're_ more of animal than both of them combined." He muttered, feeling something inside of him that he hated to admit softened every time she laughed like that.

Feeling eyes watching his interaction with her very carefully, he glanced up at the two men behind her. "Get back inside the ship and make yourselves useful." He demanded lowly, earning hurried 'Aye aye's as they tried to drop their grins, saluted respectfully and skirted around their peeved captain to the main deck's door.

"…Why can't you ever behave yourself? What are you doing?" He asked, watching them disappear back into his vessel and already guessing that the combination of his men's usual boredom plus their belief that she was immune to his true wrath plus her mischievousness had been the precipitating concoction that had resulted in this behaviour. It usually was.

"A dare." She answered simply, smiling up at him as he turned back to look at her.

"Do they always have to be at my expense?" He sighed, gripping her chin and pulling her a little closer as she giggled again.

"Not me that comes up with them, I just do them." She shrugged.

"You could just say no."

"Could, but the penalties are pretty steep." She said with a grin.

…

He liked seeing her happy, he supposed. Even if it was because she was making fun of him. "…If you have any sense of self-preservation at all, you'll stop following me, now, and go play with your friends." He sighed giving her a brief peck before turning to go back inside.

"Or…" He arched a brow as he felt her tug him back by the front of his shirt. " _You_ could come play with me for a little bit instead. 'My friends' won't be expecting me back in the rec room anytime soon, seeing as they think I'm busy getting punished."

Mulling the appealing offer over for a moment, she nudged him into agreement with a gentle suck of his lower lip as she leant up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"…And they'd be right." He smirked, giving into the temptation of accepting the alluring invitation, gripping her hand and tugging her towards his quarters to dish out due punishment for her behaviour.

She would always do this. Poke fun at him, from what he knew was an affectionate place in her heart rather than a mean-spirited one, than placate his irked nerves with promises of another incredible sexual encounter…and he found that he would always accept her misguided apologies.

* * *

Knocking sharply on his _own damn door_ once again, Law growled under his breath in aggravation at himself for the action. "Nayla, how much longer are you going to be?"

Listening to a sigh as equally as aggravated as his own come from the other side of his En Suite's door, he heard the water she was sitting in swish with what he imagined was an angry hand movement. "I don't know, another fifteen minutes or so?"

He blinked at the door in disbelief for a moment before finding his voice. "That's what you said fifteen minutes ago! And the fifteen minutes ago before then!"

"Leave me alone, I'm trying to have a relaxing bath. If you need the bathroom that bad then just go use the one downstairs!"

He bit down the egocentric anger he felt at him, the captain of the ship, being told not to use his own amenities in his own quarters and to go elsewhere, knowing that pointing the fact out wouldn't get him anywhere. If anything, it'd make her behave worse. "I don't need the bathroom. I want to brush my teeth. I've wanted to brush my teeth for the past _hour_ Nayla but you've been occupying the bathroom by trying to dissolve yourself in there all night!"

A childish groan, an aggressive yank of a chain and he could finally hear the bath she had run begin to drain. " _FIIINE!..._ No point in having a relaxing bath if you're gonna keep nagging me every ten minutes to get out, hardly makes it relaxing." She grumbled.

Almost smiling at his victory, Law instead frowned as he heard his shower being turned on. "Seriously?! You had one _before_ your bath!"

"Well yeah, to make sure I don't sit in my own filth." She scoffed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Now I have to rinse out all the bath oils and stuff from my hair or it'll be too flat and greasy when it dries. Just be patient would ya?!"

Gaping at the wood in disbelief, Law ran a hand over his face and moved away before he lost his temper any further.

'Frustrating, stubborn little woman,' he seethed inwardly, returning to his desk and attempting to calm down as he settled back into his chair.

Glancing at his closed books and tidied notes, he drummed his fingers on the wood's surface in irritation. He'd already stopped working for the night and was in his black sweat pants for sleep, there wasn't much else to do now other than wait to wash up for the night before climbing into bed.

…

Tiring of watching his traitorous clock as its hands ticked past slowly, seemingly giving the current thorn in his side even more of his generous time and patience, Law stood.

What was he doing? Why was he waiting to use his own bathroom? Why had he waited _an hour_ to use his own bathroom? He was growing far too complacent with the woman. There was civility and common courtesy and then there was this. Enough was enough.

Effortlessly moving across the locked bathroom door with his Devil Fruit, Law entered his En Suite and grabbed his toothbrush from its holder, ignoring the woman showering behind the drawn curtain as he began cleaning his teeth.

Hearing the distinct clink of the metal bolt of the bathroom door's lock as it was opened, Nayla furrowed her brows and peeled back the white curtain to peer at it, surprised to find Law already at the sink, brush in mouth and glaring in annoyance at her.

"…Seriously?" She seethed at her short-lived privacy, watching as he pushed the door open to allow the comfortable, steamy warmth she'd accumulated for herself to escape. "I only ask you for one thing – for _one_ thing, Law. To just be left alone long enough to enjoy the first long, relaxing bubble bath I've had in months – months! And you can't even let me have that?"

Spitting the paste in his mouth out into the sink, he ignored her, turning the tap on to rinse his brush clean.

"Is it _really_ too much to ask to have one bath uninterrupted? I mean I OFFERED you first dibs and everything so that you wouldn't be put out and you still gotta use your freak powers to barge in here like that?!"

Turning off the water, he continued to ignore her, choosing not to bother wasting his energy addressing or countering anything she said as he slid his toothbrush back into its holder neatly.

"Well?! Are you really just gonna say nothing? Just waltz in here, do as you please and waltz out?! I have half a mind to-…" Trailing off as his piercing eyes shot up to hers, she suddenly felt a slight unease at the small upturn of the corner of his mouth.

Holding his gaze, she wondered what he was thinking of doing to her but was soon answered as his eyes flit down to the thin, transparent curtain clinging to her skin. "Wait a m-wait a minute!" She practically yelled as she glanced back up at him to find him inches from her face, yanking the fabric aside and gripping her by the waist.

"LAW!" He lifted her out of the tub with a growing, sinister smirk as he turned and began walking out of the room. "Stop it! I'm soaking wet!" Though she found she had little choice but to hold on to him as he carried her.

"Already?" He mocked in his smooth, husky tone, getting no further than the carpet beyond the bathroom's threshold before laying her on it.

"That's not what I meant, you horny idiot." She sighed, accepting her fate as he leant down and began kissing her neck. Glancing at the shower spray behind him, gleefully trickling onto the tiled floor past the edge of its abruptly moved barrier, she decided that she would _not_ be responsible for mopping up that mess.

"Horny idiot? I didn't hear you complaining this afternoon-" He chuckled against her wet skin, trailing kisses up to her jaw as he wrapped her legs around his waist. "-or this morning…" He purred into her ear happily at the memory as he slid his now soggy sweats down slightly. "Or last night." He all but whispered as he pressed himself against her entrance, earning a small moan of anticipation.

"I'm complaining now." She grumbled half-heartedly.

Settling onto his elbows to look at her, he chuckled as he leant his face close to hers. "Then let's fix that."

Melting into the warmth of his tongue on hers as they kissed, she moaned softly as he slid inside of her, breaking their kiss with a victorious glint in his gaze and a smug smirk on his lips.

"…You're such a pain in the ass." She sighed breathily in defeat.

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing."

* * *

Taking a seat at his desk, Law thought over his agenda for the day as he rest his chin to his palm, glanced over his work surface and tried to decide how best to make the most of his time.

Absentmindedly reaching into his pocket, he withdrew his morning's 'love letter' and lazily slid it into his seldom used bottom drawer, stopping his perusal of last night's notes as the folded sheet of newspaper didn't slide neatly between the gap of his lower and middle drawer.

Glancing at it with an arched brow for a moment before leaning down, he pulled it open, surprised to see how full it had become with his vandalised image.

He blinked at the mass of paper, wondering how he had let his 'collection' get so far out of hand. It had always been his intention to subtly dispose of them after reaching shore so as not to run the risk of someone finding them in a trash can aboard the vessel or to toss them over the railing of his ship when he was certain no crewmember was about to see him do so...but he always forgot to take them with him before disembarking onto a new island and was too lazy to come back to his quarters, empty the drawer and go back to the deck to throw them overboard if he ever found it unoccupied...Hence the accumulation in the one place aboard his ship his crew were forbidden from prying into without his express permission…

"Wow, that's quite a collection ya got there."

Pulling his eyes off of the Halloween 'FrankenLaw' edition of his bounty image (bolts on either side of his neck, another Neanderthal-looking brow, a terrible adjustment to his hairline and a cliché zigzag scar around his scalp) he glanced up at the devoted artist behind the collected works, finding her peering over the other side of his desk. She had grown as stealthy around his sub as she accused him of being, especially on his carpeting with bare feet.

"...I can't believe you kept all of those...That's actually kind of adorable." She teased, grinning as she leant back and began drying her hair with the towel draped around her shoulders.

Her evening shower routine was greatly disrupted these days. Usually depending on whether they had worked up a sweat the night before or what time she trained. It wasn't all that unusual for her to sometimes choose to shower after returning to his quarters after breakfast...or even join him for his first thing in the morning.

Ignoring her smug goad, he instead dropped his gaze to what she wore as he spoke. "I'm not keeping them."

"I would. Masterpieces. In fact, I should sign them for you so that once the world recognises my artistic genius and those become priceless you can prove they're genuine and make a fortune selling them."

"When are you going to run out of ideas?" He asked himself more than her, rolling his eyes and shoving the new image of himself as a cat (ears, nose and whiskers included) into his drawer before sliding it shut.

"Never." She chirped brightly. "Always a holiday around the corner too…You make a cute Christmas elf by the way, pointed ears look pretty good on you and I'm sure you'll make a very cute Easter bunny soon."

Ignoring her tease, he chose to redirect the conversation. "Why are you wearing that?"

Dropping the towel back to her shoulders, she glanced down at the bright yellow hoodie she had 'borrowed' after her shower with a perked brow. "Why not?"

"...You're getting too comfortable." Law warned darkly, sitting back in his chair, resting his elbows to its arms and locking his fingers over his stomach.

"…Hmm, am I?" She smiled back after a moment's thought, decidedly unintimidated by his posture as she turned and began walking back into his bedroom. "Well if you want it back, you're gonna have to come and take it from me, 'Captain.'"

Biting the inside of his cheek as he watched her strut away, completely unfazed by his underlying threat that they both knew was empty, his gaze dropped to the additional, inviting sway of her hips and the tantalising amount of toned upper thigh that peered out from beneath the hem of _his_ top.

Leaning forward, he rest his cheek to his fist and wrapped his fingers to the surface of his desk in irritation, deliberating with himself, yet again, on how to get the message across that _he_ was in charge here...before getting up with a frustrated sigh.

Words didn't work. Violence wasn't an option. There was nothing else this annoying little gnat of a woman understood. There was only one way he ever exercised what he felt was a satisfying level of control over her.

Glaring at her amused look back at him from the other side of his archway, he strode over to her with purpose as she casually towel dried the ends of her hair.

As good as she looked, naked beneath his hoodie; she would look just as good without it.

* * *

"Because you're always so damn condescending about it!" Throwing her full hands up into the air with a frustrated growl, Nayla turned on her heel and began stomping down the thankfully empty hallway towards the small storage closet in it.

"Because you're always so damn cocky about it!" Law called after her, not willing to let the subject drop or her storm off.

"Wha-? _Me_ COCKY?!" She whirred around on him loudly, pointing the spray bottle of cleaner at him threateningly…Well, as threateningly as the business end of the nozzle of an all purpose surface cleaner could be anyway.

"Be quiet." He scolded lowly, glancing up and down the vacant halls of floor three warily for any eavesdropping crewmembers.

"Don't you _DARE_ tell me to be quiet! Who the HELL do you think you are talking down to me like that?!" She fumed, narrowing her eyes at his silent, neutral stare before opening and leaning into the small cleaning supply storage, setting the bottle and rag back onto their rightful shelf. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you NOT to tell me how to do my job like I'm some kind of fucking amateur-hey!" Trying but failing to yank the arm he'd gripped free, Nayla found herself pushed into the small space, Law following and slamming the door shut behind him, safe from view of any crewmembers that may stumble across the sensitive content of their heated disagreement.

"I won't tell you again." Law warned quietly leaning in closely to her face as he flipped the switch on the wall. "Do _not_ underestimate Joker's people, they are _not_ the same low-level chumps and thugs you've been dealing with up until now and do _not_ go out of your way on this job. I have a bad feeling about you prying too deeply on this one." He reiterated, allowing her to wrench out of his hold and turn around to face him fully.

"But _I_ have a _good_ feeling about how much info I can-!"

"It doesn't matter. There will always be other jobs, but only if you're _alive_ for them. It's an order."

"An or-? YOU AREN'T MY CAPTAIN!"

"I'm your BOSS! Shut up and do as you're told - just once!" He finally snapped, making her press her back against the closed door as he bore down on her from his height advantage with an irritated snarl.

Biting the inside of her cheek as she matched his piercing glare, she tried her best to reign in her own temper if he was starting to lose his. Both of them in a rage would not be a pretty sight, she was certain there would be damage to the ship, grave injuries and disembodied limbs all around if things got any more heated.

"You are not. My boss." She ground out, still refusing to back down from the argument.

"I a-"

"You do not _pay_ me to do work for you. I'm here voluntarily." She cut off, reminding him of the fact before he could make the poor decision to reattempt lording his status over her a second time. "Get it through that thick, over-inflated head of yours already."

"…And which is it that you enjoy the most, Nayla?" He asked mockingly, taking a dark glimmer of satisfaction in the shock that flit across her features at his decidedly low blow. It didn't last for long though.

"Definitely the one that doesn't talk and isn't halfway as impressive as _you_ seem to think it is." She retorted equally quietly, barely missing a beat.

…

Nayla was infuriating.

Mulish, irritating, childish. She proved time and time again that despite her feeling she was weak-willed at heart, she was someone with a very strong one. Far too strong at times, in his opinion. Not that he hadn't come to respect that…when it wasn't getting in his way.

Most annoying by far was that she had grown entirely fearless of him. She knew she could put her foot down, outright refuse to obey him and stand toe to toe with him and that he would never harm her. It made her extremely difficult to deal with. She was the only person on board he couldn't just thump or slice into pieces until she fell into line. He wasn't used to this.

Getting her to agree with him took many words, far too much of his time and very rarely worked anyway, even when he _did_ bother to invest the level of energy needed to attempt to convince her to see things his way. She was beyond taxing.

…

"Stop making me repeat myself you stubborn. Little. Woman and do as I say." He growled, pressing a hand to either side of her face as he leant down, challenging her to any further insubordination.

"Make me." She offered back without hesitation, matching his low tone and narrowed eyes without so much as a flinch at his proximity.

Taking in her defiant stance, her proudly tilted chin, her firm expression, the heated eyes that said she would _not_ be backing down and the rapid breathing of her anger, he found his gaze wanting to drop to her heaving chest, or her lips by default.

Worst of all of it…Was how strangely attractive he found her when she was this riled up, whether she was actively ranting and raving in her fury or staring him down in a more serious challenge to his wishes. He'd always thought so. She looked like a wildcat ready to pounce if he dared provoke her further and he honestly wouldn't even put the possibility that she would past her…

But it made him want to fuck the anger right out of her. To regain just some small semblance of control again by having that coldly challenging or heatedly infuriating glare of hers reduced to half-lidded, glazed over eyes. To have that mouth spilling his name over and over again like a mindless, lusty mantra instead of her obstinate, argumentative nonsense. To fuck her so hard that her brain emptied of all of its irritating, opposing opinions and willpower. The thought of her mindlessly mewling beneath him right about now was certainly an appealing one and by the way she had begun looking at him in his closing proximity, he wasn't the only one who thought so.

Leaning down with a low, throaty sigh of frustration, he ran his lips softly over hers. Her stuttered breath as he did so letting him know she'd felt the same intense spark of desire that had just ran through him at the action.

Forcing himself to keep his hands where they were and to pull away, he tried his best to ignore the edge of desire in her gaze now as he spoke.

"…Get out of here before I take you." He warned lowly, not particularly wanting the cramped cleaning storage cabin to be the next entry on the long list of places around his ship that they should _not_ have had sex in.

Swallowing thickly at the huskily uttered threat, the predatory aura and at how hot, tight and tense the small room suddenly felt, Nayla reached for the handle on the cold, steel door behind her back…turning its lock with a decisive click.

Gritting his teeth at her devious expression, he found his fingers thread into her hair quickly, his other hand reaching around her and pulling her to him tightly as he tilted her head back and delved his tongue deeply into her mouth.

His cock throbbing heavily when she moaned, he pushed her appendage firmly aside, exploring her dominantly as his fingers tightened in her locks and she gripped the fabric over his chest.

It was absolutely sickening. Maddening and sickening. Deplorable, depraved, vulgar, shameful - how often this happened. Everything ended in sex. Whether it was a mild disagreement or a serious argument. Whether she was laughing with him or at him. Whether they were getting along with one another or not. Constantly, their interactions ended in sex.

Contrary to his cravings being sated and slowly improving over time, he alarmingly found them doing the opposite; increasing. The sensation comparable to what he imagined developing an addiction to something that he knew was bad for his health but that he kept doing anyway felt like. Saying that he _could_ stop this if he really wanted to, sounded like a dangerous thing to say to himself. It sounded like the denial of a helpless, pathetic addict that didn't yet know or couldn't yet acknowledge the extent of their problem.

Growling in annoyance, at her and at himself, he pulled away, quickly undressing her and ignoring the victorious glint in her eyes as he did.

"...Why _do_ you have a lock on a small cleaning closet?" She mused, watching him peel her panties down her thighs.

"It used to be a drug storage, for meds to be counted and distributed safely without interruption to avoid errors. Now shut up and turn around."

Giggling at the irritably snapped order, she did as she was told for a change; relishing in the way his hands roamed over her beneath her skirt as he pressed against her and nibbled her ear between his teeth.

"…You know how many times I've thought how much easier you'd be to deal with if you were old, fat and ugly?" She mused aloud, closing her eyes and smiling wider as she felt his lips pull into a reluctantly amused smirk.

"I've actually thought near enough the same thing about you as well, many times." He admitted, kissing the sweet spots he had found on her neck.

It was true. The amount of times he had asked himself why he hadn't had the good fortune of stumbling into a less physically appealing person that had the potential to link him to vital information about Doflamingo was astronomical. Why couldn't _she_ have been old, fat and ugly – or at least a man? He'd have settled for a man. He'd have had no issue keeping one of those in line.

"I'm still doing what I want..." She reminded, firmly concluding her stance on their earlier argument as she tilted her head aside for his travelling lips. "...but I won't do anything if I don't think it's safe too. I'm not a child, Law...I'm trying to help."

"...I know." He sighed into her hair, the affectionate hand she reached up over her shoulder to his cheek making it all too clear to him that she knew his concerns came from a well-meaning place that he wished she didn't know about.

* * *

"Like this?"

"Yeah, bit lower though lil lady, closer to the table."

Law's eyes rolled nearly instantaneously behind their closed lids from his seat in the rec room. He didn't have to open them to know Nayla was being naively goaded into bending over the pool table where his men were teaching her how to play with them.

"Better?"

"Yeah, much." He heard Jeff answer, peeking one eye open to look over at the opposite end of the room at the men who seemed to have slowly forgotten his silent presence.

He watched Jeff nod his approval from the opposite end of the table to her (more interested in the view of her chest down her top, Law was sure), then move to stand behind her, helping her angle her shot a little better before stepping back and gripping his chin in 'thought' (again, more interested in the view of her ass peering out from beneath her skirt, Law was sure).

Honestly, he wasn't sure whether to attribute the bubbling annoyance he felt to her trusting naivety, his men's (Jeff's) lack of discipline or himself for being bothered by it in the slightest.

"Looks good, line it up a _liiil_ more and I think you can probably sink at least one ball."

"Oh, I'm sinking both balls." She said confidently, focusing on her shot.

"Well don't you soun-OOF!"

Enjoying her rear back her cue stick unnecessarily far to hit Jeff in his overused crown jewels, Law chuckled quietly to himself as the man nearly crumpled to the floor, gripping himself with a pained expression.

'Good girl,' he applauded, pleased she had noticed and corrected the behaviour herself before closing his eye and sinking back into his chair in satisfaction as his men laughed.

It sounded as though she had also made her shot too. If her 'Yesss!' and the slap of high fives were anything to go by.

She wasn't really his. A truth that sounded more and more like a lie, even to his own ears the more he reminded himself of it.

"Harder next time, before 'the predator' strikes again." A crewmember commended her actions, wiggling his fingers in faux-spooky fashion at the man on cue with his relatively new nickname as he straightened up with an annoyed glare.

They weren't committed, they weren't obligated, Nayla was as free to end their fun as Law was at any given time, but he didn't feel any implication that was occurring any time soon from either of their ends. He felt no sense of urgency, no looming deadline, no threat. He felt confident and comfortable in their convenient current relationship with one another...but she wasn't really his.

"When are you guys gonna let this go?! It's been _months_ already and I didn't KNOW she wasn't eighteen!" Jeff yelled as loudly as his winded voice would allow, rounding on his snickering crewmates.

It was inconvenient that she felt like his.

"Sure ya didn't, dirty bastard."

"Not even the kids are safe." One sighed dramatically, leaning his hip to the pool table and crossing his arms with a sorrowful shake of his head.

Deciding that tuning out the same old back and forth that broke out whenever the crew brought up the relatively recent fiasco of Jeff being chased and shot at buck naked was not nearly as effective as leaving the room to go do something more productive, Law stood with a sigh.

"One, I did NOT know she wasn't an adult - I mean she was being served at a bar for god's sake!"

Relatively fair point Law inwardly credited the man as he picked up his resting weapon from beside his armchair; it wasn't an unfair assumption to make.

"Two, she was seventeen - _months_ away from legal - and no, AGAIN, I don't know that because she told me beforehand. I know it because her fucking insane, trigger happy father yelled it at me at some point."

"Still, y-" One started, only to be cut off by Jeff immediately.

" _You_ can shut up, you're barely eighteen yourself."

Admittedly finding that a little funny as the men and Nayla laughed at one of his younger crewmember's expense, Law found the corner of his mouth lifting as he began making his way quietly past them and towards the door.

"Three, the fuck was I supposed to know?! SERIOUSLY! How?" Jeff gestured wildly throwing his hands up. "You guys saw her, face full of makeup, in a bar, tits as big as Nayla's-" He gestured to her with a thumb, earning a tut. "-and to top it all off, she-"

Gripping the back of his head with a hiss, he whirred around angrily, ready to vent his frustration on whoever had clumsily clunked him in the head on their way past but instead immediately snapped his mouth shut as he caught his captain's piercing gaze.

"You should really watch your step." Law chided calmly as though it were Jeff's fault that he'd 'accidentally' walked into the hilt of his nodachi, not breaking stride on his way to the door.

"A-Aye aye, Captain…" Jeff apologised mulishly, wondering how he'd forgotten the man had been in the room this whole time and paling a little at his chillingly controlled and neutral expression.

Releasing his crewmember from his stare as he reached the rec room's door, Law pushed it open and stepped into the hallway as his men erupted into howls at the exchange.

"You poor thing." Nayla laughed, suddenly not feeling all that offended anymore and pinching his cheek to knock the fear off of his face. "Ya know, speaking of that day, did I ever tell you that you have a very lovely ass?"

After a brief moment's shock, Jeff laughed at her cheeky expression, patting a hand to her head playfully. "Why thank you darlin', you too." He winked.

Rolling his eyes up to the ceiling as if begging it for the patience he required, Law sighed heavily as he overheard that and made his way down the hall.

She'd just undermined him, again. It reminded him of one parent scolding a naughty child for their behaviour and the other feeling bad for the kid and giving them a piece of candy to make them feel better as soon as the first parent was out of ear shot - despite them _both_ agreeing that the child had been out of line.

She was too soft on his men, she spoiled them, and they were not above taking advantage of her kindness, even if it was not necessarily intentional and subconscious for the most part.

That and she was just horrendously flirtatious. Far too touchy-feely and way too affectionate. Her behaviour with his men and with others ashore didn't seem to have changed much; she'd still use her charms here and there on unsuspecting folk to get what she wanted. It was...mildly annoying he admitted, but then he had to remind himself of whose bed she'd end up in that night and that, again, she was not really his in that way…Even if she were, he probably wouldn't be right to demand she change her behaviour to suit him he supposed.

He had the feeling that no matter what happened between them, that she would _always_ be a manipulative, touchy-feely, affectionate little flirt, that was just in her nature it seemed.

Smiling a little as he climbed the stairs and heard her mischievous giggle coming from the rec room, he understood now more than ever the exasperated look on the Straw Hat's swordsman's face the day he'd first laid eyes on her, when she had been laughing and clinging to that man's side. She was a trying little handful, to _anyone_ that knew her apparently.

* * *

"I still think this is our best strategic route back to Sabaody, it gives us a chance to pass through nearly all of these islands-" Partem, one of the crew's talented navigators circled the large ring of neighbouring islands on the map in front of the team. "-before the Log Pose routes us back that way."

"Yeah, but that only depends on us picking up an eternal one at our next stop to take us to Coniceit. Otherwise we'll have to follow the natural resets and end up back in the long go around loop." Iter, another sighed, lifting his cap to run a hand back through his short, blonde locks before replacing it.

"But I'm tellin' ya, people at the last island said it's real easy to pick 'em up at our next stop so let's just carry on planning this rou-"

"Let's _not_ waste anymore time trying to plan out a 'what if' route, we don't work like that. I say we just stick to the _known_ routes instead of trying to be clever." He cut off abruptly, tiring of working out the delicate finer details of their many and far too frequent 'hypothetical' routes.

"I say _this_ is the best route to expose us to more new islands for info _and_ get us back to Sabaody in relatively good time. Why pass up free info? Right, Captain?"

Law hummed noncommittally as he stared at the large map of The Grand Line (the more solidly known first half of it anyway) stretched out before them on the large dining-turned-consultation table in his quarters.

"Whaddya think, Bepo?" Partem turned to the bear who was rubbing his furry chin in thought for support.

Catching Law's trusting gaze as it lifted to his, all ears for his input, Bepo's expression grew stern and serious at his friend's unwavering trust in his opinion. "Shorter route means fewer unnecessary dangerous journeys." He summarised his main concern.

Nodding in agreement, Law turned back to the other three men stood around the long table. "I agree. This will be our preferred route, if possible. I want to minimise risks to ourselves and maximise our last chances for vital information retrieval before the New World, provided we are able to obtain the eternal Pose we need at our next stop." Law looked at Partem beside him pointedly, silently indicating it'd be _his_ job to ensure they find one, seeing as he was so confident they would be able to do so easily at their next destination.

"Aye aye, Captain." He grinned widely in his victory, unabashed by the unspoken order he knew he'd have no trouble fulfilling.

"Should we not, plan for our alternative route via the natural Log Pose reset patterns." Law continued, looking back at Iter across the table.

Sighing, he placed his cap back on his head. "Aye aye, Captain."

"Even if we do not use it, it is never a waste to take the time to carefully calculate safest possible routes through these waters. They may still come in handy another day and will keep your skills sharp. We'll be needing them more than ever once we pass through Sabaody."

Pursing his lips at his captain's subtle grin, praise and appeasement for his efforts that may go to waste, the man reluctantly smiled. "Of course, aye aye, Captain." He repeated more happily.

Satisfied that two of the three men around him were content with the current plan, Law glanced up at his silent third. "Jean Bart."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Have you ventured to any of these islands before?" Law asked, always finding the man's input sound and invaluable; an incredibly fortunate recruitment opportunity that continued to prove indispensible.

"Yeah, we've been to-"

The men glanced behind them as they heard a knock on the door which was soon pushed open without permission as Nayla wandered in, heading straight to the bedroom. She was apparently training, or about to, judging by the training gear she wore. Well, Law would call it 'gear,' lightly. Little more than sneakers, shorts (that were far _too_ short in his opinion) and a sports bra with her hair tied back.

Double taking the large gathering, she slowed a little. "Oh, sorry. Just picking up something I forgot, sorry sorry." She apologised, holding her hands up as she made her way through the archway.

Sighing, Law turned back to the table. "You were saying?"

"We've been to two of them." Jean Bart resumed, glancing back down at the map and uncrossing his arms. "We passed through this area and visited these two as they are linked by the natural Log Pose reset but none of the others." He slid his decisively larger finger across the page as he spoke; illustrating the path he had taken with his own crew long ago.

"We've visited neither of those. Anything of concern we would need to know about?" Law asked him, looking back up at his stern features, well aware of the woman re-entering the room and making as quiet an approach to the table as she could.

"No, peaceful islands. This one used to have a marine base but it was long gone even back when I visited it. I haven't heard of it being actively reinstated since."

Making a mental note to see if they could confirm there was still a lack of marines on the island in question, Law ignored Nayla as she squeezed her slender form into the small space between him and Partem to glance at the map they were discussing, her eyes following the pinned strings outlining their upcoming routes curiously.

"What do we know about the others?" He asked, turning his attention to Bepo beside the large man.

"Not a lot, Captain." Bepo reported back disappointedly, eyes darting to Nayla as she mouthed 'New World?' to Partem excitedly and got a nod, grin and 'soon' mouthed back.

Turning his head, Law spared her an annoyed look that clearly read 'go away, we're busy.'

Tutting as her efforts to be as undisruptive as possible went unappreciated; she pulled on the fingerless gloves she'd retrieved from the bedroom to protect her palms from becoming rough during training with the crew. "Fine, geez." She muttered quietly, turning to leave.

Satisfied she'd no longer cause a distraction, Law turned back to his first mate. "That's ok, we still have time to-..."

Feeling his slight irritation numb in his shock and his sentence die on his tongue at her audacity - her absolute, fucking, audacity, Law whipped his head around to stare at her in shock as she casually sauntered to the door.

She didn't. She did not just...She couldn't _possibly_ have had the nerve to do that - in a room full of his men no less! Even she wasn't stupid enough to incur his wrath to that extent. It must have been an accident...

Meeting her mutely amused gaze as she reached and opened it, she dared to smile mildly and delicately wave goodbye to him with the fingers of the gloved hand she had just used to give his ass cheek a firm squeeze.

Gritting his teeth as his anger returned full force and soared, Law stood straight from his leant palms to the table, trying to settle his temper down into something more manageable.

"...Captain?" Bepo asked cautiously, reading the disconcerting, deadly mood shift worriedly as the men glanced between the now closed door and their captain curiously.

"Discuss how best to get the information we are missing on the next island. I will be right back." He barely ground out, pushing off from the table and making a beeline for the door.

Breaking out of the shared confused, concerned, questioning look with his crewmates, verifying that they were all as equally lost as he was, Iter called after him as Laq wrenched open his door. "Is everything o-?"

"Everything is fine." Their captain cut off, not bothering to look back at any of them as he slammed the door behind him more harshly than intended. "Nayla-ya."

They heard him call down the hallway in his deceptively calm, neutral tone that they all knew too well, slightly muffled by the layer between them now.

"Training, speak to you later." Her light-hearted voice sang back from further along the wall.

"Nayla, we need to have a word." The calmness beginning to falter a little as they heard his rapid footsteps follow after her.

"What? But you're sooo busy. Too busy in fact to even spare me a civil glance and greeting. Why don't you get back to wor-?"

"You wanted my attention that badly? You've got it. Come here. Now"

"Sorry, kinda busy myself now." Her voice sounded as though she had begun to trot away or at least walk faster as the sound of their captain's long strides picked up their pace.

"This'll only take a second." They heard him promise darkly, quickly followed by the slapping sound of her sneakers to the wooden floor outside as she dropped the pretence and began running.

There was a brief flicker of a familiar blue and a shrill squeal that was rapidly followed by a string of insincere, rushed apologies struggled out between giggles as Law obviously caught her.

"...I wonder what she did…" Partem mused aloud, tilting the bill of his hat back to scratch at his furrowed brow in confusion.

"Whatever it was, think he'll finally kill her one of these days?" Iter chuckled, slightly worried that she really would eventually push him over the edge some time.

"...No." Bepo finally answered quietly with a small, confident smile.

Tapping a claw to the map, he pulled their attention off of the commotion outside as he asked for their thoughts on how best to go about obtaining the information they'd need to continue their journey as safely as possible.

* * *

It was warm, pleasantly warm. Another day of perfectly calm, sparkling seas, clear skies, gentle, salty breezes and sunlight. The rare sight of the inviting ocean view through the portholes as Law made his way towards the main deck's open entrance was reminiscent of the days he and his smaller then crew had sailed through the stable seas of the North Blue, terrorising the small time marines, rival wannabe pirate crews and making a name for themselves.

He'd decided to take it upon himself to relax and enjoy the settled waters when the opportunity presented itself. If it were this difficult to find tranquil moments on the waters of The Grand Line dubbed 'Paradise,' then he imagined they may be seeing even fewer days of serene seas up ahead in the New World.

Breathing the fresh air in deeply as a soft breeze came to meet him at the door, Law glanced around at his men, a lot of whom had apparently decided to do much the same and were enjoying themselves, relaxing in the afternoon rays.

Some were chatting idly at the railings, a few had brought a pack of cards up from the rec room and had sat on the deck, the top halves of their boilersuits shrugged off to their undershirts, laughing and dealing a new round of hands and a lot of the men outside were snoozing quietly, propped safely against the entrance walls in the shade or sprawled haphazardly across the wooden floorboards.

Walking out onto the deck, Law's eye was drawn to the one person that stood out amidst the white boilersuits, finding that Nayla was up here, amongst the snoozing, slumped lazily against Penguin's side and curled up between him and his usual counterpart who were sitting by the railing with their fishing rods.

Sighing heavily, Law made his way over, tuning into their quiet conversation.

"-can't be serious, how is it cruel if we toss 'em back?" Shachi asked her incredulously.

"Would _you_ like to be pulled up something the height of the sub by a hook through your lips, dangling your full body weight on it all the way then get tossed back down the same height to slap back into the water with your new mouth wound that'll probably become infected and kill you slowly or attract predators your way to finish you off?" She droned back sleepily, eyes still closed.

Exchanging slightly uncomfortable looks with one another over her head at the idea, Penguin sighed and set his fishing line down onto the deck in front of them. "...Geez, way to suck the fun outta that for us." He grumbled, leaning his weight back onto his palms.

"You're welcome." She yawned, curling up to him more comfortably as he shifted, chasing another light, afternoon snooze in the warm rays of sun gently shining on them from above.

"Nayla-ya."

Groaning a little under her breath at the '-ya' suffix and tone of voice that told her she was in some sort of trouble already, she tiredly cracked open an eye and looked up at Law as he came to a stop behind them, blocking out the pleasantly warm light with the shadow he cast over her face.

"What?" She asked grumpily.

"Haven't I already told you that you are not to sleep on my men?" He asked, casting Penguin a brief glance that although appeared neutral, said that he felt the man should have known better then to allow her to use him as a pillow.

"No. You said that I couldn't sleep _with_ your men."

"Nayla."

"God, geeeeez. Nayla-ya, don't sleep with my men. Nayla-ya, don't sleep _on_ my men. Nayla-ya, stop teasing my men. Nayla-ya, you can't get pregnant whilst you travel with us. Nayla-ya, you can't have a baby with Shachi. Nayla-ya, you should wear more conservative, hot, inconvenient and restrictive clothing to train - bla bla bla bla bla." Though she stopped leaning on Penguin despite her whinging and half-baked impression of the man towering over her. "Like having a fucking parent again." She yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

Narrowing his eyes at Shachi's poorly suppressed laughter, Law turned his attention back to her, lifting a pointed index finger. "You had bett-"

"Captain."

Stopping mid-scold, he turned towards the main entrance of the sub, seeing Connor and Koush wave him over before looking back down at her as she glanced up at him expectantly. "For the sake of it, try something new today, behave yo-"

"Behave myself. Yes m-"

"You call me your mom again I'm throwing you over the side." He threatened, cutting her off in return as he strode back over to his two top mechanics.

"Wouldn't be the first time." She muttered under her breath, looking back out at the sea.

"What was that?" He challenged over his shoulder.

"Aye aye, 'Captain?'" She offered sweetly, watching as he turned away, reached the door and looked at the clipboard Koush held.

Sighing and wondering how the others just flat out fell asleep on the hard wood of the deck, Nayla glanced around behind her, trying to figure out where or how to hunker down comfortably for the rest of her afternoon nap and whether she should bother going back downstairs to collect a cushion or two to bring back up.

"Whatcha looking for, Nayla-chan?" Penguin asked, following her line of sight.

"Something as comfy as you to sleep on." She mumbled, though perked up as she spotted her solution not too far away. Certainly much closer than a trip two floors down and back up again.

Arching a brow and following her gaze as she began to smile and get up, Shachi turned around to see what it was she was looking at. "Oh, I wouldn't do that, Nayla-ch-" He began to warn.

"Too late." Penguin sighed, making no attempt to stop her as she stood, trotted over to the sleeping bear and flopped heavily into his side with a wide grin and 'ahhh' of satisfaction.

"...Lucky bear." Shachi grumbled, turning away from the comatose first mate, oblivious to the woman curling herself snugly between his arm and body as he snored loudly on his back.

Handing back the clipboard to Koush, Law glanced up to make his way over to his usual, warm, comfy deck seat, his step forward stuttering as he spotted the woman who had just taken it.

"Uh, Captain?" Connor asked cautiously, peering out of the doorway from beside Koush to see what had suddenly ticked him off. Pressing his lips into a firm line as he tried to curb his temper, Law strode over to her and Bepo with restrained purpose.

"What. Did I _just_ say, Nayla?" He ground out slowly, looming over her and blocking her light once more.

"...Not to sleep on your men?" She asked innocently, peering up at him, looking smaller than usual in her curled up form on the floor at his feet.

'Innocently' his ass, Law thought angrily, reminding himself that the 'small and cute' thing was most certainly a manipulative act of hers he'd seen his men fall prey to only too many times. "Then why are you?"

"I'm not, he's a bear."

Blinking in a temporary loss for words, Law frowned as he leant down, bringing his face close to hers. "He's a mink _man_." He clarified sternly.

"But not a _man_." She argued slowly, honestly feeling as though her loophole was somewhat justified.

"He's one of _my men_. I've told you to stop using _my men_ as your personal pillows. I won't tell you again." He stated firmly, standing back up to full height.

"But I-hey!" She yelled in protest as he neatly slid her away from his navigator, using his foot to push her aside before sitting and taking her place. "Wha-Law! _I_ was sitting there!" She whipped around to glare at him.

Smirking at _her_ frustration, he rest his weapon to the still soundly sleeping bear behind him before lifting his hands to the back of his head and sinking against his friend's side comfortably. "I know. I corrected that."

"...This is just some weird possessive thing about him being _your_ personal teddy bear, isn't it?" She seethed quietly, narrowing her eyes at him.

Chuckling at the accusation meant to rile him back up, Law instead chose to ignore it, crossing a leg over his bent knee, closing his eyes and pulling his hat down over them to shield them from the sunlight.

"Law! I was here first! Where am _I_ supposed to sit?"

"That is not my problem." He answered breezily.

Listening to her huff in annoyance, he could practically see her cross her arms, turn away and pout on the floor a little way away from him, even through closed eyes.

Inhaling deeply in a satisfying and long overdue victory, Law released it silently as he relaxed comfortably against the soft but firm side of his treasured companion, envious of said friend's ability to sleep deeply through just about anything, even if it was happening right next to him.

Feeling just the slightest edge of guilt as she continued to sit there quietly, misplaced from her comfortable seat, Law spoke up.

"Do you know what you remind me of, Nayla?"

"What?" She mumbled grumpily, her voice sounding further than a moment ago, confirming that she had in fact turned away from him in a huff.

Repressing the urge to chuckle at her, he continued. "We visited a tropical island, shortly before meeting you on Sabaody. They had an interesting native folk story there about a little girl and a tiger."

Opening an eye to peer at her from under the lowered brim of his hat, he watched her turn around and shoot him a dirty look at the obvious implication of who was who.

"The little girl in the story made a bad habit of playing in the jungle every day, even though the villagers warned her that it was dangerous and full of tigers that would attack her. The day that the little girl _did_ finally stumble across a tiger, it didn't, and allowed her to run away." He smiled, shifting his shoulders more comfortably against Bepo's side as the bear continued to snore loudly behind him.

"The following day, she went back to the same spot and saw the same tiger, and again, it didn't hurt her. The same happened the next day, and the next. She became so convinced that it wouldn't harm her that she became bold enough to approach it at will, pet it, embrace it, even tug its tail but it still did her no harm."

"This is starting to sound like one of those bullshit stories parents make up to scare their kids into behaving. There any point to this?" Nayla muttered, not enjoying the condescension in his voice or the underlying message one bit.

He chuckled at her snippy remark, opening both eyes to finish the tale the natives of that rudimentary village had shared with him and his crew. "The tiger never really did mean the little girl any ill will, knowing she meant it no harm, but one day she tugged that tiger's tail too hard and it turned around and ate her without a moment's hesitation…You remind me of that little girl, Nayla."

Biting the inside of her cheek as he held her gaze, his sharp, blue irises glinting with dark amusement and danger, Nayla turned away, listening to him chuckle again as he closed his eyes and relaxed in the quiet that followed, hoping his unsubtle hint would finally hit its mark with her.

Or not. He snapped his eyes open as he felt her hands on his chest and pushed the brim of his hat back up to look down at her as she brazenly nuzzled up to his side as though she belonged there and rest her head to his chest.

"...What are you doing?" He managed out, all too aware of the _very_ interested gazes of the other men on the deck around them.

"You never said I can't sleep on you. _You_ aren't one of your own men." She reasoned, looking up at him. "...You never said I couldn't sleep _with_ you either." She added cheekily.

Lowering his brows, he bit the inside of his cheek as she slid her arms around his waist and made herself comfortable against him.

"What's the matter, 'tiger?' You gonna eat me?" She purred up at him.

The thought of throwing her off just to save face in front of his crew occurred to him. The thought of making good on his threat and teleporting her over the railing occurred to him too...but it wasn't worthwhile. It never was. He found that the measures he'd have to take to forcefully keep her in line, he simply didn't want to take.

What for? The sake of his pride? What was the point of salvaging his petty pride at the cost of upsetting her for the sake of his crew that already _knew_ , without a doubt, that he was soft on her?...

And despite the story, the more and more time they spent together, the less and less likely it became that he would ever turn his fangs on her and they both knew it. The only instance it'd become a conceivable option would be if she ever betrayed him or his crew, which he already knew in his heart she would never be capable of.

…

Sighing heavily in defeat of the situation he often found himself in these days, he pulled the hat he was lifting up off of his head, plopping it unceremoniously over her upturned face to cover that annoying, sly, victorious little smile spreading across her lips, her protest muffled from beneath it as she slid it backwards onto her hair instead.

"...Maybe later." He finally answered quietly, relaxing his head back against Bepo behind them and closing his eyes.

Laughing a little at his dirty smirk and as he placed a heavy hand warmly to the hat atop her head, she rest her cheek back down to his chest, closing her eyes at the familiar comfort and as they both fell into silence.

With the soothing, rhythmic tilts of the deck beneath them as they rode the sea, the gentle, salty breezes flowing past, the warmth of the sun on their skin and the comforting ambiance of calm waves, friendly chatter and Bepo's snoring, it didn't take long before the relaxing encroach of sleep began to descend on them.

The one thing that would never change, about them, about her, was that Nayla would never stop pushing his buttons. She would never be afraid to voice her true opinions, she would never hesitate to confront him if she felt it necessary, she wouldn't ever dream of stopping using her sex appeal on him and she would _definitely_ never stop poking fun at him…and he would always let her get away with it.

Whether he found it frustrating, infuriating, interesting, amusing or comfortably familiar about her, the one thing that he could count on to never change, was that Nayla would never stop challenging him and it was something that he had reluctantly and secretly grown to love about her.


	73. Discovering beat box

After a brief final meeting with his navigators in the cockpit before arrival, Law was certain that he was as well informed as he could possibly be about their new destination up ahead as he made his way back up to the first floor . A small spring island by the name of Yuuwaku. Fortunately, it was also somewhere Jean Bart could offer some previous insight and experience on.

Apparently the island was an excessively wealthy one and was treated very much like an oversized resort for the equally excessively wealthy. It was renowned as a place for the overly decadent to shop for designer wares, eat food prepared by the finest in the business, stay in hotels that were practically made of solid precious metals and indulge in every sin the world had to offer within the framework of luxurious fineries.

It was a mildly interesting sounding place, simply because Law was curious to see such a brightly glittering island function on such a seedy and dark foundation of base desires, but other than that it held no personal appeal. He doubted many of his men would find it all that appealing either. They would probably choose a worn, wooden shack of a tavern that was near enough falling apart as long as it was full of good, cheap booze and hearty meals over a fancy hotel and its overpriced luxury bar any day…Though he did imagine a certain woman aboard may be enjoying her stay on Yuuwaku very much. His safe was practically bursting at the hinges with both his crew's earnings and the millions she had been stashing in there over the months; she'd probably be more than happy for an excuse to spend it.

Lamenting the additional loss of wardrobe space he foresaw, Law rolled his eyes as he stepped onto the landing and made his way down the hall.

One benefit of the upcoming island being nothing more than an overpriced, debaucherous getaway location for millionaires and billionaires was that there was very little in the way of law enforcement and marine presence there. It was a calm, quiet, refined and generally well-behaved place that he didn't anticipate any confrontations or troubles on.

The other thing he was looking forward to was that based on the nature of Yuuwaku and the people that visited it, Law was almost certain it would be a treasure hold of information, packed full of many high-up, wealthy associates of a certain man's underworld dealings. There would be an abundance of places for him to visit and people to talk to to dig up dirt.

The other advantage of this venture was that, based on the known Log Pose reset patterns, weather changes, recent articles in the news and a healthy sprinkle of circulating rumours, there was very good chance that a rival pirate crew would be visiting or would already be on this island during their stay. One that held no threat to his crew or him, but one that Law was certain the marines would appreciate the hearts of as they'd been quite the nuisance for them as of late.

Grinning minutely to himself at the dark humour he found in imagining the looks on the marines' faces once they opened his 'gift,' Law made his way past his quarters towards Theatre 2's door, wondering how best to go about retrieving his new additions on the next island and going over some predictions of how much longer it would take at this pace to reach one hundred.

Progress was good but a little slower than he'd like and he didn't want to face the possibility of someone else taking his Warlord title before he could or it'd make all his efforts to date for naught.

Perhaps he should find a way to do something on a larger scale, find one place full of big name pirates to target in one last fell swoop to push him to his total, but in a tactful way that wouldn't result in all of them deciding to combine forces in an effort to take out him as their common enemy. Not that he felt particularly threatened by the thought, but why put himself or his crew in even a remotely risky position when it wasn't necessary? He was sure he could come up with something if he gave it a little thought...Though it was quickly broken as the voices of the two men cleaning the hallway grew louder in his approach.

"-you're honestly disgusting, I still don't buy that you didn't know. You should have been able to tell the second you got in that house, or her room or once the _kid_ started taking her clothes off for you." The chef between them sneered, his revulsion clear in his tone.

Law shared a sigh with Jeff as the recurring topic was brought up yet again. Ichirou was obviously finding much less humour and more disgust in it than the others were.

Choosing to ignore it, and them, he pushed open the door as he reached it, the men turning around and acknowledging him in greeting as the noise drew their attention, though it didn't stop them from resuming their conversation as soon as he was inside. They mistakenly thought he couldn't hear them from behind the closed door. He could.

"I _may_ have if I'd been a little more sober at the time an-"

"You mean less horny, your dick clouded your judgement. Again." Ichirou immediately corrected, punctuating the latter by letting the bucket of water he was carrying thud to the floorboards outside with a heavy slosh.

"- _and_ -" Jeff continued, ignoring the interruption. "-she was hardly a _'_ _kid.'_ " His voice wavered with his audible shudder at the idea as Law heard him wiping down the other side of the metal wall he rest his weapon to in approach to his desk.

"Well she wasn't eighteen. What's _your_ definition of a kid then?"

"...So she was _slightly_ underage according to the law. Remind me why the hell we, of all people, should even care about laws anyway, we're pirates aren't we?"

"Pirates. Not pedos." Ichirou retorted easily, dismissing the man's tirade as he wiped the floors clean.

"…Fuck you man. I hate doing chores with you." Jeff sighed in defeat, earning a rare chuckle from him.

Huffing quietly in amusement himself as they fell into silence, Law picked up the stack of bounty posters he had left on the surface of his work space, thumbing through and recounting the images of men whose hearts currently resided with him in this room in the wooden crate against the wall.

Hearing a gradual, soft approach of light footsteps outside, he wasn't surprised to hear the happy greeting that soon followed.

"Heeey, lil lady. Finally! Some better company."

"Jeff, Ichikins. You guys getting on well I take it?" Nayla greeted in return with a small giggle of amusement that had Law certain that the men outside were sharing a look of disdain with one another.

"Like peaches and cream. Whatcha up to short stuff?"

"Looking for your captain actually." He heard the door to his quarters start to open.

"Ah, he isn't in there."

"Infirmary?"

"Nope, this one."

There was a long pause as Law imagined Jeff had gestured towards the door of the room he was in and Nayla looked over the sign that read "Theatre 2" outside.

"...What's he doing in there, is he alone?" She was obviously tentative. Law had never spoken to her about what he used the room he was currently in for, but given what she would have heard in snippets from the crew by now and what she knew had happened to Fidelis within its walls, he was sure she had a good idea. He was also sure she would have let her curiosity get the better of her and that she would definitely have poked her head in here at least once by now.

"Beats me, but I haven't seen him drag anyone in there kicking and screaming today."

"That's not funny." Nayla sighed, her voice getting louder as she approached the door. "...Is it ok to bother him when he's in this room?"

"Like it'd stop you if we told you it wasn't." Ichirou snorted, sloshing his mop back into the bucket as he lost interest in the conversation and resumed cleaning the floors.

Hearing her tut indignantly at him as Jeff chuckled, Law glanced over at the entrance as he heard her quiet knock. "Enter."

He watched her push it ajar and peer around the edge of it unsurely, her eyes quickly settling onto the single, ominous, unoccupied, metal examination table in the centre of the room, then up to his as she spotted him standing by his desk. "...Really?"

A small, sinister smile slid across his lips at her obvious discomfort. "What's the matter, Nayla-ya?"

"Nothing…" She mumbled, walking in just shy of the entrance and letting the door swing shut behind her.

Chuckling a little under his breath he neatened the growing stack of bounty posters he'd finished sorting on their edges as he allowed her the luxury of quietly soaking in her surroundings at her leisure.

There was little to see in this room and it was incomparable in size to his other theatre, Theatre 1 - the far larger room that he used to treat his crew, and her at one time. The facilities within the two rooms were also worlds apart. He certainly didn't spare the same equipment he used in Theatre 1 with truly amicable, medical, wholly good intentions on those that he saw to within Theatre 2.

The same bare, metal walls and green tiles decorated the space and the wall to the left and opposite its doorway still held counters, cupboards and a sink to wash up in, but that was as far as the similarities went.

It was much smaller. The countertops were bare, steel, cold and sterile. No boxes of gloves, medications, examination tools, notes, clipboards or anything that might offer the impressional comfort of a compassionate, caring medical professional's touch.

There was no row of pristine, adjustable, top of the line surgical beds at meticulously measured intervals to ensure optimal access to multiple injured crewmen at any one time. There was only a single bed in the centre. One made of harsh, plain, cold metal. Easy to clean. The sharply shining surface promised no comfort. The visible wrist and ankle shackles at either end of it made no promise of it either.

Besides the small black stool that sat neatly upon its locked, chrome wheels beneath the examination table and the moderately sized, closed, bedside cabinet that sat next to it, there was little else to be seen in the middle of the room. No racks of sinister torture devices lay within arm's reach of the table, no trays of blood stained, deformed, sharp tools and scalpels were positioned within easy access of it either. Law imagined that was exactly what Nayla may have envisioned when she had first heard of this room or even when he had first told her how he had perfected his surgical techniques before applying them to his crew.

A single overhead surgical lamp was the only light fixture in the room and offered the main source of illumination, other than the small lamp on his desk. It caused the edges of the room that extended from the focal point of his studies conducted here to be plunged into shadows. It gave the room an unintended though admittedly very intimidating feel to it.

Aside from the small, wooden desk to the right of the room and its accompanying chair a few feet beyond the head of the surgical bed, there was no other furniture within it. Both were less grandiose and comfortable than the ones in his infirmary and in his quarters, seeing as he spent very little time pouring over paperwork in a room held mostly for 'practical' purposes after all. He tended to take the results of whatever he did here to one of his other desks anyway.

"Nayla-ya."

"Hmm?" She looked back over at him from her silent examination of the ceiling panel above the bed, as though wondering if some sort of villainous buzz saw on an extendable metal arm that would descend were installed beneath it. It was a little disconcerting how familiar he'd become with her overactive imagination, Law found that he could predict far more of her bizarre thoughts than he'd like to these days.

"What did you want?" He prompted, opening the drawer of his desk and setting the neatened pile of recounted bounty posters into it.

"Oh, right. I got a call from Marty before lunch. I wanted to let you know about my next job but you didn't come down to the mess hall so I figured you were still up here somewhere..." She trailed off, gaze falling to the wooden crate placed against the wall to the right of the doorway, knowing the large container to be out of place in the neat, empty, sterile, metal environment.

Nodding in understanding more to himself than to her, Law pushed his drawer shut, moving out from behind his desk as he looked over at her and noticed what had now caught her interest. "What is it?"

Her eyes flit up to his at the sound of his darkly amused, teasing tone as he approached with slow deliberate steps, a smile on his face to match.

"This wasn't here before." She stated.

"So you _have_ been inside this room before." He replied, his smirk growing as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Well, yeah. We both knew I'd nose around a little in here eventually." She scoffed, breezing past the issue of her invading spaces he hadn't permitted her into as though it were a trivial, unavoidable fact he ought to have been used to by now. He obviously wasn't too bothered by it. "But this definitely wasn't in here before...What's inside it?"

"You really want to know, Nayla?" He asked lowly, his voice dropping into the lower octaves of its familiar, silken smoothness as he leant closely to her face, studying its expression with interest. "You're welcome to look, though perhaps this would be the one time that you ought to curb that rabid curiosity of yours."

The imposing height difference, the dark room that had seen such dark things, the devilish shine of mischief to his striking irises and the edge of threat of her finding something she wouldn't like was clear as day on the evil smirk that pulled at his lips.

Though it may be much less often than when they had first met, sometimes, Trafalgar Law still sent a chill down her spine. The only difference now a days was that she was fairly confident that his underlying tendency to sinisterly cruel actions wouldn't be directed at her….Necessarily...Not anytime soon anyway...Hopefully never.

Pressing her lips into a firm line as she decided to take him up on his offer, she leant over the large wooden box and eased the lid up carefully and slowly, mildly expecting something to spring out at her as she felt rather than heard the subtle slights of movement coming from within.

Furrowing her brows as she peered inside the seemingly randomly moving mass of burlap, she pushed the lid up all the way to rest against the wall behind the crate, a split second needed to make sense of the bizarre sight before her eyes widened and her jaw slacked.

Writhing in what her mind's eye painted as agony, were dozens and dozens of moving, throbbing, twitching, small, rounded sacks, beating against one another and against the rough, wooden walls of their container. Enough of them to fill the large box up to three quarters of its capacity. Their anxious, unsynchronised pulsations audible now in a morbid murmur that filled the quiet room they stood in.

Law watched her face carefully, his amusement waning a little as he saw her swallow and pale a shade. A part of him suddenly wondered what she'd think of him. If she'd think any less of him, think him a monster. Of course she knew what he did and what he was capable of deep down, she had to...Or did she simply turn a denying blind eye to it?

It hadn't been a thought that had crossed his mind before that moment, seeing as he was sure he didn't particularly care what she thought of him. Apparently, a small part of him did now.

Glancing behind him at the bare examination table he'd taken Fidelis to during her stay with him, he couldn't help but think that perhaps her first mental image of him being the crazed, mad scientist experimenting on his helpless victims hadn't been as ludicrous and far-fetched as it had initially sounded to him.

"...So this is what you bought those hundred sacks for?" She asked quietly, recalling the cryptic order he had placed long ago and realising just how long he'd been working on this 'project' as she reached a cautious hand in to pick up one of the empty ones piled together to one side, thumbing the rough material curiously.

"Yeah." He answered casually, reading her reaction carefully as she released the material, crouched down more comfortably and rest a hand gently over one of the moving sacks.

"And this is why you keep grinning like a psycho and wandering off mysteriously when you hear there are other crews ashore?"

"Did you think I was going to say 'hello?'" He asked dryly.

"Maybe going to scope them out, measure them up, shake up their captain a little in a territorial pissing match to make sure you both knew who could pee higher so that they'd behave themselves whilst we there? I dunno, how the hell would I know _this_ is what you were doing?" She defended indignantly, falling quiet again as she looked over the sheer amount of hearts he had all but ripped from the chests of his rivals.

Each and every one of them representing a conflict he had single-handedly won, a person he had out done, out powered, out witted. Each and every one a person with thoughts, feelings, friends and family whose lives were now being held literally in Law's hands and at his mercy. The more she thought about it as she looked at them, the more the dark reality of it set in.

...

"This is so you."

He arched a brow as she snorted in amusement, then began laughing quietly under her breath as she reached her other hand in to pick up the heart she was touching.

That...wasn't quite the response he was expecting. Maybe more shock, more horror or maybe for those emotions to have lasted a little longer than they had. Maybe he'd expected some anger and disgust, maybe he'd anticipated her to yell at him?...But actually, as he watched her move the captured organ between her hands carefully, reading the name written on the fabric in fascination, he found her reaction wasn't all that different to her discovery of Jeff's disembodied hands in his desk drawer all that time ago.

"Is that right?" His grin grew despite himself as the small ebb of worry disappeared as quickly as it appeared at her reaction.

"Only you can be this twisted...How many have you got in here? What are you going to use them for? Are they pirates, marines or both? You assembling an army of minion pirate crews or mutinous marine ones for something big by forcing these people to do your bidding if they want to live?" She half-joked, not quite putting the idea past him as she turned the warm weight in her hand.

"That's not a bad first guess, but no. Something far simpler than that. They all belong to pirates and so far, fifty-two."

"Wow that many…" She repeated in awe, noting the 'so far' comment, her eyes roaming the contents of the chest as if trying to visually confirm that number. "And not telling why, huh?" She asked knowingly, glancing up at him as she began undoing the small string ties around the sack in her hand.

"For now."

Scoffing at his secretive smirk, she opened the neck of the material, peering in at the familiar though still fascinating surface of the clear cube within, it's slightly blue tint reminding her of his 'Room,' she wondered if it were made of some form of it.

"Whatever it is, you have a sick sense of humour."

Leaning over her shoulder he peered into the bag with her, watching as the pulse of the organ she held sped up, its owner no doubt panicking as they felt her handling their most precious vital organ. They were probably mistaking the lithe fingers now removing their heart from its new container for his and wondering whether he would be inflicting unspeakable pain upon them or ending their misery prematurely on a whim.

"You're one to talk. If you think I didn't hear you laughing from the entrance the other day when I offered that marine 'a hand' then you're mistaken." He teased knowingly into her ear, his grin widening as she broke out into laughter at the recollection.

"Well, it was kinda hard not to when you _literally_ floated over a disembodied one to him with that smug little smirk of yours, Law."

Chuckling as he remembered the fury all over the man's face as he lay in pieces upon his own deck, Law felt no sympathy for the foolish captain that had bitten off more than he could chew by daring to challenge him on the open waters with only a single ship under his command. It had practically been an insult.

"Then I believe we share the same 'sick' sense of humour, Nayla." He mused, snaking his hands around her waist comfortably from behind as she idly examined the organ in her hands.

"I guess so…" She conceded, quietly examining the organ in her hands in fascination, trying to recall the names of the arteries lining its surface as Kotta had taught her.

All jokes aside it did really seem to be true. It wasn't rarely that he saw her biting back an amused smile or hear her stifling a giggle when he toyed with people they crossed. He found her to be quite accepting and unfazed by his…'quirks' and occasional displays of cruelty...The word 'accepting' stuck out in his mind, it was the perfect one. She was accepting of him and what _he_ didn't deem as flaws but that other, more 'normal' members of general society might…That was comforting he supposed, it made him feel an odd sense of security and happiness...

Actually, if he didn't know better, he could have sworn by the looks she gave him as he re-entered the sub or the animalistic fervour of their following sexual encounter, that she was more than a little turned on by them. Or at least, perhaps turned on by the display of power or strength.

Sometimes the more textbook side of his mind wrote that off as a normal, base, biological response. A subconscious level of sexuality in which females were generally attracted to males they perceived as being strong, to produce stronger offspring….Sometimes though, he just deemed her a twisted woman in her own right. Despite Nayla's usual, light-hearted humour she was still the same woman he saw ploughing through soldiers in a bloody display, she had her own fair share of screws loose beneath her daily demeanour.

"...You really are a mad man though, I honestly don't know what's the matter with you. Most people collect things like stamps or coins."

Broken out of his inner deliberation of her mental stability at the tease of his own, his lopsided smile grew a little. "I _do_ collect coins." It grew wider as she tilted her head back and looked up at him in surprise, still clasping the organ in her hands.

"Really?"

He chuckled at her expression, interlocking his fingers over her stomach and pulling her back to rest comfortably against his chest. "Yeah, really."

"That's...kinda cute actually. A little dorky, but cute."

"Need I remind you of that ridiculous cat hoodie with a tail you own?" He scoffed.

"Fair play." She giggled before furrowing her brows and looking back down at the open crate in front of them in thought. "How come I haven't seen it though? I've been through most of your stuff by now..."

"Yes, you never _are_ going to find a 'porn stash' that doesn't exist-" He reminded with an eye roll. "-but that would be because I keep it in my safe. You were probably too busy stealing from me to notice it in there when you broke in."

Feeling her tense in indignation in his arms, as he knew she would, he refrained from laughing as she pursed her lips in an annoyed pause before parting them. "I was _not_ stealing from you, I didn't take anything of _yours_ out of that safe. It's not 'stealing' if I'm taking back MY weapons that _YOU_ STOLE from me and it's hardly 'breaking in' if I used the combination."

"Which you stole from?"

"I didn't steal it, it was in your desk."

"Intended for _your_ eyes?"

"...Shut up, Law. I'm not gonna justify taking back _my_ swords from you."

Chuckling as she ran out of defensive steam for her actions, he kissed her temple gently, glancing at the door as Jeff's voice became louder in his approach to it and as a knock shortly followed.

Making no effort to remove his hands from around her waist, he permitted the man entry, watching as he took a step in. "Captain, Bepo's come up to…"

Hearing him trail off, Nayla looked over at him now too, wondering if it were the way his captain was holding her that had silenced him mid sentence but found he was staring wide-eyed at the abundance of bulging sacks in the large, wooden container at her feet, then up to the one she still held in her hands.

Shaking his head with a firm blink he seemed to collect himself again. "Bepo's come up to let you know we'll be hitting shore a little sooner than we thought..." He completed, the bear in question peering into the room from over his shoulder curiously.

...

"Are you _really_ not going to question this at all?" Nayla prompted in the silence that followed, gesturing to the crate of stolen organs whose heartbeats had quietly filled the pause between them.

"...I know better than to ask." Jeff shook his head, folding his arms and letting the cleaning rag he still held flop over his white sleeve.

"At least someone does." Law implied quietly, knowing she shot him a look for the comment but not sparing her a glance as he turned to Bepo. "How much sooner?"

"An hour or so, Captain." He replied seemingly unfazed by the large collection. So unfazed in fact that Nayla wondered if he, and perhaps some of the other more senior members of the crew were already aware of it and its purpose. Curious as she was, she wouldn't pry. If Law had wanted her to know then she'd already know and continuing to ask him about something he didn't want to divulge would prove futile. He was stubborn like that. She'd probably find out eventually, hopefully.

Nodding in understanding, Law slipped his arms from around Nayla's waist, making his way back over to pick up his nodachi resting against the wall. "Announce it, let the crew know so that they can get docking preparations done in time."

"Aye aye, Captain." The navigator saluted and ambled away obediently to fulfil his order.

Deciding the poor man whose heart was still racing like that of a hamster on a wheel that had been drinking from a coffee-filled water bottle might give out on her if she handled it any longer, Nayla began slipping it back into its fabric case.

"Hey, lil lady?"

"Hmm?" She glanced back up at Jeff, arching a brow curiously at his more serious than usual tone.

"Think I could ask a _really_ big favour of you?"

"Sure, what is it?" She asked, tightening the ties on the neck of the sac in her hand carefully.

"Was hoping to hop in the showers before we hit land. Ya know, spruce myself up a bit for the ladies, but I don't think I'll finish this in time if we're arriving a lil earlier than we thought." He lifted his damp rag in prompt. "Would you be kind enough to finish it up for me?"

"Pfft, no." She easily denied, leaning over the crate to gently lay the distressed organ amongst its disturbing brethren.

"What? Since when? Come onnn - pretty please?"

Scoffing at his puppy dog eyes and pleading expression, she gripped the lid of the crate. "Do your chores _for_ you so you can get laid as soon as your foot hits land? Hell no. I'm sure you'll survive being a little late to go ashore and dive dick-first into the next woman you see. Finish your duties first."

"I won't! It's been too long!"

"It's been two weeks."

"Aww come onnn - have a heart!"

She blinked at his childish outburst for a moment before picking one up from the crate she had begun closing and holding it out to him in offering.

"...That's not funny." Jeff shuddered, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the casually held organ in her hand as it pulsated on her palm.

"Your captain seems to think so." She smiled, prompting him to look at Law as he re-approached, chuckling under his breath.

Sighing at the amusement on both their faces, Jeff turned to leave the room in defeat. "Both sick in the head then. Guess I'll go finish my chores. Alone. Be stuck here all by myself whilst the others go snap up all the hotties before I get a chance to set foot on the isle because my so called _friend_ who had nothing better to do wouldn't help." He proclaimed dramatically, slinging the rag to rest over his shoulder as he threw his hands up.

"I said I wouldn't do your chores _for_ you. I'm happy to help." She corrected, putting the heart back where it belo-...well, sort of belonged.

"Really?" He whirred back around excitedly from the doorway, watching as she pulled the lid of the crate back on, closing it securely.

"Sure, but your 'so-called friend' _does_ have something better to do. I need to talk to your captain about my next job first."

Looking between the two for a moment, Jeff suddenly snorted in disbelief, a wide, wolfish grin breaking out across his face. "Right, you guys get on and 'talk.'"

"I _do_ nee-"

"I'll be out here when you're done 'talking' with Captain, lil lady." He cut off her irritable reply, lifting a hand lazily over his shoulder as he left the room and pulled the door shut behind him.

Inwardly seething at the closed door, she sighed as she caught Law's amused gaze from beside her. "Why don't you ever correct them when they take those stupid, sly little digs of theirs?" She scolded.

"It's not worth the energy...and they aren't usually wrong." He replied smoothly, his hands slipping into his pockets as he rest his head to the sheath nuzzled between his shoulder and neck. "...We _do_ have plenty of time to 'talk' before we arrive." He suggested quietly, eyes running over her figure appreciatively.

Contemplating the tempting offer for a moment, she did the same. "After I tell you about my job-" She stressed, raising an index finger at him "- and in your quarters." She quickly added on, glancing around the room as a slight chill ran up her spine.

"Something wrong with this room?" He teased, glinting grey watching as she rubbed her upper arms and made her way to the door.

" _A lot_ wrong with this room. You think we're doing it on _that_ bed, you got another thing coming, disturbed weirdo." She pointed at the examination table behind him, imaging the cold, bare steel to be an unpleasant surface and trying _not_ to imagine what else had taken place on it as she reached the door. "Plus...I think it'll be harder to hear from your room." She added lowly, head motioning in the direction of Jeff out in the hallway through the door.

"Perhaps you should learn to be quieter, Nayla."

'Perhaps you should learn to stop being such an amazing lay.' She didn't say it out loud but the smug smile on his face said that he didn't need her to, he already knew.

Sighing again at his expression, she opened the door, stopping mid step on her way out. "...Hey, show me that collection of yours some time?"

Arching a brow at the request, he briefly wondered why she would be interested...but couldn't find any real reason to deny her. "Next time I open my safe."

"Ok." She smiled simply, genuinely looking forward to seeing it. To sitting beside him as he opened it and showed it to her, to hearing the meanings behind the intricate designs of each piece, to hearing when and where he got them from, why he started a collection in the first place, to seeing his features light up as he spoke about it...She wondered when she'd begun to want to know everything about the man and when she'd started taking so much pleasure in seeing him happy and talking enthusiastically about things he truly enjoyed.

Shaking the sappy thoughts from her head, she motioned to the open door, waiting for him. "Come on, let me fill you in on this job before we hit land."

Deciding his quarters _would_ be the more comfortable setting for both their work and play, Law made his way over, watching as her eyes slid back to the closed crate one final time before meeting his gaze. "...I'm looking forward to seeing what a man as smart as you can really do with all that power of yours."

Hearing something that almost sounded like a challenge to show her what he could do interlaced with her anticipation to see what the hearts he was gathering were for, Law returned her sly grin but chose to say nothing more about them as she stepped into the hallway ahead of him.

* * *

Straightening out the smooth, black fabric of his tie, Law cocked a head at his reflection in the full length mirror that lined the inner side of his wide wardrobe door, looking over his appearance critically for a moment.

"Hmm..." Tucking a thumb into the knot he'd just neatly tied, he pulled it loose, deciding he'd much rather not sit through a full night with the restricting thing on. He never had found the patience to tolerate stuffy, formal clothing for long periods of time.

Glancing at the archway that led to the living side of his quarters as he head a knock on his door, Law slid the tie through the underside of his dress shirt's collar as he spoke up "Enter."

"Captain?" Shachi called, likely looking around inside for him.

"In here." He directed, soon hearing the footsteps of what he assumed were both he and Penguin heading his way.

"Koush said he saw you heading back to the ship. You've been a while though, something the matter or did you forget something aboard?...What's with the suit?" Shachi asked him as they both appeared at the archway and spotted him by his wardrobe sliding his tie back onto its rack inside it.

"I came back to get changed. Is there something you need from me?" He asked casually, ignoring the question as he looked back at his reflection and straightened his collar out neatly before undoing the top few buttons of his shirt.

"Oh, no, not at all...What's the occasion?" Penguin attempted, sharing a curious side-glance with the redhead next to him.

Breaking out into a privately amused smirk, Law closed the door to his wardrobe as he glanced over, deciding to humour them just a little. "I'll be picking up Nayla from work today."

"And you need a suit to do that?" Penguin asked, even more confused.

"I'd look too out of place without one." He explained, straightening out the crisp cuffs that peered from beneath his black sleeves.

"Oh, right. You're trying to blend in because you guys are trying to avoid being too 'seen' together when she's working or something?…" Shachi remembered vaguely, trailing off as he tried to piece together the well-kept secrets his captain kept as to why and what Nayla was doing aboard with them to begin with.

"That's right. I'd prefer it if someone didn't notice that I happen to consistently 'coincidentally' be in places or on islands that she is working. It's not an association that would be beneficial to either of us...but I highly doubt anyone will notice the possible connection unless they specifically suspect or look for it." He finished confidently.

It really was far fetched and paranoid to believe that the people hiring her on behalf of Joker would ever happen to decide to compare the timings and locations of where they sent the 'Bloody Bête Noire' to do their bidding and the last known locations of Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates, but it didn't hurt to exercise mild caution.

"Ya know, Captain…" Shachi started cautiously, sharing a look with his counterpart that was full of uncertainty as to whether or not he should continue his train of thought aloud, but Penguin merely offered an unhelpful shrug as his response to the unspoken question. "You never really did tell us what kinda jobs she's doing for you, or what they were for."

Stopping on his way over to his bureau, he shot them a look of mild surprise. " _She's_ never told you?"

"No, never. No matter how many times we as-" A harsh nudge from Penguin had Shachi quickly correcting his statement as he remembered the orders they specifically received never to discuss her work with her. "- _didn't_ ask her." He amended clumsily, a sheepish smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck out of nervous habit.

Scoffing at the shallow act and Penguin's vigorous attempt to burn a hole into his friend's cheek with his sideways stare, Law made his way over to the better lit mirror on his bureau, lifting a hand to his hair. "I don't know which is harder to believe. You not asking her or her not telling you."

"She never said a word. No matter how many times _they_ pestered her to." Penguin tutted, shaking his head disapprovingly.

Law looked at the small smile that made its way onto his lips at hearing that. Not because of the mild amusement at Penguin's attempts to relieve himself of any culpability but at how genuinely impressed he was that Nayla had taken his orders not to discuss her role here with anyone seriously.

"Don't say it like _you_ weren't right there with us asking her too!" Shachi gaped at him in disbelief.

'Apparently more seriously than my own men,' Law sighed inwardly, examining the disarray of his hair.

Despite her usual persistent disobedience, Nayla was responsible and mature when it mattered he supposed. She always did take anything work-related seriously...and he was certain the fact that keeping things between them helped keep his crew uninvolved and safe was an important a priority to her as it was to him now.

"Honestly, you really should respect Captain's wishes more. You know he always has his reasons." Penguin chided, crossing his arms haughtily.

"I-!...Anyway." Shachi ground out, turning his attention back to Law. "Captain, she's been with us for over six months now, not that I'm complaining about that but when are you going to tell us why she's here and what you're up to?"

"When it's necessary for you to know." Law replied easily, combing his fingers through his hair at the lesser tamed parts of it.

"...You really aren't gonna tell us what you've been up to all this time?" Shachi asked, the mild tone of hurt in his voice making Law lower his hand and turn to look at him.

"Don't ya trust us, Captain?" Penguin added, the exaggerated sorrow on his face matching his friend's as they gave him puppy dog eyes that put Jeff's hammy display to shame.

Rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, Law sighed. "Of course I do. You know what the crate in theatre two is for, don't you?"

Breaking his heartbroken facade for a moment, Penguin turned to Shachi. "I can't wait to see the looks on the marines' faces." He grinned excitedly.

Laughing at the thought, Shachi returned the wide, toothy expression. "Me either, but seriously-" He looked back at Law, ignoring the unimpressed deadpan on the man's face at their quickly dropped 'sad' act. "-we practically had to drag what they were for out of you, Captain. So come on, can't you give us just a little info about this?"

"Just the gist of what Nayla-chan is doing?" Penguin added.

"Just an outline, the bare bones of it really." Shachi encouraged.

...

Contemplating it a moment as he looked between their eager, begging faces, Law sighed again in defeat. "It goes no further." He said sternly.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Came the excited affirmation of their order as he finally caved.

"She is helping me collect information from someone dangerous about someone equally as dangerous." He didn't dare breathe the man's name or reveal the fact Nayla didn't know she was collecting information from the network of the very man he planned to take down. The less they, and her, knew, the better.

"...That's it?" Shachi prompted.

"That's it." Law replied firmly.

Groaning loudly in disappointment of just how little his captain was willing to give up, Penguin re-crossed his arms. "So then what's the big secret?"

"Who she's taking it from, is a threat. Who it's about, is a threat and the person I intend to take down with it, is a threat. A serious one. The fewer people that know what she and I are up to, the safer it is for everyone."

"...I guess." Shachi sighed as well, scratching his cheek as he mulled over the tiny snippet of information.

"So...What kinda jobs does she do between that mercenary stuff again? What is she up to tonight?" Penguin asked, looking his captain over in his suit once more and steering the topic onto something that perhaps he _would_ be more willing to talk more about.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Law chuckled.

"Barely believe the girl is a mercenary as it is. She's too cute for that stuff." Shachi said, turning to Penguin.

"Training with her taught you nothing? Dolt. She's freaking evil." The man deadpanned at the dreamy look on his crewmate's face.

"Right, the scary, little narcoleptic that we find snoozing in Bepo's arms all over the ship. Sooo much evil...Just 'cause you're still bitter about how she got ya good."

"It's nothing to do with that." Penguin denied firmly, turning away from Shachi's teasing grin in a huff. He was _definitely_ not remembering how he'd been conned down to his underwear by her within a day of her being aboard. Definitely not.

"Listen to Penguin. She is far more capable than you give her credit for." Law warned darkly.

Pursing his lips together tightly at the thinly veiled amusement on his captain's face, Shachi rubbed his chin in thought. "...Think we could tag along with ya tonight, Captain?"

Not expecting the sudden request, his brows rose...It wasn't as if he planned on doing anything other than quietly spectate the scene she'd cause and walk her back to the inn when she was finished, having them with him wouldn't really change that either way he supposed...Actually, if anything, it might only add to his entertainment tonight to see their reactions. Perhaps it'd even be an enlightening lesson for them.

" _...I_ have no issue with it. As long as you change into something more suitable, keep a low profile, do not engage Nayla as though you know her and accept the consequences."

"...Accept the consequences?" Penguin reiterated unsurely, feeling a little bit of trepidation at how his captain's smirk grew. It wasn't usually a good sign.

"It's possible Nayla-ya may be a little, 'upset,' about us being there."

"Us?...Wait, _you're_ not supposed to be there either?" Shachi connected the dots.

"No, she's not expecting me."

"The-...Then what are you going for, Captain?" Penguin asked, aghast at the idea of provoking her temper on purpose.

"Because I wouldn't miss this show for the world." He chuckled sinisterly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heart sacs - Those hearts Law gave the marines in that box had no tags or labels on them or anything, so I'm just gonna figure maybe he wrote the names of who they belonged to on the sacks directly. Otherwise, how would the marines know whose were whose?
> 
> Coin collection - I really need to find a One Piece manga source that doesn't cut off the SBSs at the end. Law really does collect coins, why is that so adorable?
> 
> Need a hand? - Back when I was still studying full time, I literally used to stare at my open textbook and be like 'Well this sucks, why can't I be a genius at this stuff like Law or Chopper?' and imagined that if Law were around, he'd probably peer over my shoulder, hum nonchalantly at my open page that I was struggling with and offer a floating severed hand with a sarcastic smirk and a dry "Need a hand?" The thought made me laugh so hard, I'd have loved to have seen him do/say that in series. Actually ended up doodling that mental image on my notes somewhere. If I manage to find it, I'll share it.


	74. The lesser of two evils

It was a fair stroll from the inn they were currently residing at and the location of Nayla's next job. Law imagined she'd probably taken transport when she had left for it the previous evening though he was unsure of where she had stayed last night.

She often took it upon herself to spend at minimum a day to scope out the situation on her slightly more tricky jobs. Saying that though, the job itself was easy enough. A simple, discrete kill of someone who should have known better than to step on Joker's toes but pulling it off here, well…

Law took in the entrance of the club they were approaching. It was as bold and haughtily understated as he'd imagined it to be from what Nayla had been briefed about it.

The tinted glass of the double doors lay snugly within the alcove of the wall, illuminated dimly by just a couple of slightly pinkish coloured overhead lamps. They were held secure by the large bouncers that blocked it, their exaggerated musculature straining against the plain black suits they had forced them into, their earpieces prominent past their shortly shaven heads, their expressions stern and neutral behind their solid sunglasses - though despite them, Law could already tell their eyes had fallen to him, Penguin and Shachi as they neared.

Either side of the falsely modest-looking entrance, the brickwork of the wall was lit from below with simple spotlights, highlighting the large, bold curls of the decorative stonework and the shadows that cast upwards from their edges accentuating their architecture.

Red carpeting lay over the sidewalk on both sides, lined the alcoved entrance and ran beneath the doors to the interior, but it was empty. There were no people queuing for this club within the perimeter set up behind the red, velvet ropes that lay between their connecting, shining, gold stanchions. No scantily clad women dolled up for the night already fidgeting on sore feet in their excessive heels, no men getting their story straight on their lies to gain them entry, no giggly groups of already drunken friends, no underage drinkers attempting to look like the elders depicted on the fake IDs they carried. Those people were queuing up at all the other clubs that lined this street, but no one stood here.

This club was different. This one was not for the younger crowd, or the less wealthy crowd - which on this island, meant the arbitrary, snootily drawn difference between millionaires and billionaires. It was a place for the elite amongst the elite. For the most powerful faces this side of The Grand Line, the largest spenders, the businessmen that held dark, twisted dealings with one another and that held a nondescript place for them to meet on a professional and non-professional basis.

This location was known as _the_ place for only the most wealthy and powerful men to play. A tightly-lipped location with amplified security for the dregs of the business world to drink to their heart's content, share evil chortles with their illegitimate business and sexual partners and fulfil their dark desires without having to keep up their public facades in front of the prying eyes of the public. It was a subtle, exclusive reprieve that held client privacy and discretion at its core.

"You guys on the list?"

Peeling his eyes off of the sign of the establishment whose name was simply spelt out in large, elegant, white lights above its doors as "Envy," Law looked at the man who had gruffly spoken up at their approach.

There was no list. Literally and figuratively. The man held no clipboard and no paper; his hands were empty, tucked beneath his folded, beefy arms that lay across his broad, puffed out chest.

Entrance was simply down to this man's judgement, whether he recognised you or felt you to be of the appropriate stature, worthy of entrance. The fact that no one even bothered to line up to attempt entry at this club meant that he obviously didn't feel many were.

Unfazed, Law smiled at the challenge, maintaining the speed of his confident stride and coming to a stop no more than a foot away from the equally tall security personnel that had addressed him.

Saying nothing, because there was no need, he held the man's gaze easily through his darkly tinted glasses as he slowly reached into his inner pocket.

Although his partner may have tensed at the action, a reflexive anticipation of a weapon being drawn, the bouncer that blocked his and his men's path remained stoically still. A challenge of ego and bravado to see who would yield first under the tension, which would blink, look away, fidget awkwardly or feel the need to break the silence with words. The only thing audible was the heavily muffled beats of the music being played within the building they were beside.

...

Mildly impressed as the man stood his ground, Law withdrew his hand slightly.

Gaze reluctantly falling from Law's piercing stare to his hand, the bouncer looked at the extremely thick wad of berries peering out from beneath the lapel of his suit jacket. Millions, easily.

Biting the inside of his cheek with a slight deflation to his abrasive demeanour, the bouncer reluctantly spoke up again. "You got business here?"

Smirk widening at the new, more respectful, though still sour tone the man now used, Law slid the money back into his pocket. He hadn't needed to say a word, to gain entry. The only language that mattered in these parts and with these people was money. A lot of it.

"I do." He replied smoothly, placing his hand back into his pants pocket.

The bulky security looked him up and down with a scrutinising, displeased frown. Everything about Law, from his laid back posture, casual stance, confident eyes that dared him to deny access, tattoos peering out from beneath his undone collar and cuffs that said he thought he was a badass and that annoying, cocky grin that said he thought he was better than him just downright rubbed him the wrong way.

Coming to the level-headed conclusion that the visitor and his two silent companions would be likely to cause more trouble than it was worth if denied access than they would if they were granted it; the head security guard grudgingly stepped aside for them, nodding his head to his colleague to do the same.

If they had come with the intention of causing trouble, they wouldn't have walked through the front door; they had the right amount of cash to make their visit a profitable one for the club...and if he were honest with himself, something about them - about their leader, pricked at the hairs on the back of his neck. That one was definitely more than he appeared. Stronger and more dangerous than he'd like to bargain for and he exuded a confidence that he had no interest in finding out if it were unfounded or not. He didn't get paid enough for this job.

Head held high, Law maintained the hostile eye contact with the bouncer as he passed him, happy with how easily they were granted entry and inwardly crediting the man to be smarter than he appeared.

The other pushed the door ahead of them open with a respectful nod at Law, Penguin and Shachi as they passed him, the true volume of the music spilling loudly into the night air before they stepped into the building.

The slow, heavy, sultry, lyric-less melody met their ears and reverberated heavily though the floor beneath their feet and through their chests as they made their way inside.

Without turning to look at either of them, Law could sense the awe coming from the men beside him as they all began to take in their new surroundings.

The carpet spilled them into a large greeting foyer that was elevated above the rest of the club. The short set of stairs that led them down to the main floor was central, a black, waist-high marble barrier on either side of it and dark green plants in large, golden vases rest along each, but there was not much else. There was no greeting desk or podium, no coatroom or person waiting to stamp your hand for re-entry, certainly no tacky displays or posters of upcoming events, shows or specials. The area was wide, plain and pristine.

Walking towards the steps, following the carpet as it became a red runway that descended down the middle of them, Law rest a hand to the top of the barrier that safely separated them from the drop to the floor, looking out over the club as his friends did the same from either side of him.

"Whoa..." Penguin uttered quietly.

'Whoa' was right, Law agreed inwardly, eyeing the size and expense of the place with a critical eye.

The darkness of the night was seamless with that of the darkness of the inside. There were no overhead lights within at all, only small, circular light fixtures that were installed into the black, shining marble of the floor. They ran along the edges of the room and its divides, around the large bar on the right side of the establishment and in rows on either side of the strips of thick, red carpeting that ran confluently with one another throughout the club, highlighting them like runways.

The black marble of the floors extended to the edges of the rooms and coated the walls. Dark reflections of the patrons shimmered across its surface in the low lighting. The ceiling however, was entirely mirrored.

With the disorienting reflections above and the pitch blackness of the interior broken up only by the dazzling twinkles of small, bright lights embedded into it, it gave the odd impression of a surreal plane, of stepping into a new void. Something conducive to business Law supposed. Feeling a world away from the outside one and being made to feel as though you were in an exclusive, secretive little pocket of a place made one more likely to do things they wouldn't normally do. Drink more than they would normally, say and do things they wouldn't normally...His eyes fell onto the women that filled the room.

The lighting on the floor illuminated their long, bare legs and well up their scant skirts as they strut down the carpeted runways between widely spaced booths with their trays held high, ready to serve. Some were congregated around the bar, some were behind the opaque, white tiles that lined the wall of the left of the room, entirely silhouetted as they swayed and danced in time to the music, but most were directly 'entertaining' the customers.

All of the booths were partitioned with thin, black, silk curtains. Many were already drawn, though it didn't matter, they shone transparent even in the trace lighting. The women in varying states of undress sat upon the laps of their doting customers were still visible enough. Though they weren't any engaged in any explicit sex acts behind these, at least not yet. Law imagined those would be done elsewhere, perhaps a discreet backroom.

They held their clients drinks for them as they laughed boisterously amongst themselves about their latest underhanded profits, they rubbed their shoulders, chests and beneath the belt gently as the men sank into their seats with closed eyes and contented smiles, they hand fed them the gourmet snacks that sat upon the table with finely manicured nails and long, lustful gazes. No doubt these 'waitresses,' as the establishment apparently wanted to front them as, were unsubtly advertising the other services that were available for purchase here.

Even the transparency of the curtains was intentional, a visual tease for the other men here who didn't have women at their table of what they were missing out on for just a few hundred thousand or more berries added to their bills.

Even the mirrored ceiling he realised, was pandering to the perverse, overinflated egos of the men here, so that they could see how successful, powerful and important they were for themselves as they lay at steep reclines on the plush seats with their expensive liquors and beautiful women on their laps, diligently offering to tend to their every need.

Eyes falling to the beautiful, young hostess that came to stand at the foot of the short set of stairs to greet them, Law began taking them confidently, as though he had many times before, his men in tow as he continued to subtly observe the going ons around them with interest.

"Table for three, gentlemen?"

Nodding as he slid his hand down the well polished golden brass of the railing, Law watched her quickly glance around at the available seats in the relatively busy club before she turned back and gestured behind her demurely.

"Right this way."

With a subtle smile and a gentle toss of her long, shiny, golden curls over her shoulder as they reached the floor, the woman prompted them to follow her down the carpeted runway, the scent of exquisite perfumes, colognes, alcohol and sexual tension thickening as they ventured further inside.

Although she was clearly a hostess, she was hardly dressed any differently to the 'waitresses,' and without even turning to look at his stunned silent compatriots, he could practically feel the heat from their faces emanating from behind him as they followed, eyes likely glued to the sultry hips in motion in front of them or at the other women as they passed them by, sparing them subtly flirtatious smiles and winks as they went.

The woman currently leading them to a booth beyond the bar to the right of the large club was wearing a black, sleeveless bodice of leather and lace that exaggerated her ample assets - a hiring prerequisite he imagined, glancing at the other women. The tight material bore transparent strips of lace decor that ran up her sides, designed to highlight her alluring, hourglass figure. She also wore a skirt...It was tantamount to a wide belt really in his opinion, its flared hem designed to aid the observer in glancing up it at every given opportunity but at least she _was_ wearing a skirt.

The waitresses however, wore what simply looked like black, lacy bikini tops and something that was little more than a matching, lacy pair of panties, barely passing off as 'shorts' of any kind in his mind as they were _vaguely_ intended to be portrayed as. Aside from the same basic outfit, the waitresses all wore excessively high heels, but their uniforms were marginally individualised by their own personal choices of various things such as thigh highs, garter belts, gloves, gauntlets and jewellery.

Overall, they were wearing something that he wouldn't be surprised to find within Nayla's own _underwear_ drawer.

Sliding into the booth opposite Penguin and Shachi, Law realised he hadn't seen her yet. She was here somewhere and it didn't take a man of his intellect to figure out what role she would adopt to be able to roam around freely.

...He wondered, given her past, if working as a waitress in a place like this would hit too close to home for her. Did she feel uncomfortable here? Would it upset her? Did it make her relive memories she'd rather not?

"I'll have one of the girls come see to you gentlemen, make sure you enjoy your first time here at Envy." The hostess' saccharine voice said, pulling Law from his inner thoughts as they got comfortable in their relatively secluded booth.

"What makes you think this is our first time here?" He asked neutrally, wondering if his men's attempt at causal behaviour despite their surroundings had been as obvious as he figured it might be once he saw the calibre of women inside.

Bending over the table with a sly smile, she reached her hand over to him slowly, the lace of her black, fingerless gloves gently grazing beneath his chin as she spoke. "Oh, we would have definitely have noticed such handsome guests if you had been here before." She complimented lowly, pulling her fingers away slowly as they stroked the underside of his chin and she stood. "I hope you enjoy your visit, we'd like to see you come again and again."

Even _his_ neutral facade to her bold invasion of his personal space cracked with a raised brow at the playful, dirty double entendre as she strut away on heels that would put a stripper to shame.

"...W-What did you say this was place again, Captain?" Shachi stuttered in a harsh whisper across the table, well aware that neither his title nor his name were in welcome use on this venture.

"A 'gentlemen's club.'" Law answered without looking, eyes still following this hostess back to the front of the establishment.

"...So, this is just a strip club, with suits." Penguin snorted, unimpressed by the designer front to an all too common type of entertainment venue.

"An even more expensive one than usual." Shachi grumbled, watching one of the men in the booth opposite theirs place a thick wad of cash on their waitress' tray and take an open feel of her ass as she walked away to retrieve more refreshments for them with it.

"Like they aren't expensive enough, right?" Penguin scoffed, ribbing his friend and getting a light chuckle out of him.

"This is not a strip club." Law corrected neutrally, eyes scanning the dark-haired women for the one he'd come here to see. "This venue is not open to just anyone, there are no poles and there are no bouncers inside because there are no rules about not touching the 'performers.' In fact, if anything, the curtains would suggest it is encouraged." He reasoned, a small smirk making its way onto his face despite himself as a trio of waitresses at the bar smiled and waved flirtatiously at him as he looked them over.

"So what is it, a brothel?" Penguin asked, turning around to look over his shoulder at what had made his captain smile, and snorting a little in amusement at the women who, as usual, had taken a liking to him.

"It's a seedy little hole in the wall that parades as an 'exclusive' club for so-called VIPs to slither into to indulge themselves out of view of the general public." He surmised bluntly.

"And Nayla-chan is here tonight?" Shachi asked somewhat sceptically, looking around for her subtly from behind his shades.

"Yeah, she's right over there." Law answered smoothly, smirk growing as his eyes fell onto her as she emerged from behind the thick, black curtains of a back room beside the bar and set down the bottles she carried on her tray onto its surface for the tender.

As the other women, she wore the 'uniform' that reminded him far more of her own underwear than a legitimate garment for public use. The lack of clothing offered her very little opportunity to hide her usual concealed dagger or the sheath she sometimes wore on her thigh. She appeared to be unarmed.

Her hair was styled a little differently, although she had done her usual temporary dying of her depigmented, red strands to restore a full brunette look, she had given it a generous side parting, pulling her hair forward to cover as much of her face as innocently as possible. A mild attempt to conceal her features, seeing as she was about to commit a crime in open view.

Though he hadn't come to see her prance around in a skimpy outfit, it admittedly wasn't a bad unintentional perk. What he had really come to see was how she intended to pull off a kill unnoticed amongst so many people in public.

The other challenge was that her target, someone that Joker's people had deemed worth ridding themselves of, was not in the same category of fool as, let's say, a certain arrogant son of a drug lord that could simply be lured into a secluded back room and offed. This man always had security with him and was _never_ entirely alone, not even when he slept. Apparently he was well aware he had many enemies; there would be no option of pulling him away from others.

From the information she had been given, this man was the chief executive officer of his own company, a business tycoon, a billionaire and his success was entirely his own, owed to his intelligence, shrewdness and cutthroat ruthlessness.

The man thought he was so smart in fact that he felt like he could involve himself with a business partner such as Joker and get away with embezzlement without being found out. Well, he couldn't.

Apparently some of Doflamingo's more dedicated lackeys had caught on and informed him of the many years - many millions worth of suspiciously lost income from what had been a long trusted business partner, and the punishment was on its way.

It was icing on the cake for Doflamingo to have the man killed specifically in this venue. A reputable, married, family man with an unknown, seedy double life of illegitimate dealings and frequencies of a sexual nature, to have been killed by someone posing as a glorified whore in a glorified whore house. Airing his dirty laundry was not a tactical move this time around but a vindictive one, simply salt in the wound. He could easily have been killed anywhere else.

Overall, it wasn't going to make any difference how much security one had or how little time was spent alone. If it came down to it, Joker would simply send someone who was more than capable of taking out an entire room filled to the brim of highly trained and heavily armed guards alone with ease. If he wanted you dead, he would make it happen.

Law felt his expression grow slightly grim as the last thought echoed loudly within his own head.

Not particularly wanting his mind to run over the why's of Doflamingo's inaction towards him and his crew thus far yet again, Law instead forced himself to focus on the here, now and his surroundings as he watched Nayla hand the bartender the last bottle he needed to restock the glass shelves behind him, she politely nodded to whatever verbal thanks he offered as he began placing ready drinks on her tray to be take out.

Turning, she strut elegantly on her heels, chin up, a pleasant sway to her hips and a confident smile on her brightly painted lips as she made her way back over to the table she was tending. Oddly, she seemed in her element here. If any demons did chase her about the similar setting to her unfortunate past life, than she certainly wasn't showing it.

More strangely, he felt almost proud of her for that and even more so at how much attention she garnered from her doting patrons as she began laying their drinks down onto their table for them. He felt fortunate to be currently laying claim to the beautiful woman that they so eagerly wanted, knowing that she would be in _his_ bed by the end of the night, not theirs.

Grin widening at the thought, he watched her finish serving and turn to walk away, her step halting as she spotted three very familiar faces watching her in her peripheral vision.

Other than the mild stutter to her movement and the distinctly more clenched jaw that he could just about make out from where they were sitting, Law had to credit her muted response to their unexpected presence as she continued to stride proudly over to the next table she served to distribute the remainder of drinks on her tray.

"Welcome to Envy, what can I interest you gentlemen in?"

Unfortunately, it wasn't his own. Looking up at the woman that had stopped at their booth to address them, he found he had to go up a long way.

The lady was statuesque in both height and features. An Amazonian build; tall, slim, toned, tanned and beautiful. High cheekbones and a petite, straight nose that could have been chiselled from the marble surrounding them. Voluptuous lips, bright emerald eyes that both shone and smouldered seduction in her gaze all framed in long, black, shoulder-length waves. The shine of the low lighting reflecting off of them pronounced enough to compete with that of the fine diamond jewellery she wore. The rings, necklace and gems that hung from her ears could easily have cost triple the wad of berries in his pocket that he had brought for show.

In fact, most of the women here wore jewellery of similar standard. The hostess certainly had. A testament to their price. They were all hookers when it came down to it. Extremely expensive and high-class ones, but still hookers.

Chuckling quietly under his breath, he leant back comfortably in his seat, draping an arm over the back and glancing across the table at Penguin and Shachi as they tore their surprised gawks off of their friend serving drinks to the men a few booths over.

"Answer the lady." He prompted, reminding them to school their features, act natural and pretend they didn't know Nayla.

"Um, uh...Maybe a whiskey?" Penguin answered, looking at his friend beside him in question.

"Yeah, sounds good to me. How about you-?" Shachi turned to ask Law, having to clamp his lips together firmly to halt the habitual "Captain" that ought to be on the end of his sentence. Even calling him by his name was out of bounds. With a name as uncommon as Law, they didn't want to prompt anyone into recognising who he was if it could be helped.

Nodding in approval of the choice, he spoke to their server for the evening. "A bottle of whiskey."

"Very good, sir. Would you like our club brand or could I interest you in our exclusive top shelf label?" She purred, leaning down over the table and flashing him a charming smile.

"Whichever you recommend." Law answered simply, smirk widening as her eyes lit up. He knew then that he'd be receiving the most expensive bottle she could find him and that she'd be earning a generous commission for her sale.

"Wonderful, I'll be back to serve you all shortly." She said happily, pulling herself upright and making her way to the bar to place their order, passing Nayla as she moved to empty the remainder of drinks on her tray to the next booth.

Eyes falling onto her as she avidly avoided their eye contact, Law waited patiently for her to finish, watching as she behaved as the other women here; a provocatively sly smile on her face as she approached the table of men she was currently serving, the one nearest to her snaking a hand around her waist as she stooped lowly and rest their drinks onto the table for them. Admittedly, a hot, sharp, pang of irritation hit him at that, but it died as quickly as it flared up as he reminded himself she was playing a role she needed to for work and that he had no genuine right to be possessive of her. Still…

A sardonic smirk spread across his lips as she stroked the man's cleanly shaven cheek amorously and purred whatever sweet, seductive thing she did to have caused the lecherous grin the middle-aged businessman now wore. With her perverse mind and straightforwardness, he could only imagine.

The moment she finished seeing to her customers and turned away from the table, Law raised his hand at her, curling his index finger in indication that she come over.

Pausing in brief contemplation, Nayla realised, as Law had, that she couldn't possibly be seen to outright refuse a 'customer's request for her attention in front of everyone else in the club.

To her credit, she kept her composure and her smile as she strode across the aisle made of red carpet to his booth on the heels that gave a falsity to her height that he knew all too well.

"Yes sir, how may I help you?" She greeted, the points of her stilettos clicking to a stop on the black marble beneath their feet.

Law's grin widened at the unmistakable, fiery temper burning on a low ember in her gaze as their eyes met, a complete mismatch to her pleasant tone and smile. "What's your name?"

Her own smile grew against her will at the devilishly amused look on his face as he played his game. "Crystal." She answered simply, resting the hand that wasn't balancing her tray full of empty glasses onto her hip.

"Really?" Law asked her lowly, questioning her choice of alias.

"There were too many 'Candy's." She responded dryly, he honestly wasn't sure if she were joking about it being her first choice of name or not. "Most of them spell that with a 'K' and an 'I' at the end by the way...and with a heart instead of a dot on that 'I.' Now…" She moved her free hand to the top of his seat behind his head as she leant down to talk slowly, deliberately and lowly. "What brings you here, 'sir?'"

"I decided I wanted to go out this evening for some entertainment." He answered simply as her face hovered closely to his, her brightly painted lips a tempting few inches from his own and her chest in near-full view from this angle.

"And you just so happened to decide to get your kicks in the one place I happened to be _working_ in?"

"More or less." He grinned as she slid her hand from his seat and ran her fingers over his jaw line, brushing the underside of his goatee with her freshly painted nails.

"I see. So, are you _trying_ to jeopardize my job? Or are you hoping someone else for Joker is here and will connect the dots between us? Or are you just an idiot whose need for a cheap thrill at my expense outweighed his common sense and brought him here?" Contradicting the actual things she said to him, her voice was still perfectly honeyed, calm and sultry, as though she we're telling a client how handsome he was and offering to bring him another drink.

"It'll hardly be a cheap one." He scoffed, more to himself than to her as she ran he fingers down the side of his exposed neck. "Is there any issue with me and my men going out for a relaxing evening of fine drinks and atmosphere? Our presence here isn't too distracting for you is it, 'Crystal-ya?'" He teased, finding humour in the partially-amused, partially-pissed expression that pulled at her lips at his challenge.

"Not at all. In fact, I'm suddenly feeling a lot more motivated to kill someone for some reason." She murmured, her unspoken threat palpable as he felt the fabric of her wrist glide over his artery as she removed her hand from him.

Glancing over her shoulder at the other two people at the table who had sat silent and still at the tightly restrained exchange she turned her attention to them.

"And what are you two doing here?" She asked bluntly, though her expression remained pleasant to any who glanced at the table from out of earshot.

Seemingly startled out of his quiet trance at being addressed, Penguin reached a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it in awkward habit as he looked away. "O-Oh, um...We…"

Trying to pick up the slack as his friend turned to him unsurely for help, Shachi cleared his throat, seeming equally unsure of where to put his eyes as both Nayla and his Captain turned their focus to him.

"Well we were just...um, like Ca-, L-...like he said, just going out for a drink and um...atmosphere?" He was sure his voice had gotten an octave higher since starting his sentence but he honestly wasn't sure whether his captain expected him to answer truthfully or agree with his shallow lie. Either way, whatever response _didn't_ piss her off was the right one in his books.

Her smile took on a mischievous edge as she watched the men squirm uncomfortably, struggling hard in their effort to keep their eyes on her face in what she wore to the point they didn't dare look at her at all with their captain watching them with his hawk-like scrutiny from across the table.

Leaving Law's side of the booth, she stepped over to theirs. "Just a drink and some 'atmosphere,' huh?" Her voice falling back into more alluring tones that would be more appropriate when talking to her real customers, or in a bedroom.

"W-Well-"

Bending down and resting her forearm to the table, she leaned her face close to theirs. "Then what drink can I interest you boys in?"

"Oh t-the other lady just...took our order actually." Penguin managed, deciding the mirrored ceiling was suddenly very pretty and worth appreciating as her chest leant heavily over her arm on the surface in front of him.

"Oh, I see. Then is the 'atmosphere' in here to your liking?" She asked, sliding her gaze over to Shachi beside him, whose eyes she could just about see in the darkness and behind his sunglasses were darting between her and his captain behind her.

"Um...W-Well…" He stuttered, he was sure this was a trick question. If he said 'yes,' it was like admitting to leering at her and pissing off his captain. If he said 'no,' it was like insulting her or his captain's tastes. He couldn't think of an answer he could give that wouldn't give rise to the possibility of losing a limb at the hands of either one of them before the end of the evening under the pressure.

"You're being cruel." Law's smooth voice chided from behind her, though he didn't seem to sound all that bothered by it. If anything, he almost sounded as though he enjoyed watching her make his friends sweat.

"That's almost funny coming from you." Nayla smiled at him over her shoulder, catching his glance at her behind as she bent over the table. "What are you two _really_ here for? This your captain's sick idea of a joke?" She asked Penguin quietly, turning back to him.

Eyes snapping back down to her at her accusation, he lifted his hands. "No, no no no of course not."

"Yeah. It wasn't his idea, we _asked_ him to come." Shachi chimed in quickly, supporting their captain's defence.

Raising a brow, she looked back him in prompt for an explanation.

"They were curious as to what it is exactly that you go off to do for me when you leave us. I didn't give them many details before we got here." He answered simply.

"Yeah, we...we didn't know you'd be - o-or that this'd be-" Penguin gestured around them at the club they were in mildly.

"Yeah, we were just told to keep quiet and that we'd need to dress up to fit in." Shachi chipped in.

"...You're just here because you're pestering your captain by being too nosey? That's it?" She asked them, earning humble nods from blushing faces.

Sighing under her breath, she felt a lot of her irritation subside as she realised it wasn't Law's twisted intention to embarrass her for fun or of flaunting what she 'did for him' in front of them by bringing them here.

Softening as they smiled unsurely at her, she huffed at their silly, nervous-looking expressions, lifting her hand to pinch Penguin's cheek. "Well, I guess if he doesn't mind you guys knowing a little more, then it's alright with me." Giving it a gentle squeeze, she smiled widely at him. "It's nice to see you two out of your uniforms ya know. You guys clean up good. Aren't you just the handsomest thing in a suit and with your hair all combed back nicely." She cooed at him affectionately.

"T-Thanks…" He mumbled, feeling a little like a child being doted on by an adult that found him adorable as she kissed his cheek.

"And you, don't you look handsome too. I like what you've done with your hair." She released Penguin, pressing a fingertip to the bridge of Shachi's sunglasses and gently sliding them up his face to rest on his slicked back red locks. "But it's so dark in here, I dunno how you can see anything with these on."

"Ah well, used to it I guess." He blushed, getting his own peck on the cheek before she pulled away and stood upright from the table.

"And what about me?" Law asked shamelessly, making her glance at him.

She looked him top to toe, only now just taking in his and his men's appearances after her initial shock of finding them there tonight. He was casually reclined in his seat, one leg crossed over the other, his elbow leaning on the top of it behind him. He was wearing the sharp, black suit that she had been surprised to have found amongst his clothing items to begin with. Instead the first few buttons of his top were undone, a tantalising amount of bronze, muscled, tattooed flesh on subtle display and in sharp contrast to the white dress shirt he wore. He'd obviously forsaken his usual weapon and characteristic hat in favour of laying low and unrecognised tonight and although his hair seemed marginally less messy than usual, it was still in its state of attractively organised chaos. His expression was nothing new either. Same cocky, confident smirk and same mischievously amused eyes as he gazed at her, they and his golden earrings catching the dim lighting with a slight, ethereal glow in the darkness.

Though she'd never have thought him to be much of a suit or formal guy, he did look undeniably good in one.

'You look unbelievably hot.' "What about you?" She feigned ignorance to his question.

"How do I look? And I'm sensing distinct customer favouritism, 'Crystal-ya.' I wouldn't want to have to get you in trouble by needing to raise a complaint. I'm paying a considerable amount of money for top quality service, so where is _my_ kiss?"

Sucking on the inside of her cheek in annoyance, she quickly reminded herself to smile, in case anyone happened to be looking their way. "Trust me, _you_ couldn't afford me and these two look adorable. Those tattoos make you look like you're in the mafia. And as for your kiss-" She neared him once more, hovering her lips close to his cheek, brushing them teasingly over his soft skin before coming to a stop at his ear. "I'm still _very_ peeved with you for showing up like this. _They_ may not have known better than to come here, but you did."

He chuckled as she whispered in his ear, something that looked like the seductive murmurs of sexual offerings to anyone else within these walls who were unable to hear her.

"If you do anything to mess with my job whilst you're here, intentionally or not, I'm going to be _beyond_ pissed-off with you."

"It wouldn't be in _my_ interests to do so." He reminded her as she pulled back and looked at him. "I'm simply here to observe." He reassured, holding her gaze, confident that his presence would cause no issue tonight.

"Why? Because you don't think I can do it?" She asked him bluntly.

"The opposite. I know you can, I'd just like to see how." He corrected, chuckling as he glanced over her shoulder in discrete signal of the reapproaching waitress with their order.

"Here you are gentlemen, your whiskey." Their server announced, casting a mildly curious glance at Nayla as she set the thick, crystal bottle of amber liquid down in the centre of their table.

"Thank you." Penguin murmured as she smiled and set an empty, matching glass down in front of him and his friend from her tray.

"Would you be interested in me personally tending to your table, sir?" She asked, resting Law's glass down in front of him and making eye contact pointedly.

"No, thank you." Law politely declined, not particularly wanting the woman to be all over his lap for the rest of the evening...or to hear the repercussions from a certain someone for allowing her to be there.

"Would you prefer another server to tend to you and your company?" She asked equally politely, unperturbed by being turned down and continuing to try to sell the club's 'services' as a good employee might within this setting. "I'm afraid Crystal is already spoken for tonight-" She continued, glancing at Nayla beside her and making him raise a brow before she gestured towards the bar. "-but there are many other ladies who would be more than happy to see to you and your friends' needs if you'd like?"

"That won't be necessary." He replied firmly, casting Nayla a questioning look behind the waitress' back but getting only a sly smile in response.

"Very well." The lady replied, setting the miniature ice bucket down on the towel wrapped around its base beside the full bottle in the centre of the table. "Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?" She asked, giving him one last suggestive look in the hopes of changing his mind but he merely shook his head.

Nodding respectfully, she turned to Nayla. "Then let's let these gentlemen unwind and enjoy their drink, shall we?"

Humming in agreement, she and the other woman began to leave the table. "Enjoy your evening, sir." Nayla called back over her shoulder, a devious smile in place and a subtle, sarcastic inflection on the 'sir.'

Chuckling, he watched her saunter away, exchanging brief words with the woman beside her - likely making up some lie as to what he had called her over for, his eyes trailing their way down her back to her tattoo as he looked forward to the main event.

* * *

It wasn't long before Law realised what his server, one of the 'Kandi's amongst the waitresses apparently, had meant when she'd said Nayla was already spoken for tonight. He soon saw her booths being tended to by other women and her beginning to take drinks and other refreshments to one of the elevated, more private booths off to the side of the club.

Another short, dark staircase led to the more exclusive seats. The VIP section amongst the VIPs, as if the venue itself wasn't elitist enough as it was that it had to further segregate its high-paying crowd into the big spenders and the massive ones.

Although he hadn't taken much notice of the area before, seeing as only one of the three booths was even occupied, Law kept a keen eye on it now in the periphery of his vision.

A single man sat in the larger, plusher booth that overlooked the rest of the club down below. It was difficult to see much of him, as he'd drawn the transparent curtains around his seat. Or more specifically, his security detail had done so for him. Two large men stood on either side of the entrance to his booth, hands clasped at the wrist, keeping watchful eyes on their surroundings as they guarded their employer dutifully. He imagined they were probably armed beneath their suit jackets, likely with handguns.

They paid Nayla no mind as she walked between them, pushing the curtain aside delicately with her hand as she held her tray in another.

No doubt this man who had apparently bought her exclusive time tonight was her target, though how she managed to win his undivided attention for him to have done so he wasn't sure. He wished he had arrived earlier in the night to have seen it. Perhaps she had awaited the man's arrival and sauntered past him with a seductive look that had outclassed her competitors? Maybe she had whispered unspeakably dirty things into his ears with those soft, red lips of hers against his skin? Had she hog tied his original server in the back somewhere and taken her place? He'd have loved to have been here to know which...He almost cursed the men sat across from him for making him wait as they dug around for their seldom used smart clothing and making him later than he'd intended.

Looking across the table at them, he took in their forlorn expressions as they wishfully watched the women walk past. They had wanted to buy someone's time to come sit in the booth with them and serve them their drinks but he had strictly forbid it. He didn't want a stranger around when he was closely observing Nayla's actions, he didn't want to inadvertently draw any attention to her.

"This is torture." Penguin sighed, fist to his cheek as he blatantly watched the bare legs of a woman that walked past them, missing her wink as he was focused elsewhere.

"How much longer Ca-? La-?…" Shachi grumbled, giving up on the end of his sentence and as frustrated at having to watch the other men have all the fun as his friend was.

They had started to become whiny. Particularly at about halfway through their bottle, whereas he was still only on his second glass himself.

"It was you that wanted to come." He reminded them neutrally, taking a sip as he watched Nayla converse lightly with her target as she poured a new drink from her seat next to him. It was a little difficult to see everything clearly through the folds of the thin fabric surrounding them but the man was clearly quite drunk and _very_ happy with her company. His lewd grin was visible even from this distance. "You can buy yourself some 'entertainment' once she's finished, if you still feel like it.

"Yeah, but...she hasn't really done anything yet, just talked to that guy. What are we waiting for her to do exactly?" Penguin sighed, swirling the last dregs of his drink around in his glass.

"She's gathering information. She's getting as much out of him as she can without raising his suspicions...and before he can longer talk."

Ears perking up at the insinuation, they looked up at him across the table. "She's here to-?..." Shachi trailed off, not daring complete the sentence for risk of being overheard by anyone unintended.

Nodding his affirmative, Law grinned as Penguin began looking around the busy club with furrowed brows for a moment, before turning back to him, puzzled. "...How?"

"That's what _I_ came here to see." He chuckled, finishing the last of his own drink, setting the empty glass down and leaning back comfortably in his seat. "Though I, believe she's already given me a very strong hint as to the how."

Exchanging looks with one another, Penguin shrugged, guessing he'd take the bait and ask, seeing as neither of them had noticed her say anything of the sort when she'd been at their table. "Did we miss something she said?" He asked, wondering if it had been something she had whispered to him.

"You of all people should recognise what she's wearing, Penguin." He replied cryptically, watching as the man subtly observed her, looking her top to bottom and back again, trying to work out what it was his captain was hinting at.

He seemed to grow a shade paler as he noticed the familiar-looking clothing item he had once helped his captain confiscate from her suitcase long ago.

"What is it?" Shachi asked, looking past him and trying to see what it was he'd spotted for himself.

"Those long gloves of hers, the gauntlets." Penguin murmured, turning away with a shudder as he recalled how close he'd nearly come to skewering his fingers on the concealed blades in their wrists as he'd removed them from her luggage.

"...Oooh yeah." Shachi grinned, remembering the incident. "Still, gonna be kinda hard to do it subtly here. It's gonna cause a raucous."

"No, I'm sure it won't. Blink and you may even miss it." Law answered confidently, letting his gaze slide back to her subtly from behind their own partially drawn curtains at the thought.

He watched as she set the man's bottle back down on the table, as her target took a generous gulp of the glass, nearly finishing it in one go and as his other hand seemed to disappear out of view between himself and Nayla.

Law felt Penguin and Shachi grow tense at the action, but paid it no mind as the man seemed to encourage her to be more forthcoming with what he had really paid for.

Dutifully obliging, she slowly slid onto his lap, straddling him with a provocative smile, removing the near-empty glass from his hand and setting it down on the table now behind her.

Looping her arms around the back of his neck, Law's slight frown shifted into a dark smirk as he realised how close she was to making her move. "Don't blink."

All three of them watched intently though did it subtly from side glances and the bottoms of clear, casually raised glasses as she ran her hands up either side of the man's face and tilted her head, leaning in closely for a kiss that was well concealed behind the thick veil of her long hair.

Although it appeared as though the two were engaged in a long and passionate kiss, it was obvious to Law that the man was already dead. Her wrists were hovering over each of his carotid arteries, the blades within the fabric covering them were almost certainly deeply embedded into his neck, his face was concealed from onlookers and his gasp or any noise that he may have managed to utter had gone unheard beneath the music by the two burly men that stood mere feet away in his defence, completely oblivious to what had just gone on behind them and probably all too used to having to politely look away from their boss' indiscretions in this setting.

The unfortunate businessman's head seemed to slowly but surely rest more and more heavily against the seat behind him as Nayla gently began to release him and lean him back. She stood from his lap carefully still grasping either side of his face, or rather her blades still lodged in either side of his neck.

She had waited for his heart to stop and was getting up and moving away before withdrawing them to minimise any blood spilling onto her Law realised.

With the same gentleness, she slowly withdrew her hands from him, tugging his dark shirt collar up subtly and swiftly picked up her tray, making her way back through the curtains past the two guards casually.

She said something to them briefly, resting a hand to her cheek in gesture of 'sleep' and pointing behind her, seeming to indicate to them that the man had overindulged and fallen asleep, earning nothing but a quick glance behind them and a nod of acknowledgement to her before she turned and descended the staircase back down to the main floor of the club as though nothing had happened.

Bold. Ridiculously so. Not only had she deliberately prompted them to look at her handiwork with utmost confidence that they wouldn't be any the wiser at the slumped man in his seat but she had bought herself time to leave. If they thought he was simply drunk and passed out, they wouldn't likely be concerned enough to begin checking on his wellbeing anytime soon. It gave Nayla more than enough time to make her escape unnoticed.

Without making eye contact with any of them and without a single telltale drop of blood spilt on her that Law could see, she strut straight past them and back to the bar.

Penguin and Shachi couldn't help but turn around to watch as she set her empty tray to the bar casually and helped herself back into the staff room beside it, sparing them a brief, victorious little smirk at their gaping expressions before disappearing behind the thick curtain.

…

"So, do you two still feel like buying yourselves a woman for _your_ lap?" Law offered.

* * *

Unsurprisingly Nayla didn't return, and unsurprisingly, neither of his men were much in the mood for lingering any longer after she had taken her swift leave to purchase their own curvaceous company that evening.

As entertaining as it may have been to have witnessed the discovery of the deceased, he had no idea how long it would have taken and had no interest in sticking around for a club shut down and arrival of authorities who would wish to take tedious statements and ask even more tedious questions.

It was best they take their subtle, well timed leave when they did.

Though the thought of the look on those two security guards' faces as they finally realised they'd been guarding a corpse and had let their boss' killer walk right in and out under their noses did bring a twisted smile to his lips.

Making his way down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets Law inhaled the fresh, brisk air that blew in from the ocean deeply, clearing his lungs and washing the heavy scent of alcohol and perfume from his clothing.

He hadn't regretted dropping in on Nayla's work unannounced, she wasn't the only one that could push buttons and feel no repercussions, he could get away with it too. Most of the time.

It was always entertaining to see her many sides as she did her thing. Whether it be serious fighting, manipulating her way into places she shouldn't be or simply charming unwitting men to their deaths.

Glancing down at the top of her head as she walked beside him, arms wrapped around his, he took in her smile. Something _she_ would have considered to be a 'smug smirk' had it been on his own face, obviously pleased with herself. Rightfully so, he guessed. It had been a well coordinated, quick, clean kill, she had every right to be feeling proud of herself. He found himself feeling quite proud of her too...His men however, didn't seem to be sharing the sentiment...

Looking at them on his other side, he found them to still be tight-lipped and a little off-colour, stealing glances past him at the woman on his other side as if they were unsure they knew her.

Nayla had been waiting for them in the shadows on the path back to the inn wearing jeans and a plain hoodie that she had likely just thrown on top of her ridiculous 'uniform.' Something she cheerfully filled him on as apparently being 'borrowed' from the place.

She also gleefully informed him of her good fortune at finding out the previous night that a new woman had been due to begin work at Envy that week and that it had apparently been unbelievably easy to simply pose as her tonight and give the _real_ woman a call, posing as her boss, to amend her start date to next week instead.

The poor lady was likely to be mistakenly hauled out of her home for questioning at some point tonight in relation to the crime 'she' committed but would soon be released as the authorities belatedly realised she was not even _at_ the venue tonight.

Looking up at him from beneath her dark hood as she felt him shake his head, Nayla grinned at his expression. "What?"

"Nothing." He murmured, huffing in amusement under his breath.

"Well, I guess it was nice of you to come pick me up from work. Though if I'd known, I'd have brought something a little less casual to wear on the way back. I look like a bum compared to you guys now." She leant forward and smiled at Penguin and Shachi past his chest. "Really was nice to see you all so dolled up too, that's a rare treat."

They seemed to shrink back a little as she addressed them, making her blink at their peculiarly wary, quiet reaction to her. "What's with them?" She asked, looking back up at Law.

Chuckling at both her honest, innocent confusion and their sudden terror of her, he lifted his gaze as he caught sight of familiar, white boilersuits meandering onto their road up ahead from a side one.

Three of his men. All drunk, judging by their uncoordinated movements. One clearly more drunk than the others; Jeff.

'No surprise there,' Law sighed inwardly, watching as Connor and Dean struggled to support him by the arms he'd slung clumsily over their shoulders on either side of him.

"-ya know? Then she called me a commenter!" He exclaimed loudly into the night air, his voice echoing off of the buildings that lined the street, drawing Penguin, Shachi and Nayla's attention.

"Commoner." Connor corrected, grimacing under the man's heavily leant weight.

"Me! A commenter!"

"Commoner." He sighed back in aggravation.

"And you are. You're a fucking pirate, idiot." Dean chortled from his other side.

"That's when I told that stuck-up, _amazingly_ hot, cow with the awesome titties 'fuck her!'"

His two crutches exchanged looks with one another from either side of him.

"...I honestly can't tell if he's trying to insult her or compliment her." The chef finally gave up trying to make sense of his slurred rant.

"Probably both and you didn't say 'fuck you' by the way." Connor replied, adjusting the arm lying heavily around his neck more comfortably.

"...I didn't?" Jeff asked, inebriated confusion all over his features as he struggled to remember an event that probably didn't occur all that long ago. "Pretty sure I did..."

"Well, you did. But you yelled 'I wanna' before it." Connor scoffed, he and Dean snorting and dissolving into loud laughter at the memory of the look on the poor woman's flabbergasted face.

"That too!" Jeff exclaimed, oblivious to their laughing at his expense. "This rich, snobby town sucks, I oughta-Heeeey! Nayla! Captain!...You guys!" He yelled happily as they caught up behind them.

"You guys?" Shachi asked with a frown.

"You drink so much you forget our names?" Penguin sighed.

"If ya ain't got boobs or you ain't my superior than your names don't mean squat." He laughed loudly.

"We ARE your superiors!" Shachi corrected.

"Hey, lil lady, you have a good night munchkin?" He greeted her warmly as they came to a stop behind them on the street.

"Yeah, could say that." She laughed as he lifted his arm from Connor in favour of giving her a one armed squeeze. "Why is he this drunk?" She asked, turning to the mechanic.

"Struck out." He explained bluntly, crossing his arms.

"You? Really? Our never fails Casanova?" She asked Jeff in surprise as he released her.

"Yeah, he's kinda taking it hard." Connor added.

"Hey! HEY!..." Jeff scolded, raising an index finger at his friend before grinning widely. "...That's what she said. Huh? Huh?"

"Knock it off." Connor sighed, batting his elbow away as he nudged him.

"What's with the suits? Where _you_ guys been?" Dean asked curiously, glancing between them.

"Oh...well." Penguin shared an uneasy look with Shachi before continuing. "We went somewhere a little different. We wanted to see what kinda jobs Nayla-chan did for Captain." He answered vaguely.

"What kinda-really? You guys didn't already know?" Jeff asked, hanging off of Dean heavily.

"Wait, _you_ did?" Shachi asked incredulously, pointing a disbelieving index finger at the man.

"Course! Isn't it obvious what kinda jobs she does for Captain?" He held his free hand up to count them off on his fingers. "Hand, blow, tit, r-"

"SHH!" Penguin slapped a hand over his mouth and to the back of his head.

"D-Don't you know what she could do to you?!" Shachi exclaimed in a hush whisper.

"...Whaff canmph she do to meff?" He asked cautiously, glancing between the two's serious expressions.

"She could end you in an instant."

"Without even trying! Especially _you_." Penguin stressed.

"She's evil!" Shachi hissed in warning, the five of them turning to look at her as if only just remembering she was standing there listening to them.

…

"Your men are stupid." Nayla eventually broke the silence, turning her unimpressed deadpan to Law.

"Clearly." He agreed, leading them away from the noisy scene on the sidewalk in the dead of night, wanting no further part in it.

"Pfft, think _I'm_ evil, you guys do realise who your captain is, right?" She called back over her shoulder at them with a frown.

"I'm not evil." Law corrected, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Yeah, munchkin aint evil, you guys are exaggerating." Jeff laughed heartily, pushing them both away and pausing as his fingers contacted the fine fabric of the Shachi's jacket sleeve. "Hey! I have an idea, give me that suit. I'm gonna wear it, go back to that chick and see if I'm too much of a commenter now."

"I'm not lending you m-hey! You mean now? Get offa me, you drunken idiot!" Shachi exclaimed, holding onto the lapels of his suit jacket as Jeff tried to pull it off of him.

"Well of course now! She may not be there tomorrow! Come onnn, help a guy out, she's a hottie!"

"No! Stop it! We're in the middle of a stree-NO DAMMIT!"

"Come on, quit playin' hard to get baby, take it off already!"

"Stop tryna - WOULD YOU THREE QUIT LAUGHING AND HELP ME! CAPTAIN! CAPTAIIIN!"

Nayla turned away from watching Jeff trying to strip Shachi as he yelled for Law's help pleadingly, to the man himself who remained stoically facing forward as they walked away. "...See? Evil."

"I'm not evil...You on the other hand, pretty close."

 


	75. Progress

Melting into his chair comfortably, Law succumbed to the wonderful, warm sense of bliss as he glanced out at the ocean through his porthole. He felt the mild fatigue and soreness of his tired muscles begin to drain from him, forgotten in that pleasant moment.

The sun was setting, the sky was a brilliant blend of oranges and pinks, and the sea was sparkling beautifully as they bobbed on the gentle waves. There was always a great comfort he felt when returning to his own living space aboard his ship, even more so these days.

He could feel his body relaxing, his mind emptying and his troubles seeming further away as he reclined and closed his eyes with a long, quiet exhale.

Things were beginning to take shape and go his way. The sub was in top order for their venture to The New World, the crew had never been in better shape; physically, emotionally and mentally ready to take it on. His notoriety continued to increase, his powers and strength continued to improve with time and training, his plans for taking a Warlord seat were well underway and he was finally beginning to find solid leads for his plans for wiping Doflamingo off the face of the Earth.

That thought, the sound of seagulls cawing at the edges of the island they just departed from and the wonderful ebbs of pleasure beginning to run through his body brought a smile to his face.

Although he was thankful their visit amongst the stuck-up socialites of Yuuwaku had been a brief one, it had proved as fruitful as Law had hoped. Both he and Nayla had been successful in digging up some very intriguing information.

Opening his eyes, he glanced down at her as she ran her tongue along the underside of his shaft within her mouth. Her eyes meeting his with equal amounts of slyness and adoration, her features bathed in the ethereally-coloured glow coming in from outside as she knelt on the carpet in front of his desk chair, her beautiful breasts on display, her delicate hands and painted nails on his thighs as she sucked his full, hard length gently.

Everything was as calm, ordered and in control as they could possibly be, progress was being made on his life goals, he had a comforting, safe home, more money than he knew what to do with, he ate fine meals, he drank even finer liquors, he had a wholeheartedly dedicated, powerful crew at his feet...and a beautiful woman all to himself. He was living every pirate's dream right about now, maybe every man's.

Moaning lowly as she gripped his base, pulled back to suck him more shallowly and began swirling her tongue around his cock with every descent and ascent up its shaft, he couldn't help but wonder if his life had ever been any sweeter than it was now.

A cynical part of him wondered if this was simply one of its false lulls; the calm before a storm, and a very childish part of him wanted things to be as they were right now forever, even though he knew it would never be possible. Life simply didn't work that way. All he could do was enjoy and savour his peace and happiness whilst it lasted.

His breath stuttered as he felt Nayla flick her tongue over his tip firmly within her mouth. Those short, strong, strokes of her hot, wet appendage over his most sensitive part always did sharply accelerate the approach of his climax. She had come to know what he liked.

It was times like this that he couldn't help but think he should have considered the idea of a woman aboard his ship a lot sooner. When his pulse was soaring, his breathing rate was increasing, when he was gripping the arms of his chair tightly to keep his hands off of her, when his eyes were threatening to shut, when he was refraining not to lowly utter the expletives on the tip of his tongue and when his cock was buried deeply inside of some part of her, he wondered why he had ever tried to maintain a professional relationship with Nayla at all.

He knew the answer to that, when he was in his right mind, but she did an awfully good job of removing him from it, but at times like these when his mind was clouded with a consuming lust, he couldn't quite put his finger on why he ever thought this could have been a bad idea.

She began meeting her lips with the hand she had wrapped around him, gripping him firmly as she stroked his cock up to meet her descending mouth and firmly stroking him the other way as she pulled her mouth back. Stimulating his cock in two different directions that met in a deliciously sinful way in the middle.

Law rest his head back to his chair and gave in to his need to thread a hand through the hair at the back of hers, keeping her exactly where he wanted her as he felt his abdominal muscles begin to tighten. He gently rest his fingers to her scalp as he watched her work him meticulously, her eyes closed and her plush lips wrapped around him, their usual hue of red long gone in her efforts as she pleasured him at his desk.

She looked beautiful like that. It was an odd thing for him to think as he watched her on her knees in front of him, diligently doing her dirty deed, but she was still so beautiful. The same smart, powerful, strong woman that he knew...who was expressing her earnest, selfless desire to make him feel good. It made his heart beat uncomfortably, almost painfully.

This act was supposed to be a selfish prelude to sex; either a man's one-sided enjoyment or a woman's efforts to get him aroused enough to pleasure _her_. Or it was supposed to be a woman's boast of her sexual prowess. Or it was supposed to be an act of bribery, a first freebie to advertise the pleasure she could grant him once more if he did as she pleased and a mutual exchange thereafter. At least, that's what the act had been for him thus far.

It was different with Nayla. It was all of the above and more. That genuine desire to give him pleasure from that selfless place she had once talked about all that time ago in the rec room. Without her ever saying it, he knew it to be true. From her body language, the way she looked at him and the patient, loving attention she gave him each time she touched him...and from the way he felt when doing the same for her.

It worried him.

How she felt about him worried him. In fact, he honestly couldn't answer which concerned him more, how she felt about him or the vice versa. The thought of either one made his gut twist uncomfortably.

The thought left as she removed her hand and took him in entirely again, earning a deeply satisfied moan from him. Although his eyes had closed as her lips met his hilt and his tip met her throat, he could tell she was smiling. She always did enjoy his reactions, and he supposed they were well earned.

She had become so much better over time at reading what he enjoyed despite his best efforts not to lose himself entirely under her ministrations. They'd both become very attuned to one another's preferences. Nayla had come to know exactly what he liked and what drove him to involuntary moans and so had he about her.

Maybe having a long-term lover was as good as she'd made it sound; you really did get to know each other's bodies unbelievably well. She knew he couldn't stand it when she swirled her tongue around the underside of his shaft whilst sucking him deeply as she was doing now just as he knew she couldn't stand it when he did the same to her bare clit. She knew he took more pleasure in slower, firmer strokes over rapid, lighter ones just as he knew she preferred harder, deeper thrusts over shallow, rapid ones.

Despite her usually more obstinate, controlling personality, he'd found over time that she quite enjoyed a more submissive role in bed, though not without putting up an obligatory fight to his dominating behaviour which he took great pleasure in winning, dissolving her resilience down into needy mewls, pants and moans as he fucked her. In fact, over time, he'd found that she quite enjoyed it rough, ready and dirty, which suited his tastes as well, he was always more than happy to oblige and watch her fall undone.

They had incredible sex...though sometimes he found himself engaging in slower, more sensual sex with her from time to time as well. Something that reminded him much more of their first night together, something far more intimate, something that didn't _feel_ like 'just sex'...He knew without asking her that he wasn't the only one that noticed it. Neither of them addressed it.

Feeling her warm fingers rub and cup him as she picked up her pace on his shaft, Law was thankful it was hard for those thoughts to remain in his head when she pleasured him like this. It was a thankful reprieve that his burdensome thoughts could do nothing more than flit through his mind and disappear as rapidly as they came. They would be back later, but for now and for each and every time she relieved him of them, they quickly became a distant memory as his cock began to throb heavily.

He savoured the way she completely enveloped him in her mouth, the top of his shaft rubbing against the ridges of her palate, the bottom of it stroking against her tongue and the sides of it hugged tightly by her cheeks as they hollowed in her firm sucks and his tip gently tapping the back of her throat as she took him in and getting lovingly licked as she pulled him out.

His breathing getting too laboured for comfort in the approach of his orgasm, Law exhaled forcibly through his nose, scrunching his eyes shut tightly, restraining his hips from bucking into her against his will. He could feel the way her mouth tightened on him as she swallowed what he knew was his precum and listened to the way she moaned in satisfaction as she did. The way she enjoyed how he tasted; always licked his essence from his tip, always lapped his cock clean when they were done and the way she always swallowed his every drop, drove him absolutely crazy.

Struggling to open his eyes, he met her heated gaze as she pulled him out of her mouth and began stroking him rapidly, running her tongue over his oozing end.

Groaning as she firmly jerked his length; his fingers tightened at the back of her head, a muttered swear leaving his lips at the sly look on her face as she openly tasted him, inviting him to cum in her mouth.

Sensing his climax fast approaching as his hips thrust against his will in her hand she placed the swollen tip of his cock back into her mouth, sucking on it gently and lavishing it with wild, swirling strokes of her tongue as she worked his shaft.

Moaning loudly as his orgasm hit him, he felt her slide her lips back down to his base as he began to spill inside her mouth, both his hands finding their way through her hair, gently holding her there as his hips bucked his cock into her mouth.

Taking shuddering breaths as his climax hit its incredibly high peak, he reduced his thrusts, lying back in his chair and vaguely wondering when he had sat forward to begin with.

He placed his hand back to his arm rest, raking the fingers of his other through her hair gently as she gradually slowed her pace, swallowing around his cock with low, satisfied moans as she tasted him.

Law sighed contentedly, stroking the silken strands between his fingers as the tension of his orgasm left his muscles, his body seemingly doubling in weight as it relaxed once more.

Running slow, soothing licks over his cock as his breathing settled and he stroked his fingers over her scalp affectionately, Nayla smiled up at him, as satisfied with her handiwork as apparently he was.

"...That was unfair." He exhaled, his voice huskier than even he'd expected it to sound.

"You could have asked me to stop." She sang lowly, looking up at him teasingly as he narrowed his eyes at her.

'I couldn't, and you know that. Sly little…' "You're a little too good at this." He breathed out in resignation, his usually smooth tone still gravelly in the afterglow of his sated lust.

"Hmm-" She hummed with her lips against him, planting a kiss on his softening length. "-what's that supposed to mean?"

"It was just a passing comment." He drawled, a lazy smile lifting the corner of his mouth as the tides of their teasing turned and as she leant up on his lap. "Though sometimes I do wonder where all of this very apparent, 'experience,' or yours comes from."

Leaning her weight to the hands on his thighs, she pushed herself up to stand. "You're one to talk. Probably still a hell of a lot less than you." She answered curtly.

"Whatever would give you that impression?" Amusement seeping into his voice as he looked up at her slightly perturbed expression at his cheeky insinuation.

 _'Your_ skill level.' "Please, have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately? You even _look_ like a cocky man whore type." She said levelly, beginning to pull her top back up but stopping as he laughed, genuinely and openly, and reached his hand out to stop her from doing so.

Melting a little inside at the sound, she let him pull her towards him, placing her knee onto his chair as he rest his other hand to her back.

"I don't think anyone has ever dared called me that." He said between chuckles, pulling her onto his lap and letting her settle her weight onto him in a comfortable straddle as he pressed a kiss to her chest in a mildly apologetic gesture.

Sighing in defeat at him, at the content look on his face, at his closed eyes and at the warmth of his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her, Nayla leant forward and rest her chin to the top of his head.

"Well they should have." She grumbled into his hair, secretly inhaling the scent of his shampoo deeply.

Nayla could feel her body starting to relax heavily in his hold as he chuckled deeply, her eyes closing to the soothing sound, her head turning to press her cheek to his scalp instead and the soft threads of his hair tickling pleasantly against her nose as they were drawn closer and pushed gently away with her tiring breathing.

...

"Why are you still this much fun to tease?" Law murmured into her skin quietly, so quietly that Nayla honestly wondered if he'd meant that question for her or himself, or if he'd even meant to say it out loud at all as she lift a hand to his hair.

"Well, maybe the same reason I still like getting a rise out of you." She mumbled back lazily, stroking her fingers through his unruly black locks soothingly. "...No pun intended."

Chuckling, he slid his hands up her back, rubbing his fingertips up her spine in a way he'd learnt would make her automatically arch it and enjoying the way her soft breasts pressed more firmly against his face as he did.

"...What were we talking about?" He asked, voice muffled from beneath the comfortable haven of her chest as he only just vaguely recollected that they _had_ been having a serious conversation before dissolving into their now-usual sexual antics.

" _You_ wanted to ask some stuff about the info you picked up from your sleuthing last night." Nayla responded dryly as she sat up and rest her hands to his chest, peeved at how often he made her forget herself and trying to ignore the tingles his light touch sent through her.

That was right, Nayla had been relaying her conversation with the unfortunate man who'd met their end at her hands the other night and comparing that information to what _he_ had unearthed during their stay.

"You said some chemical plant guys were gloating and acting like big shots, throwing Joker's name around because they'd recently landed a lucrative deal with him or something?" She prompted, enjoying the way his large, warm hands came back down to rest on either hip comfortably, the act so casual, as though they simply belonged there.

"Yeah…" Law confirmed, wondering how best to phrase his thoughts and questions as he ran his thumbs over the curves of her hip bones, idly enjoying her heat and moisture against his bare crotch through her panties.

As he thought, there were more than a few of Doflamingo's wealthy associates indulging in some leisurely time off on Yuuwaku and for once, he hadn't needed to pilfer through seedy back alley rumour mills, offering dark threats, bribes or discreet trades of valuable information of mutual interest. It had been easy to simply observe, follow and eavesdrop, though some people he had ventured so boldly as to converse with directly about the claims he'd overheard.

"You said Ori-ya-" The gullible man who hit headlines for being found dead in the booth of a sleazy nightclub the other morning. "-implied that he knew what Joker was up to and that it was _not_ germ warfare. How confident did he seem?"

Probably the third time he'd asked that since that night, Nayla noted. "Pretty confident." She replied patiently, facilitating his retrace of thoughts. Over the last few months she'd become familiar with the way he chose to mull over them, looking for new possibilities and explanations to explore, to help him proceed with whatever it was he was planning.

"What was said - exactly?" Also probably the third time he had her recite her exchange of words with the man.

Meeting his piercing gaze, she wondered if he made a point of making eye contact with her at times like this to read her facial expression, to detect any hint of her lying or omitting something or perhaps to assess her confidence to accurately recall the conversation she'd had.

Whatever it was, she didn't mind. She didn't lie or purposely keep anything from him and she was certain of her recollection. What was the point of taking information retrieval jobs if you had a memory like a sieve? And admittedly, she tried especially hard to remember every minute detail for Law.

"Well I was bringing him his third drink of the night and he was asking how long I'd been working there, if I'd served so-and-so or so-and-so. He was dropping big names that visited the club, legit and ilegit, implying that _he_ knew them on a personal level. He was trying to do it nonchalantly in some weird attempt to impress me or let me know how important he was. He-"

"Why?" Law interrupted, sliding a hand down from her hip.

"Why what?" Nayla asked, watching his tattooed knuckles on her thigh as they disappeared beneath her skirt, his warm, smooth skin gliding easily around to her backside, cupping one her cheeks.

"Why did he, a billionaire businessman, feel the need to impress some lowly club whore?" He clarified, smirking as she shot him an irritable look. "No offence, of course." He added lowly, giving her flesh a gentle squeeze.

"Honestly? I think ninety-five percent of the things men do is _just_ to impress women. Sometimes I'm almost convinced you'd all just be a pile of gross, un-showered, fat, fighting, farting, drunken, unkempt, penniless idiots without women around to drive you to be sexually appealing to us."

"And am I included in that speculation of yours?" He asked, sliding his other hand beneath her skirt to her other cheek.

"You're male aren't you?" She asked in mock surprise, glancing down between them as though to check.

"I don't do anything _just_ to impress women." He defended with a small, confident grin.

"Oh?" She challenged with a small grin of her own as she lift a hand from his chest to brush her fingers across his goatee. "So all that time you spend in the morning trimming this neatly is all for you is it?" Leaning down, she rest her lips to his temple. "And how about these sideburns you keep so well-maintained?" She murmured, pecking him gently there and kissing a short trail to his ear. "These earrings all for you too?" She teased, sucking his earlobe and feeling him take a deep inhale as she ran her tongue over his skin before pulling away and sitting back up.

"And your tattoos? You got every single one of those just to satisfy your _own_ vanity? You gonna tell me all the things you do to look good is not even _remotely_ for anyone else's appeal? It's all just so that you can look at yourself topless in the mirror, hands on hips and go: 'Yeah, I'm a hottie alright. One-hundred percent for _my_ viewing pleasure though, definitely don't give a damn if any ladies - or men, like any of thi-'"

"Alright, you made your point." Law cut off her taunting, giving her ass a harsh squeeze and making her laugh at his grouchy interruption. "Now get _back_ to the point."

"Well, I think he was trying to impress me because he just gets off on the ego stroke of women wanting him 'so badly' because he's _so_ rich, and knows _so_ many important people and has _so_ many nice things." She rolled her eyes a little as she recalled all of the man's boasts.

Law hummed, guessing it was plausible. Nayla had already relayed to him the various things the man had 'subtly' insinuated to her that night. The number of manors he owned, how many people he employed, how much money he made per year, how many law authorities he had in his pocket, how he couldn't be touched by them _or_ anyone from the criminal underground because he had big friends there too.

When he'd asked her how she'd gotten him to talk about the one in particular he held an interest in, she said that it had been as simple as showing no sign of being impressed with anything the man said _until_ he mentioned Joker, and when he'd gotten that awed reaction from her it only encouraged him to talk about Joker again and again, wanting more of her attention and admiration.

"Anyway, like I said, once he started to mention Joker he went on and on about how they went way back and how _he_ had hooked him up with the names of some high-up officials willing to look the other way and stuff bla bla bla, gloat gloat gloat. Then he started to sound all bitter, talked about how much smarter he was than Joker, how Joker doesn't have a clue who he's dealing with and when I asked what he meant, he indirectly implied he'd been getting more than his agreed shares of profits for years and that Joker was too stupid to notice it."

"When he had and the result of him noticing it was sitting on his lap looking right at him." Law scoffed softly, curling his fingers around the soft globes in his hands, their tips grazing her panties. "And then?"

Enjoying the gentle, almost absentminded strokes against her clothed lips, she continued at his prompt, leaning forward comfortably and to talk gently into his ear. "I flattered him, told him how I found his smarts and bravery to be stealing from such a powerful man so very...very sexy." She cooed the latter in the same suggestive tone she'd used on the night, punctuating her sentence with another teasing suck of his ear lobe. She always did enjoy the dryly amused curl to Law's lips whenever she hinted of the sexual things she did or said to her targets.

Feeling the tip of her tongue run along the edge of his ear between his piercings, Law closed his eyes and enjoyed the familiar sensation, almost sorry to keep her talking and interrupt it. "And that's when he tried to capitalise on your sudden sexual interest by boasting that he'd begun to steal even more from him lately?"

"That's right." Nayla confirmed, pulling her lips from his ear to reply. "He insinuated that Joker had become more interested in other business ventures recently and was paying less attention to the profits he was receiving from him, so it was 'easy' to start withholding even more without getting caught."

It was something that Law had heard as well, numerous times in different forms. Doflamingo had been making new connections in fields he hadn't taken interest in before and although he'd tried to do so subtly, it was sticking out like a sore thumb. Especially to his previous investors and to those that kept a watchful eye on his activities.

Those that Joker formed new business deals with were so excitable to be 'the first' in that line of work that he'd approached that they were practically bursting at the seams to gloat about it, just as the men Law had overheard the previous night who were lavishly, and loudly, living it up in the lobby of the neighbouring hotel to celebrate.

"And how did he seem when you asked him about the business he'd lost to Joker's new associates?"

"The poor guy almost sounded jealous of all the attention he'd lost from Joker. You'd think they'd been lovers at one time with how sour he was." Nayla replied, laying her lips to Law's neck at the thought.

He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cringe at that idea but both reactions were quickly dulled by the pleasure of her kisses and gentle sucks on his skin. "I meant more about whether he seemed sure of these new associates or whether he was just going on hearsay."

"He was _very_ certain Joker had half-heartedly dumped him for his new interests." She replied firmly, pulling away to look at him.

"He was also very drunk." Law reminded her, hinting his slight displeasure at her loading the man up so heavily as she spoke to him. He felt it clouded her victims' recall and reliability, she felt it loosened their lips and brought their guard down. Part of him really just felt that she thought it were a merciful kindness that they be so inebriated before she offed them.

"He was sure." She laughed, finding his almost scolding expression and his stilled fingers a little funny.

"But he didn't know specifically what Joker was up to with them?"

Sighing softly, she tilted her head and smiled at him. No matter how many times Law tried to ask this question, she just couldn't offer him up any more information than the last time he'd asked. "Yes and no. He knew for a fact Joker had just bartered for the prime client position with some chemical companies and he _implied_ he knew what for but he didn't dare speak a word about, even as drunk as he was."

"Wha-?"

"What _did_ he say about it?" Nayla interrupted, knowing this next question already and clearing her throat to recite the conversation she knew by heart:

"Ori said that he knew Joker was building relations with large chemical manufacturers that dealt with pretty noxious, dangerous stuff. Then I jokingly said: 'Oh? Is the legendary war-monger going biological or nuclear warfare next?' Then Ori laughed, shook his head firmly and said: 'Good guess but no, something that'll work out just as badly though, probably.' Then he shrugged, sipped his drink and sat back. When I tried to ask what he meant by that he just shook me off, saying: 'The names involved are too big, even for me. Trust me, you're better off not knowing what's coming, I wish I didn't.'"

Furrowing his brows in thought at the sombre last words of the man now gone, Law's mind wanted to immediately burrow into the possibilities behind them but was stopped as Nayla spoke again.

"Do you still think Joker _is_ just going for the last frontier of his war business, germ warfare or something?" She asked softly, reading his serious expression with a small, unpleasant pit of worry in her own stomach at the thought.

"It would have made sense…" He breathed out, sighing as he leant back and closed his eyes as he tried to coherently piece together everything he'd gathered into something that _did_ make sense.

"...Is what I heard similar to what you did?"

Popping one eye open at the softly spoken question, he read Nayla's slightly insecure body language as she avoided his gaze, clearly unsure of whether it was ok to directly ask him what information he'd been privy too. She generally avoided asking him about anything to do with his goal, seemed that his denying her his trust with such sensitive information on previous occasions had somewhat hurt her feelings. Not that it mattered, confidential was confidential. He didn't share it with anyone else and it undoubtedly was an unnecessary danger for her to know. _Especially_ her.

Though she was right in some ways, the more he dared to share with her, the more specific and useful the information she brought back was. Such as her seemingly half-hearted joke to Ori about whether or not Doflamingo was going into biological warfare, trying to find out if his theory for why Joker had taken a sudden interest in things of a scientific nature was true or not.

"I have." He confirmed finally, watching her perk up as he granted her a small glimmer of his own workings. "The people I've spoken to and that I've overheard, they were aware of Joker's new business. The scientific equipment, the shippings, the new partners, the labs involved, the dirty dealings of controlled chemicals, but not one of them made me feel as though I was on the right track by thinking it was just an extension of his war business." He sighed, recalling the last few men he'd spoken to on Yuuwaku.

"But they wouldn't say what it _was_ all for?" She dared to prod further.

Chuckling a little at her endearingly hopeful expression that he'd humour her with another answer, he stroked her skin idly. "Some didn't know and the ones that did, were as tight-lipped as your dearly departed friend. All they would say is that it was far worse than any germ warfare…"

"What else could someone possibly be doing with those links and that stuff? Maybe he's researching something?" Nayla tried offhandedly.

He shook his head soberly. "No. He's already manufacturing it."

Thinking of the shipments and the sheer quantities of things on them, Nayla could see why Law had drawn that conclusion, he was probably absolutely right.

"...You think whatever it is, that finding out more about it will help you accomplish your goal somehow?"

Finding her obvious sentiment and willingness to help start to make him feel uncomfortable, Law sat up straighter. "It's obviously something new and important to Joker that we keep stumbling across information about...It's very possible that learning more about it will give me the lead I need, yes, but right now all information is still valuable to me."

"Ok." She smiled, making an obvious mental note to do her best to find out as much as she could about Joker's new mystery venture.

Hating himself for feeling anything remotely mushy on the inside at her sincere expression and silent promise, Law decided to steer the conversation elsewhere, anywhere. "...I never did get a chance to ask this Nayla, but I'm curious."

She perked a brow at the sudden question but said nothing, wrapping her arms around his neck more comfortably.

"How were you sure Ori-ya would make the fatal decision of hiring _you_ to host his table that night in the first place?"

"Oh? What a horrible thing to say. Are you implying that you can't imagine why he would have possibly picked me over all the other women there?" She teased in mock indignation.

" _That_ isn't what I said, I meant no offence." He said half-heartedly.

"That _smirk_ means offence." She poked at it in illustration, making him raise a hand to pull hers away. "And by the way, saying 'no offence' doesn't make something less offensive."

"Then let me rephrase." He chuckled, kissing her jaw. "How did you 'gracefully' outcompete your equally, if not lesser, beautiful rivals for the man's attention?" He asked lowly, kissing her cheek before speaking into her ear. "Did you throw yourself at him? Promise him sexual acts the likes of which he'd never seen? Or did you let him know what that pretty little mouth of yours could do?" He purred against her skin, enjoying the way she tensed in his hold.

"Well _you_ certainly weren't complaining _five_ minutes ago." Nayla scoffed, making to get up off of his lap.

"And I'm still not complaining." He grinned, holding her onto it by her hips.

"Well if you _must_ know, Law. To settle that rampant, closet _jealousy_ \- not curiosity, of yours-" She pushed him away with a hand to his chest. "-I did the exact opposite and ignored him from the moment he entered to the moment he sat down. Like I said, the guy was an egomaniac. It drove him crazy that the 'new girl' didn't know who he was or how much of a big deal he was and didn't care to find out, so of course he'd pick me. Pandering to simple minds and simple egos is childsplay." She said, looking at him pointedly.

"You think pandering to _my_ ego is childsplay do you?" He challenged, arms wrapping around her tightly with a predatory gaze.

"No, I was just calling you simple-minded." She laughed, enjoying the playful growl and bite she got to her neck in response, finding her hands in his hair as he began sucking and licking her skin.

Giggles subsiding, she hummed under her breath, leaning her head to his as she was slowly lulled into the gentle pleasure of his tongue and lips on her flesh.

Reminding herself not to get too worked up again as she glimpsed the setting sun out through the porthole beside them and noticed how much darker the room around them had become, she reluctantly spoke up. "I have a lesson this evening."

"And?" He murmured into her neck, tightening his hold as he felt her beginning to pull away.

Ignoring the tingles of want that ran through her at the single syllable uttered in that gravelly, lusty tone of his against her skin, Nayla sat up and pulled away more firmly peering down at him. "I don't want to be late?"

"And?" He reiterated, unfazed by her issue as he pressed his lips to her chest, hands trailing back down over her ass.

" _And_ I don't want to deal with Kotta's BS?" She huffed, watching him plant kisses over her right breast.

"I don't see how that's _my_ issue. Besides...I have something of my own I'd like to teach you." He murmured lowly before running his tongue over her nipple, his fingers delving beneath her, rubbing her moist lips through her panties.

Knowing how quickly she was about to lose to his touch as his lips sealed around her flesh, she tried again to get out of his grasp. "It _will_ be your issue if I get yelled at. I-"

"I'm not done with you yet, Nayla."

Her grumbling came to a halt as he lifted his paralysing gaze up to hers, silencing her as he pulled her back onto his lap with finality. His deep, low, smooth voice saturated in a dark, demanding lust that sent a shudder through her.

Unable to deny him, or her abruptly rekindled desire for him, she watched as he took her breast back into his mouth, sucking the flesh of her nipple and making her close her eyes with a gasp as he grazed its edges with his teeth.

Threading her fingers through his hair and resting her other hand to his shoulder, she hopelessly arched her back for him, letting him have his fill of her, feeling his strong tongue swirl languidly around her sensitive bud.

It didn't take him much to make her give in, she felt so helplessly lost to him once he started touching her, looking at her like that, talking to her like that. She found herself giving into him faster and faster, knowing how good he could make her feel, how overloaded with pleasure she'd soon be, how hard he was about to make her cum.

She felt so shamefully easy, dirty, but it didn't seem like such a bad thing, especially when the reverse seemed to be true as well. When it came down to it, she knew he would give in to her touch just as easily these days as well.

One of his hands slipped beneath her skirt, palm widely grazing her ass before his fingers curled aside the narrow fabric of her panties and slid between her slickened folds.

Moaning quietly at his intrusion, she arched further, tilting her hips back for him, easing the angle of his entry as he slowly began thrusting his long, slender digits inside.

Humming around his mouthful of flesh in satisfaction of the moisture coating his fingers, he sucked harder before released her with an audible pop.

"Do you really enjoy pleasing me that much?" He teased, smirking before running his tongue up her chest to her neck.

Nayla had to hold back the gasp that wanted to escape her as he rapidly began to pick up his pace, pumping into her harder as his lips met her accelerating pulse.

"You have no idea how unbelievably hot it is to make someone like _you_ moan like that." She replied, suddenly feeling a bit breathless, her clothed clit pressing firmly against his hardening length at the front, his fingers stroking her inner walls from behind.

"Someone like me?" He purred against her neck before sucking it tenderly.

"Cocky, a know-it-all, always so in control." She purred back, kissing his ear with a teasing smile of her own. "It's hot, reducing someone like _you_ down to nothing but gasps and moans."

Laughing a little at the slightly peeved edge to the smirk he wore as he lift his face back to hers, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, his fingers sliding from her and gliding forward against her lips beneath her panties.

"Funny, I often think the exact same thing about you." He said darkly, fingertips reaching her clit and stroking it lightly in circular motions, enjoying the way she immediately lifted her hips to ease his access and the way her eyes fluttered shut with a small, contented sigh as he touched her.

"I'm not cocky, or a control freak." She defended weakly, more interested in the slowly building pleasure he was eliciting between her legs, moaning as he trapped her sensitive bud between the lengths of his fingers and rubbed back and forth firmly.

"At least you admit to being a know-it-all." He said quietly, more to himself than to her as he watched her quickly beginning to lose focus to her pleasure, her breathing beginning to get more laboured.

Feeling his cock throb impatiently beneath her as she began to bite her lips to stem the moans he knew she'd soon be filling his quarters with, he withdrew his hand, giving the length of her slit a long teasing stroke with his fingertips as he did.

"It's about time you quietened down and put that mouth of yours to better use." He commended lowly, his voice dropping to a velvety, husky murmur as he lift his soaked fingers for her and, as he knew she would, she trailed her tongue over them from base to tip.

Looking at him like that, from beneath long lashes as she sucked his fingers into her mouth, Law breathed a low moan at the sly, playful arousal in her eyes and on the lips that she so softly curled around his flesh, his hardness beginning to grow painful in its anticipation and in its very vivid reminder of the pleasure it had been given earlier.

Finding himself fixated on her lips in their suggestive motion up and down the length of his fingers, Law watched her pull them from her mouth with one final, cleansing lick, a small smile on her face as he flit his gaze back up to hers.

"Why isn't this the _only_ time you choose to behave so badly." He muttered, resting his hand back to her hip, his other gripping his thick base as she knelt up a little on her knees.

"Shame, huh?" She teased, reaching down between them and pulling her panties aside.

"Isn't it just." He replied dryly, a smirk finding its way onto his face as she lowered herself back down onto his length.

They shared a quiet, satisfied sigh as he slowly filled her, as she lowered her weight back onto his lap.

Wrapping her arms back around his shoulders she hummed as she got comfortable, starting to move her hips at her own pace and set a slow, cautious rhythm, unsure of how his chair would hold up against their usual rampant antics.

Watching her, Law leant back in his chair, admiring the natural beauty of a woman's body in the waning, colourfully-tinted setting sunlight that filtered into the room from beside them. Admiring the natural beauty of _her_ body. The soft, supple curves of her figure, the way the shadows cast across her features, the fluid motion of her hips as she began to ride him and the gentle bounce of her breasts.

Enticed, he ran his hands up her sides, his fingers tracing appreciative trails up her hourglass figure to her chest, groping and moulding each beneath his palms, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples as she began to pick up her pace.

Taking a brief pause in her motion, he watched her unfold her legs and slide them through the gap beneath each arm of his chair before resuming, now able to lower herself onto him much more than before.

He felt a moan build in the back of his throat as he started to enter her more deeply with the adjustment, his thick erection buried pleasantly and fully each time she descended, the air of the room brushing against the wet heat she left moistening the skin around his base every time she raised her hips.

Absentmindedly tightening his grip on her increasingly moving breasts as she began to build their pleasure, he peeled his eyes off of the point of their joining bodies, off of his glistening cock as it disappeared into her hot, tight, welcoming walls and reappeared, looking instead up at her face as she helped herself to him.

Very occasionally, he'd allow her control. There was something undeniably sexy about the way she looked at him as she pleasured herself on his cock at her own pace under her own motion, as though she were hungry for him, as though she couldn't get enough of him. The way they had sex, how often they did, it felt like the latter were true for him as well. He couldn't get enough of her.

He never bored of her, he always wanted her, he always wanted to taste her, to feel her, to be inside of her, to watch her in her throes of lust and pleasure, to hear her in them. When he wasn't having her, he was thinking of having her and if he wasn't? She was thinking of having him, and every time she seductively purred her desire for him, slyly suggested they engage in another bout of raw, hot, sweaty, obscene debauchery, dangled the tempting, euphoric delights her body had to offer...Once the idea of fucking her again had been brought to the forefront of his mind, he found it an appealing one. A difficult offer to decline and a stubbornly persistent thought to push back into the recesses of the more base driven part of his brain. If he tried to get on with something else, he knew the idea of taking her would just keep on coming back, over and over again until he did.

Although it would admittedly be a little bit difficult, he _could_ say no and focus on something else if he really wanted to…

Sliding his hands back down her body, he fixated on her breasts as he released them, leaning forward and capturing the succulent nipple of one in his mouth as she bounced on his lap.

...he just didn't want to.

Sucking her flesh firmly, he slid his hands back around to her ass, slapping each cheek harshly, earning a deep moan before taking a hard grip of them urging her to ride him harder, faster, using his hold to spread her flesh wider, push her hips down more, tilt them.

It was frustrating, with his mouth and hands full and himself buried to the hilt in her, again, he felt like a greedy, spoilt, sexual glutton. As though he'd developed an insatiable appetite to an addictive substance he wish he'd never taken that first taste of. A part of him wished he could stop, or more correctly, wished he would even want to.

Sinking herself onto him, she rest her hands to the top of his chair above his head, leaning forward as she rotated her hips, grinding herself onto his erection.

Moaning around the mouthful of soft flesh he was teasing with his tongue as he felt the way her walls circled his enveloped shaft, he shifted his hands back to her waist, encouraging her motion.

Grinding against him heavily, feeling the incredible friction of his body against her clit as he filled her, she looked down at him as he teasingly grazed her skin with his teeth in between his hard sucks and lavish laps of his tongue. He looked good like that, especially good from her uncommon height advantage. That mess of black locks still shining in the last rays of the day, eyes closed and brows furrowed in his building pleasure, his tattooed hands on her body, his nose pressed against her skin - his fast breath tickling it, his tongue making appearances as he alternated his oral teases on her breast - just the sight of it on her brought arousal, knowing exactly where it had been, knowing exactly what it felt like and what it could do to her.

Humming at the last memory of him between her thighs and the way he had made her cum she ground against him harder, eager to feel the same release, her climax slowly building but her own weight and strength was incomparable to his.

She always felt the best pleasure and came the hardest when he used his. His lean, tanned body was nothing but solid muscle, he lifted her effortlessly, supported them both when her legs had long lost their ability to do so for her, held her tightly with those large, strong hands of his and between his powerful thighs, tight waist and incredible abs, could fuck her hard enough to practically wind her with every thrust.

Starting to crave it at the thought of it, she rest her hands to either side of his face as he released her breast. "Are you really going to let me do all the work today?"

Smirking at the breathlessly uttered question and the playful look she gave him at what they both knew was a false challenge, he slid his hands down to her thighs, curling his hands around the back of them, more than willing to give her what she was really asking for.

"What's the matter, getting tired already?" He taunted, playing along, urging her to lift her legs back through the gaps beneath the arms of his chair and onto the seat.

"Absolutely exhausted." She feigned, leaning back and letting him lift her legs up over the arms of his chair, resting her hands to his chest.

He chuckled though didn't bother to reply, much more interested in the sight of her spread open for him on his lap, her top peeled down to her waist, her skirt hiked up to it, her soaked panties pulled aside, her booted feet hanging over either side of his chair and himself still slid deeply inside of her. It all looked good to him.

"See something you like, Law?" She purred lowly, enjoying the renewed hunger in his gaze as it lifted back up to hers.

"A lot of things." He murmured lowly, resting his hands on her lower back, planting his feet firmly to the floor and pushing his hips up.

Biting her lips with a practically impish smile, she let him support her, leaning back onto his palms and indulging in the sensation of him beginning to pump his thick, hard cock into her under his own power.

Humming as he slowly increased his pace, she tightened her fingers around the fabric of his top, growing increasingly displeased with its presence as she felt that deep, churning pleasure rekindle and rebuild in her.

Those beautifully tattooed, perfectly chiselled muscles under there, it really was such a shame that he felt the need to cover such a spectacle at all, she should probably throw all his tops overboard the next time he annoyed her, consequences be damned, she'd be doing the world a great service.

Increasing his pace as they grew into a steady rhythm together, he smirked as she started tugging his hoodie up his chest, leaning forward to oblige and let her pull it up over his head and down his arms, slipping the sleeves off one at a time.

He chuckled as she tossed it aside carelessly with a mischievously satisfied grin and immediately ran her hands over his bare chest, wondering how many times he'd had to scoop it or some other article of his clothing off of the floor. Not that it mattered, seeing as he'd likely be doing it countless more times in future as well as she didn't appear to have any intention of breaking her habit of casually discarding his clothes anytime soon.

Leaning the back of his chair against the side of his desk for more stability, he thrust harder into her as she started to push her hips down to meet him, her rapidly growing pleasure obvious as her breaths started to come in stutters in their motion.

His upward and her downward movements meeting in sinful sync, he groaned lowly at how deeply her weight and his pumps drove him into her, feeling his every inch hugged tightly within her hot, wet walls.

Gripping her hips with force, he ground into her heavily with her every descent, making sure he rubbed against her clit with every thrust, starting to draw low moans from her. But they weren't nearly enough to satisfy him.

He wanted those gasping, open-mouthed, high-pitched, completely uncontrollable moans of hers, the ones that left her lips as she built to orgasm, the ones that drove him to his, the ones he got when he fucked her so hard and fast that she could barely breath between her screams and calls of his name.

Deciding he was very much in the mood for those and that his chair wouldn't withstand it, he looped his arms beneath her thighs, lifting her easily as he stood and turned to rest her on the edge of his desk, still buried inside of her.

Without a moment's pause, he held her legs open as widely as they'd been on his seat and began fucking her hard as she wrapped her arms around him, holding on tightly as he pounded the life out of her, her moans getting louder, more desperate.

Heavy pants, the slaps of flesh meeting wet flesh and the creaks of his desk filled the room as he thrust into her harshly.

Unable to quiet her breathing or her moans, Nayla buried her face to the crook of his neck, smothering her cries into his shoulder as she held onto him. His fingers sinking into her held thighs and her nails digging into his back as they both held onto one another tightly in their building orgasms.

Hearing his name croaked weakly into his skin between her increasingly struggled moans, Law lifted a hand to the back of her head, taking a full handful of her hair and pulling her back, wanting to hear it clearly, the way she said his name like that, the way she was moaning now, wanting to see her face as she came completely undone on his cock.

Pleased by the raw lust in her expression as he held her roughly, fucked her ruthlessly, he rest his forehead to hers, listening to his name spill from her lips again in a dirty, breathless whisper as she started to cum.

Moaning loudly and closing her eyes as her climax tensed her every muscle, the incredible rush of it washed over her, the waves of back-arching pleasure blending in with the arousing pain of his fierce hold on her and the delightful breathlessness of her absolute, overwhelming ecstasy.

She clung to him tightly as she felt him suck the lower of her parted lips and as she felt his fevered thrusts continue into her clenching, throbbing inner walls, her orgasm beginning to push past its peak as his continued to ascend to it.

Aware from the low groan she felt in his chest of how close behind her he was in reaching his own release, she pulled him down gently to the desk, lying herself flat as his hands slid up to her hips once more, knowing how best to make him cum.

Feeling him pin and hold her hips against the surface, she wrapped her legs around his waist tightly as he drove into her at full force, prolonging her climax as he worked towards his own, feeling his abs in motion against her, his hips slamming into hers unrelentingly as he panted.

She felt him pause at the peak of his penetration for a moment, basking in his low, guttural moan as he began to climax, his body tensing on top of hers as he spilled his cum deeply inside of her with breathless groans of pleasure.

Resuming his thrusts, stroking his throbbing cock in a bid to release every last drop of his orgasm into her, he opened his eyes and gazed down at her as she gasped, her muscles still contracting around him as he continued to stimulate them past their own climax.

Feeling the last of his seed leave him and the tight ripples around his cock gradually stopping, Law slowed his motion with a heavy, satisfied moan, inwardly enjoying the lewd sensation of his cum coating his softening shaft inside of her as it oozed down it.

Both their bodies relaxing tiredly as they caught their breath, he rest his elbows to the desk on either side of her as she rest the weight of her legs wrapped around him to his lower back, her hips aching from how firmly they had been pushed open and how tightly they had been held, in a good way.

Huffing in amusement at his small grin, she couldn't help but enjoy the sight of him like that, the setting sun behind him as he hovered over her, bare chest heaving, hair in disarray, stood between her legs, his jeans undone and pulled down slightly and a satisfied smile on his face as he slid his hands beneath her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Humming quietly as he kissed and licked his way up her neck, holding her tightly, she was reminded of how a big cat may pin its prey, toying with and tasting it leisurely.

"Did you learn anything?" He whispered huskily into her ear.

"Mmm, not a thing. Guess you're going to have to keep giving me refresher courses." She giggled tiredly as she felt his amused smirk against her skin, her tired mind wandering to her inner thoughts and feelings about the man.

"...You know, if I'm honest..." He pulled away slightly to meet her gaze as she spoke, wondering what was on her mind. "You're probably one of the _least_ simple people I've ever known."

It took him a moment to realise she was referring back to her joking jab of him being simple-minded from earlier.

"Sometimes I think I have you figured out, that all your seemingly intelligent, elaborate actions are all really just driven by simple needs and wants that we all have deep down...and then sometimes you completely throw me and I feel like you're the most complicated man I've ever met."

"Is that a good thing, I wonder." He asked neutrally, unsure of the answer.

"It makes you interesting to know, I guess, and it makes getting to know you a lot of fun." She admitted quietly, earning a very, very small smile.

"Purupurupurupuru, purupurupurupuru."

Both turned their heads to the side to look over at the corner of his desk that housed their two slumbering Den Den to confirm which of them were ringing, sure already from the pitch that it was hers.

Trying to move over a bit from beneath Law, she reached her hand for it, her stretched fingers only just grazing the receiver but unable to pick it up.

Giving up with her struggle, she looked up at the man pointedly, though he only smirked in response as he slid his gaze back to hers.

"You wanna let me go any time soon?" She huffed, trying to peel his arms from around her waist as he leant his lips back down to her neck with a deep chuckle.

"No." He denied, kissing her skin gently and tightening his hold.

Momentarily freezing at what she was sure was an unintended softness to his tone, she dismissed the double meaning as her own brain's twisted, wishful thinking and refocused on the task at hand, groaning in aggravation as he started nibbling her earlobe.

"You'd think you'd _want_ me to answer him. You know it's going to be another job that _you_ want me to take, right?" She reminded.

"Its fine, he'll just call back if you don't answer...That's already his third call today." He murmured playfully into her ear, his enjoyment of her agent's likely frustration only too apparent in his honeyed tone.

"Wha-LAW! What have I told you about letting me know if Marty rings?! You know how annoyed he gets!" She exclaimed, making more vigorous of an effort to wiggle out from beneath him.

"I was here when it rang, it really isn't _my_ issue if he chooses to be impolite and not talk to anyone else that is available to answer." Law's voice was practically laughter as he lifted his chest from hers slightly, allowing her just enough extra movement to reach her transponder snail.

"As if he _should_ talk to a complete stranger!" She scolded, wrenching the receiver off of her Den Den. "Vindictive, little-hey Marty."

"Hey yourself." Came the dry greeting from the unamused-looking snail. "Busy day?" The man was obviously displeased with how many times he'd already tried to contact her.

"Well, sorta…" She replied vaguely, narrowing her eyes up at Law, satisfaction and amusement written all over his face. "...Anyway, got a new job for me?"

"No. Obviously a social call, I was just wondering how you were." The snail drawled sarcastically, earning the focus of her glare though it wasn't really to blame. "Got a call from that guy under Joker, happy with your last job, as usual. But, also as usual, he's pressuring _me_ to pressure _you_ into taking up their bigger jobs."

The man sighed, apparently tiring of having the same conversation again as they listened to his all too familiar flick of his lighter and the movement of paper.

"So, I'll ask again. You done 'thinking about it?' You got any intention of entering The New World for these jobs or not?"

'Thinking about it,' had always been the vague, noncommittal, time-buying reply Law had told her to give when asked, but now that they were this close...She looked back up at him in silent question of what he'd like her to answer, getting a nod of permission to reveal that information.

They were as ready as they'd ever be. It had always been Law's wish for her to increase her standing with Joker, to rise up slowly and without suspicion amongst his network, to be trusted with and privy to his more sensitive jobs to help pursue the trail of Doflamingo's more important workings.

With his own plans to open up new worlds of possibilities, privileges and connections as a Warlord nearing completion and a careful eye on the goings on of the other side of The Grand Line, Law felt it was time to make it all official and take the next step.

Beyond the solid, rocky wall that defined The Red Line, the gravity of the backlash of Whitebeard's death and the mass influx of up-and-coming young crews had tempered out into something more manageable. Many of his less prepared, more naive competitors had already perished, some to the seas of The New World, many of them at the hands of each other.

With it now in the less excitable stages of its massive changes, it was in a state of trying to re-establish its rules, boundaries, dominance and power. It was ripe for the taking. The time was right to move in, push aside the battle worn, headstrong idiots that had rushed in and done all the dirty work of paving the way for him and his crew and take what he wanted.

"Yes, Marty." Nayla confirmed, pulling him from his thoughts as she reached a hand up and pushed back his slightly sweaty bangs affectionately, his hair more dishevelled than usual in its post-sex state.

The snail grunted in acknowledgement. "So, you really intend to go into The New World do you? I figured you'd be hightailing it outta those crazy seas and headed back to the continents by now. There's still plenty of work in the non-world government countries ya know. Plenty of wars still rumbling on out there, a lot of rebel army involvement, nice steady work on dry land...How much longer do you intend to work for Joker?"

Picking up the disapproval in Marty's gruff voice, she looked at the snail, trying to read his expression, though it gave little away other than its usual neutral stare when she spoke to him. "Why do you ask? Worried about me or worried about me leaving you to work for him?" She teased.

"Definitely the latter, I still want my thirty percent cut." It answered without hesitation.

Laughing at the sour look on the Den Den's face now, she rest her head back down to the desk comfortably. "Well, don't worry so much about your 'thirty percent cut.' As for how long I intend to work for Joker, I don't know yet...but I'm happy to keep doing it for the foreseeable future."

Sighing heavily, oblivious to the silent, secretive smile the two people in the room were currently sharing, Marty rustled through his ever-present stack of paperwork he appeared to keep by his transponder. "Well alright, whatever you want princess. I'll let them know you'll be in The New World soon enough, give 'em a chance to see what they can line up for you on the other side, see if they have any last jobs for you on that one. You're going to hit Sabaody soon, right? Which route are you on?"

"Yeah, there's one more island between me and Sabaody, Canticum."

"Got ya, I'll see if there's anything En Route and I'm sure they'll be happy you finally agreed to take up their more delicate jobs...Always did say the chump change shit they had you doing was a waste of your skill set." He grumbled, seeming to give up on finding anything within his paperwork for her currently as the rustling of it stopped with the defeated slap of a heavy palm to a surface. "One more thing. You still in cahoots with that shady, drug addled creep of a 'business partner' of yours?"

Pursing her lips together in amusement as Law shot the snail a dirty look, as though daring it to say one more bad thing about him, she rubbed a hand apologetically over his arm. "Yes."

"Just gets better and better with you, doesn't it. Alright, I'll let you know if I get anything." The Den Den rolled its eyes with another heavy sigh of dissatisfaction.

"Ok...Thank you, Marty. Take care."

"...Yeah, take care, princess." Came the reluctantly civil response back before the snail closed its eyes and resumed its deep slumber.

"How often does he ask you that?" Law muttered, as she reached over to replace the receiver.

"Every time we talk." She giggled in amusement, letting him take it from her hand to do it instead.

Giving a sigh of his own at that, Law gently set it down on the snail's shell, resting his elbow back down as he looked at her, a small smile sliding back onto his face.

Her hair was a wild, swirled mess of smooth locks beneath her and all over his desk. For such a dark shade of brown, he had come to notice that it would shimmer a warm chestnut shade where the sun touched it, its final rays doing so right now from behind him. Fine, red streaks only adding to the glow.

Her lips had been worn down to their natural, pink hue. Plush, soft, tempting, smiling at him. Her cheeks had lost their flush of arousal but her eyes were still lidded tiredly with their efforts. She often did fall asleep, quickly and deeply, after he'd had his way with her. Pleasuring her so strongly and exhausting her to such an extent often did give him a profound sense of satisfaction.

Her intricately-patterned, blue irises were looking at him with such contentment, amusement and affection...he wondered if she were even aware of the way she looked at him, how much her gaze gave away or how much he enjoyed looking at them.

Perhaps he'd become too used to seeing her these days because sometimes, like now, her beauty would catch him off-guard at peculiar times and he'd find himself taking small moments to admire her features. Sometimes, to admire her as a whole, for all that she was, all that she said, thought and did and all that she had endured to have reached this point, here, with him.

"...You seem happy." She said quietly, breaking the silence as his eyes flit over her.

Right now, everything felt perfect. Right now, he felt as though things couldn't possibly be going any better for him, in any aspect of his life.

"...I am." He admitted, feeling ready - excited, to take on everything the future had in store for him. Ready for everything The New World had to offer. "I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of information you bring back and I'm looking forward to opening new avenues for myself as well."

A little surprised but delighted he'd chosen to share a bit more of what he was thinking and feeling than his initial, and usual, short response, she beamed up at him. "Me too. I'll do my best."

He huffed at her eager smile. "I know you will. You do your jobs well and you work hard. You're quite the helpful little asset…" He leant down, planting a kiss to her forehead. "When you aren't getting on my nerves."

She laughed as he kissed her cheek and tucked his arms back beneath her, wrapping them around her waist snugly before nuzzling his face comfortably to the crook of her neck with a content exhale.

Returning his amicable embrace, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands finding their way back into his thick locks, her fingers threading back through them and rubbing his scalp soothingly as she relaxed beneath him, enjoying the warmth of his bare skin on hers.

"Thank you…This goal means the world to me."

Eyes that she hadn't realised had fallen shut snapped open as she heard the words he practically whispered into her skin, completely unexpecting of them.

Shaking her head, almost in disbelief, she began running her stilled fingers through his hair once more, leaning her cheek to his.

"Happy to help." She whispered back, getting nothing but a tightened hold and a smile she could feel in response.

And she was. In that moment she felt so genuinely happy, more happy than she could remember experiencing in years, all because of words spoken by a man of few of them, but it only made what he did choose to say, all the more meaningful.

Her happiness not only came from his expression of gratitude but from his own. To see him smile, to hear that he was happy, to be at least a part of the source of it, made her heart swell. She was happy that he was happy.

In her overwhelming joy, she could feel the stirrings of excitement. She was actually looking forward to entering The New World, where she had held some uncertainty and trepidation before. Energised and revitalised by his words, she was raring to go, keen to take on whatever their new ventures brought them. She felt ready, now more than ever, to help him reach his goal in any way she could and with everything she had.

"You're about ten minutes late for your lesson."

"Crap!"

Moving aside to let her up, Law leant back against his desk, crossing his arms with a tired grin as he watched Nayla scramble to right her clothing and hair.

Chuckling as she cursed at him for making her late under her breath and grumbled about how mad Kotta would be, he watched her trot around his desk and across the room towards the archway leading to the other side of his quarters.

"How does my hair look? Ok, bed head or-?"

"Freshly fucked?" He finished for her. "Definitely the latter."

Lowering her hands from her locks, with an aggravated sigh at his smug smirk, she began moving towards the En Suite to fix her appearance up properly, calling back to him as she disappeared into his bedroom.

"Oh, don't look so proud of yourself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you missed the April Fool's 2017 Chapter and would like to read it then this has been moved to become chapter 2 of last year's April Fool's submission: "Don't Cha Wish Your Doctor Was Hot Like Me?"


	76. Discord

"Wipe the port with an antimicrobial swab. We usually stock 'Alcoswabs' because Captain thinks they're thicker, softer and safer for surface preparation, but for now we have these ones." Kotta added, holding the IV bag firmly and wiping the plastic, tubular port on the bottom thoroughly with the medicated swab he held.

"Once you're sure it's clean, you then inject the medication that needs to be added into the fluid already inside the bag." He explained, tossing the used wipe into the nearby clinical waste bin before picking up the drug he'd already drawn, (though it was just saline for demonstration purposes, there was no need to waste any medications just for teaching).

Using one practised hand, he skilfully flicked the plastic cap on the needle off before lining up the syringe to the port and inserting it, pressing the plunger and injecting the saline into the fluid-filled bag.

"Captain prefers the needleless vial devices, not these ordinary syringes. Less risk of puncturing the bag or giving ourselves a needlestick injury, especially seeing as we're on a moving vessel, but again, last coupla islands haven't had the...Are you even listening to me?" He asked irritably as he noticed the far off look in Nayla's gaze as she absentmindedly stared at Law's desk on the other side of the room.

"Yes." She shot back defensively, seeming to snap from her light daze.

"Then what did I just say?" He challenged.

"Clean the port and squirt the new medication in through it, I heard you."

Glancing down at his hands doing just that as she did, he rolled his eyes, depressing the plunger the rest of the way harshly to finish ejecting the fluid out of the syringe before withdrawing it.

"Lucky guess. Ya know, these lessons are voluntary and frankly, unnecessary. I honestly don't see what you could possibly use anything I teach you here for, so if you don't want to learn then don't be here wasting my time. I have other things I could be getting on with."

Narrowing her eyes at his tone she watched him grumpily toss the used syringe into the sharps bin beside him on the counter. "I want to learn."

"Then what are you spacing out about over there for?" He gestured to the vacant workspace with the hand holding the bag.

Briefly contemplating whether to voice her thought aloud briefly, Nayla finally did, wondering if he'd know the answer to her question. "I was wondering where my file went is all."

Expression softening a little in his confusion, Kotta looked back at the desk, wondering why that would be important enough to pull her attention off of the lessons that _she_ wanted.

"Captain asked me to file it away this morning, why?"

It had been the first time since boarding - or well, Law forcibly bringing her aboard, that it hadn't been there. Though her Saboady General one full of mostly false information and a few scant monitoring notes during her admission had understandably, long since disappeared.

"So where is it now?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"Where do you think it'd be?" He asked back dryly, obviously irritated that she had. "The filing cabinet, with the rest of them." He huffed, not waiting for her response as he tossed the bag with a wet slop to the countertop.

"With the crew's?"

"Yes. Whatever excessive tests he'd been doing for you have been over for a while now, no? Think it'd be common sense to file away something you no longer look at and scrutinise daily?"

Perking a brow but saying nothing about the bitter bite to the otherwise neutrally spoken words, Nayla watched him pull away from the counter and gesture to it.

"Go ahead, show me how well you listened."

Trying not to sigh at the irritable challenge, Nayla moved closer to the sink, washing her hands with the appropriate technique before drying them thoroughly with paper towels and pushing the long lever of the tap to its off position with her elbow.

Kotta was a stickler for doing all steps at all times, even if it were just for teaching exercises. She'd learnt that long ago, though she didn't believe his strictness was an unpleasantry he saved for her, she imagined he'd be the same if he were teaching any of his own crewmates.

A part of her had hoped that over time he'd warm to her, maybe after doing lessons together for a while, particularly after Law had revoked her prisoner status aboard - as Ichirou had, but it simply hadn't happened.

Selecting the appropriate equipment she needed from the shelves, she placed them onto the tray Kotta had used on the counter before reaching for the box of latex gloves. The crew hadn't previously stocked 'small' sized ones, with medium, large or extra large being the only options. She had been using the slightly baggy medium ones before but Law had taken the initiative to purchase a few boxes of small for her on one of their previous restocks when Kotta had noticed the ill fit and mentioned it to him. She'd been surprised that either man had done such a thing.

When she had thanked Kotta for his consideration, all he did was make a sour remark about what a waste of money and stock space it was just to have them for the sake of one person for lessons that he didn't deem necessary in any capacity. Made her wonder why he had bothered mentioning it to Law in the first place. Perhaps he was so much of a stickler about his teaching that he couldn't help but ensure it was done right, even if he did think it was a waste of his precious time and efforts.

Tearing the Alcoswab sachet open, she carefully cleaned the port of the IV bag as he had done, eyes flitting over to the filing cabinet behind Law's desk as her thoughts returned to its contents.

It wasn't weird that he had chosen to file her medical information away alongside his crew's in there, she supposed, so then why did it feel a little strange? Where else was he supposed to keep them?

"It doesn't mean anything. Focus on what you're doing." Kotta cut in, as if reading her thoughts and choosing to bluntly remind her that she was a temporary presence aboard.

Snapping her gaze back to him at his answer to a question she hadn't even had the nerve to acknowledge aloud in her own mind, she narrowed her eyes at his annoyingly cold, neutral, matter-of-fact expression.

Actually, in that respect, he wasn't unlike his own captain. She had to imagine this is what interacting with Law would be like if he had no regard for you whatsoever - in a way, it reminded her how fortunate she was to be on Law's good side. To be acknowledged, respected, needed or even liked enough to not be on the receiving end of his usually cold demeanour.

In another way, it just simply reminded her that she was in none of the above mentioned categories to Kotta. She wasn't worth a damn to him, even half a year on, even with their time spent together, even with their somewhat banter-ish snipes with one another, even with their few times sparring.

In fact, if she didn't know better, she would have sworn he'd made a serious attempt to break her nose during one of them but shook that off as paranoia. He'd have been in deep shit with his beloved captain if he had and he knew that. Not because of their intimate relationship but because any deliberate intention to injure during training would defeat the point and safety of it and would have pissed him off royally.

"That isn't what I was thinking." She finally replied, exercising some self control to leave it at just that and not add any unsavoury name-calling to the end.

"Then what were you thinking?" He challenged, crossing his arms.

'Like you care,' Nayla inwardly huffed, tossing the swab into the same bin he'd done before deciding to use the opportunity to try asking something that _had_ crossed her mind before, many times.

"...Actually, I was wondering if you'd looked inside of it before filing it away."

Blinking in surprise, the man shook his head. "No, why would I do that?"

"Really? It's been sitting there on Law's desk all this time, out in the open. You know I've been in and out of here having every test run on me a hundred times and that your captain has been pouring over the results, for months, and you _seriously_ never let your curiosity win you over once and cracked open that folder to know why?"

"No. We aren't all as undisciplined as _you_ are." Kotta answered frankly, ignoring the look she paused in assembling her syringe to give him. "Besides I honestly don't care. Captain can do as he pleases with his time and facilities, it's really none of my concern what horrible disease you're riddled with."

…

A ghost of a humoured smirk took to the medic's lips as she continued to stare at him in unimpressed silence. "As long as you're not contagious of course."

"Oh, you are just a riot." She said dryly, uncapping the needle with a little more force than necessary and briefly envisioning the business end of it embedded deeply into the side of his head. She wondered if she knew enough anatomy to kill him with it.

"...Though I assume it's something to do with that unusual variant of Haki you use?" He speculated aloud as he watched her draw up the correct amount of saline into her syringe, watching her actions carefully for any signs of contamination.

"You're right. It's none of your concern." She answered airily, lifting the syringe up to eye level and priming the needle; pushing the air out of it gently to its tip, ready for administration.

Scoffing under his breath in amusement, he watched her carefully push the sharp metal tool into the correct part of the port and slowly begin to add the saline in. It was annoying she didn't get things wrong more often; he'd have preferred an opportunity to correct her...Though it wasn't usually a rewarding experience when he did. Even more annoyingly, she took corrections in her stride and often thanked him for pointing out something she was doing wrong.

His captain was right, she had a pretty polite baseline personality, it probably was just something ingrained in her with her upbringing and schooling. Different to teaching some of the men aboard that'd take offence and call him a 'fussy jackass' and such.

"So only Law has read it?"

Pulled out of thoughts he didn't care to share with her, Kotta ran his gaze over her face, noticing the very mild amount of anxiety in her expression as she looked at him that she was otherwise masking well.

"Yes, he gave very strict orders regarding the confidentiality of your file." Kotta reaffirmed.

Nayla smiled a little to herself as she imagined the stern look and tone of voice Law might have worn and used when giving that order and the confidence he had that it'd be followed in continuing to leave her medical details out in the open.

It was a relief to know that no one else aboard knew much about her ability or what she had told their captain about it. She wouldn't want them to think she were crazy (-ier) or for them to know it was damaging in any way. She wondered if they'd worry or nag her to stop using it if they did...But as far as they knew, it was simply some odd, incomplete form that she was trying to replace by learning a more recognised version of it with them.

It was also a relief to know that her more intimate bodily details were kept private. Everything from the state of her lab results to the health of her organs, to images of her insides to the nature of her power to her (honest) bodily weight were things only she and her current doctor knew.

Disposing of the used needle into the sharps bin safely as her syringe emptied, she laughed under her breath at the thought of her current doctor. How would she ever get used to a normal one now? One that stood and greeted her politely when she opened their door, ushered her in eagerly, shook her hand amicably, offered her a seat, listened to her worries with a compassionate smile, gave her sugar-coated results and didn't tease her, make snide comments, give her that cocky smirk and dare to touch her in a way that would revoke a regular doctor's medical licence so fast it'd give them whiplash. By comparison, any future doctor appointments she may ever need to attend with another doctor would be unbelievably boring from here on out.

Not answering Kotta's inquisitively raised brow as to what she was laughing about, she held the IV bag up in her hands. "So how do we mix the medication in more thoroughly before re-hanging it?"

"Obviously shake it up vigorously to introduce air bubbles into it and the tube."

"Ok and what's the answer without the asshole-ish level of sarcasm, 'Sensei?'" Nayla asked in a matched tone, unfazed by his bouts of dry, rude humour intermixed with his usual levels of disinterested boredom when he taught her. It was at least _some_ change in his behaviour; it would be maddeningly dull if his lessons were entirely monotone and factual.

"You just have to tip and roll the bag gently to mix the fluids then re-hang it. It'd honestly be difficult to get significant air into the system to cause an issue...Unless you're a complete idiot." He smiled, though it was mocking in nature.

"Lucky I'm not then. Thanks." Returning the sardonic expression, she reached over to the IV stand beside the nearest bed to them to re-hang the bag, inspecting the tubing leading down to what _would_ be connected to a patient's cannula in a real scenario for any aforementioned air.

"So that's it? You just restart the drip and good to go?"

"That's it." He confirmed, inspecting it as well as she removed her gloves. "It's a simple but important procedure. The difficulty really is in knowing what to prescribe, whether it is mixable with what's currently in the bag and deciding a new infusion rate. All Captain's job anyway, we just put it into place as and when he asks it of us."

Humming in thought, Nayla discarded of the used equipment on the countertop.

"...Have _you_ ever read them?"

Replacing the tray onto the neat stack of others, Nayla furrowed her brows at him in confusion. "Read what?"

"The medical files." Kotta clarified, nodding his head over his shoulder in the general direction of the filing cabinet behind him. "You sure did ask _me_ a lot of questions and you are pretty nosey. Have _you_ read any of them?"

In all honesty, Nayla had been a little curious to see them, or one in particular, but oddly enough, Law didn't have a file of his own within that cabinet - yes, she had taken a quick look. Surprisingly irresponsible she thought really, not that she'd have read it...but maybe she'd have peaked at it a little.

She wondered if he had ever suffered a serious injury or a fractured bone and if he had, how? Was it a fierce battle she would enjoy hearing him retell, proudly leading up to his obvious victory or was it a clumsy, freak accident that his crew might rather tell her through tears of laughter? Had he ever had a serious illness - aside from the obvious? If so, what was it and who had taken care of him?

There were mixed mental images in response to that question. One was of him, sick as a dog, lying in bed, barking medical orders between rough coughs to his crew in the infirmary as they scrambled about to fetch him anything and everything to make him feel better. The other was of Bepo standing quietly and worriedly by his captain's bedside, cutely fussing over him, fluffing his pillows, spoon feeding him soup and patting his feverish forehead with a cool, wet rag whilst he grumbled that he was fine.

Both brought a smile to her face but besides that, it seemed silly of him to not even have the basic, vital information about himself on hand for his crew, like blood type or known allergies…'Heh, allergic to bread,' she snorted aloud at the thought.

"Only yours." She finally replied slyly.

"...You better not have." He threatened quietly, unsure of her seriousness as she smiled at him.

"I was wondering how your 'Ass-Stickectomy' had gone. Shame it doesn't seem to have relieved your symptoms but hopefully Law's upcoming surgical fix for that micropenis issue of yours will do the trick." She said lightly, tossing the last of the used wrappers away and smiling wider at his unimpressed stare.

"Now who thinks they're funny?"

Laughing at his bored expression she mirrored his crossed arms, leaning back against the counter. "Well _I_ personally think the world's first successful penis transplant would be pretty interesting. Though I think it'd be more interesting to see just how you went about 'window shopping' for your new one."

Her expression was a mixture of laughter and genuine thought at the idea, Kotta couldn't honestly make heads or tails of her or her bizarre imagination sometimes.

Turning to the side entrance that lead to the imaging machinery next door as it opened, the poor man sighed quietly in relief as he watched his fellow medic walk in.

"Yo, what you guys up to today?" Dean greeted cheerfully, raising a hand in half-wave from the small box he was carrying.

"Oh, you know, using your Captain's Devil Fruit and surgical ability to give Kotta a bigger dick so that maybe he'll be happier and stop acting like one." She filled in nonchalantly, ignoring the sideways glower the redhead next to her gave.

Stopping in his move to set the small box down onto Law's desk, Dean's brows furrowed as he glanced up at the ceiling, apparently processing and absorbing that before pursing his lips together and resting his load down.

"I suppose it could be done. The theory is there - chop that one off, slap another one on, Captain is skilled enough to do a little manual neurological rewiring and voilá, should be up and running in no time." He smiled at Kotta. "No pun intended." He added, winking at Nayla as he saw her commonly added phrase practically begging to spill from her grinning lips and beat her to it.

"Shame though, I think we could give him a twenty foot cock and he'd still act like he does to ya. Sorry, lil lady." Jeff sighed sadly, making his way into the room behind Dean.

"Hey, Jeff! What are you doing up here?" Nayla greeted brightly, happy to see another friendly face.

"Well, Connor was up here tweaking all the medical doodads next door so I came up to look for him. Chefpants here told me I just missed him though, that he's already gone back down somewhere." Jeff explained, resting his elbow onto 'Chefpants' shoulder as he stood from his stoop over the desk.

"Then go downstairs." Kotta cut in, not particularly fond of the amount of people within the medical rooms currently.

"Well, Sunshine, he also told me that you were looking for volunteers to help teach the lil lady a thing or two." Jeff beamed, unperturbed by the grumpy medic's unsubtle hint to leave his domain.

"Oh, really?" Nayla asked excitedly, looking at Dean for confirmation.

"Yeah, mentioned to some of the guys that you were looking for some heart and lungs to listen to, abdomens to feel. I swear I couldn't get a damn soul to offer to help poor Shach when _he_ was training, but they're all-"

"So, let's get started!" Jeff cut off, clapping his hands together and rubbing them as he started making his way over. "Where do ya want me?" He offered, looking around at the beds as he popped open the button of his collar.

"As I was saying." Dean spoke over him with a mild frown. "They're all a little _too_ keen to hop on a couch, get half-naked and have you feel 'em up." He said, nodding his head in Jeff's direction as he started unzipping his boilersuit, an unashamed grin on his face as he looked at her.

"Pig." Nayla sighed, shaking her head fondly as he started waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"I'd personally recommend _not_ asking for volunteers to learn on. Maybe just do it on Cap-"

"No." She bluntly refused the idea Dean began to suggest, not particularly seeing an educational outcome to feeling Law's half-naked torso...plus she felt a tad bit intimidated using her infantile skills on someone so advanced.

"Or just using Kotta."

"No." The man in question denied bluntly.

"And why not?" Dean challenged.

"I'm already doing more than my fair share by having to teach her in the first place, I don't want her to touch me-"

"Wow." Nayla seethed quietly, glaring at him and ignoring Jeff's offering of abs for her to prod as he held his boilersuit open for her.

"-and I would prefer to observe what she's doing to make sure she's doing it correctly. I can't do that as effectively if _I'm_ the one being examined."

"Fine, she can do it on me then." Dean sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat of the stubborn man.

"Aren't you busy?" Kotta pointed out, raising a brow at the box on the desk.

"Yes, I'm still going through the med stock - these bits are due to expire in the next month so I removed them by the way." He added gesturing to it and waiting for Kotta's nod of acknowledgement before continuing "And I'm on duty with Jake tonight downstairs. So I'm sorry, Nayla, not today for sure."

"Oh no, that's ok. It was just an idea, there's no hurry. Maybe I can find someone myself to ask."

"Right here." Jeff shot his hand up.

"Maybe...try Ichi, or Koush even. Jake may not be too great for an abdo exam - don't tell him I said that, but should still be good for heart, lungs, neuro...I'd stay clear of Pen, Shach, Connor, this one-" He gestured to Jeff who was eagerly waving his hand in her face. "-well actually, the rest of them. They all looked a little too eager to help when I mentioned it." Dean dismissed the rest of the crew as his brain failed to find anymore of the less perverse or less bashful ones that wouldn't be a little too happy about her leaning over them and touching them in a state of undress or that wouldn't erupt into nosebleeds during.

"Aww come on, gimmie a chance!"

Sighing at his loud whine, Nayla looked at Jeff sceptically as if trying to judge whether he _could_ behave himself before turning to look at Kotta for his opinion.

Getting nothing but a shrug from him in response, she sighed again. "Alright." She gestured to the nearest bed for him to sit.

"I'll get back to doing what I'm going next door. I'll be counting down the seconds 'til I hear a slap, so see if you can beat your last record of thirty-five seconds of behaving yourself around her." Dean muttered, eyes rolling as he turned and made his way back next door to finish sorting through their stock.

"Hey! It was _way_ longer than thirty-five seconds and I _can_ behave myself!" Jeff called after him in annoyance as he took his seat on the edge of the bed. "I just choose not to."

Tutting at his petulant comment and at his crafty grin when he turned back to her, Nayla tried to remain serious. Though it was often difficult to do with Jeff around.

"Alright, so, what do you want me to do?" She asked Kotta.

"Treat him as you would any other patient. Greet yourself politely, explain that you would like to examine his chest and obtain consent to do so. Then position and have him undress as appropriate and do a full examination of his cardiovascular, respiratory and abdominal system."

"All three?" Nayla asked with a perked brow, not expecting such a tall order for her first application of what she'd been taught.

"Too much for you?" The medic asked, a hint of mock sympathy in his tone.

"Not at all, Kotta-sensei." She smiled humourlessly at him at the nickname he didn't much care for. "Though it seems like it'd make more sense for me to do one system at a time to start with rather than all three."

"Like I said, too much for you?"

"You always this much of a jerk when you're teaching her?" Jeff asked, a little of his good mood dampened as he heard the tone the man took with her.

Sensing a possible escalation between the two of them early, Nayla quickly schooled her expression into a less irritable one. "Its fine, its fine. Lemme just get a stethoscope."

"If he's this much fun to be around during all the lessons he's given you so far then I honestly dunno why you're still taking them, lil lady."

Laughing under her breath at the way he spoke about Kotta as though he weren't there whilst staring at him, she felt a little better as she pulled the spare tool from one of the drawers. "Because I want to learn as much as I can whilst I'm here and he's the top medic on board, beside Law."

"Then why don't you ask Captain, you guys get on fine now, geez."

"Bec-"

"Because he's busy and because I sincerely doubt they'd get much in the way of 'studying' done together." The medic answered for her, prompting her to get a move on with a raised hand in Jeff's direction.

Rolling her eyes at his impatience, she made her way back over. "Talk to him like I don't know him or as if I'm treating one of the crew?"

"Definitely not as if you're here treating one of the crew, talk to him like you don't know him." Kotta instructed, a tangible sour note at the thought of her here doing the former in his otherwise bored voice.

Ignoring it, Nayla smiled politely at her 'patient' as he peeled his scowl off of Kotta to look at her. "Good afternoon, I'm Nayla, I'm here working with Dr. Kotta who has asked me to come and do a brief examination of your chest and stomach which will involve you having to remove your top for me. Afterwards, I'll report my findings to him and he'll be in to see you shortly. Is that alright with you?"

"God damn...that's just too cute." Jeff grinned at her polite, prim and proper demeanour, immediately breaking character.

"Give her consent." Kotta sighed, rubbing his face in frustration.

"Oh, right, yeah. Sure thing, doll." He winked at her cheekily, shuffling back onto the bed and slipping his arms out of his unzipped boilersuit.

"Be appropriate." The medic warned lowly, his patience already wearing thin with what he could see was a futile scenario.

"Was the intro ok?" Nayla asked him.

"It's fine, a little wordy but you included everything a patient would need to know. You _could_ offer a chaperone but I hadn't really made it clear whether you were to consider me within the room in this scenario or not."

Nodding and taking on board his feedback, she watched Jeff lie back and rest his hands behind his head, eyes falling onto the extensive shoulder tattoo he had that she enjoyed admiring. The dark twists and curls of an intricate tribal pattern interlaced with a dragon whose long, elegant body wrapped around his side and rest its head on his chest. She'd asked him once if it held any meaning to him, getting a shrug and a: 'Chicks dig tats' in response.

Scoffing at the formality, Jeff threw in his two cents. "Ya know, if I were you, I'd just waltz into the room, cut all the polite BS and say 'Hey baby, the doctor is in' and..."

Nayla furrowed her brows as she saw the deliberation on Jeff's face, as if he were deciding to voice something or not before he couldn't seem to help himself, broke out into a mischievous grin and finally did.

"...Is that what Captain says when he-"

Launching off of the bed's other side before her fist could connect to his face, he laughed at her expression as she frowned at him.

"Get out!"

"Aww come on lil lady, how could I not?" He shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to ask.

"Get out!"

"Look, I promise, I promise. I'll keep my mouth shut and take it more seriously this time, lemme jus-"

"OUT!"

Grabbing his slipping boilersuit he cackled madly, making a run for the next room as she started rounding the bed to get her hands on him.

Stopping her chase with an aggravated growl as he made it through the door she rubbed her forehead, not daring to turn around and look at Kotta's expression as she heard Dean's voice.

"Wow, nearly a whole forty seconds. Good for you." He commented dryly.

"Yeah, worth it to see that look on her face though _AND_ she didn't slap mine this time!" Jeff replied happily, quickly slamming the door shut behind him to further dissuade her idea of pursuing him to do so.

Grumbling under her breath and shaking her head vigorously to rid herself of the corny image of Law saying such thing as he...anyway, with a defeated frown she turned back to Kotta who looked entirely unfazed by the whole thing.

"I think I'll just wait for a day Dean's available. Can I practice suturing or something for the rest of today?"

"No. It's been near enough an hour, we're done." He declined without looking at her as he made his way past to the bookshelves behind his captain's desk.

"Wha-but! It's barely been forty minutes!" She gestured to the clock on the wall indignantly.

"It's not my fault you were late because you felt something else was more worth your time." He glanced at her pointedly as he reached the books, his look letting her know full well he was aware of what had kept her.

Snapping her mouth shut guiltily, she lowered her hand as she watched him turn away from her and neatly pluck two books from Law's storage.

"...Well, I - like I said, sorry for being late. I got a call and, well your Ca-" She shut it again as he shot her a look, resting the books down onto the desk before taking a seat.

"I'm not interested in your excuses. You know when your lessons start. If you aren't here at that time then that's really no concern of mine but I'm not obligated to give you any more of _my_ personal time to make up for it." He said briskly, opening one of the desk drawers and pulling out a notebook.

"...Fair enough." She conceded, clasping her hands behind her back with a disheartened pout, eyes glancing up at the extensive collection of books he'd drawn her attention to.

The evening was still young and she had a feeling the rec room would be roaring with laughter at her expense by now if Jeff had hightailed it down there, maybe a studious read _would_ be a good idea to unwind and settle her craving for a little more knowledge.

"Mind if I grab a book then?"

Not looking up from the one he had just opened, he lazily waved a hand to the shelves behind him in invitation, though didn't offer a verbal one as his ice blue eyes started running over the page in front of him for where he had last left off.

Shrugging a little to herself as he, as per usual, withdrew from her once their lesson was over, she walked over to the shelving as well, side-glancing at his selection for the night and at the notes he had taken from them.

Two very different books lay on the surface; one was the basics of dentistry and the one that lay open was the text about minkmen, one she had browsed through herself before.

It had been an interesting read, it lay out the anatomical and physiological differences between each known type of minkman and their human _and_ animal counterparts. It was designed to be a text that both a doctor or a veterinarian could pick up, meeting somewhere in the middle to adapt both professions' knowledge to treating someone of the minkman tribe. Though the only chapter of the text that had obvious signs of use and a lovingly dog-eared front page was for polar bear minks.

Apparently prior to finding this book on their ventures, Law had held some books for veterinarian treatment of bears and general texts about polar bears and although _this_ book was a far better upgrade, he'd still been displeased to find so little in the way of knowledge to best help his friend medically if ever he needed to.

It didn't worry Nayla in the slightest though. Considering how important Bepo clearly was to him, she was certain Law knew enough about human _and_ bear medicine and surgery to excel at giving Bepo whatever care he might need.

Smiling at the thought, she titled her head curiously at the other book lying in wait for Kotta. "Well I understand you brushing up on things for Bepo, but dentistry?"

"Yeah."

"How come?"

Refraining from rolling his eyes at the obvious hint of wanting to be left alone going ignored, Kotta spared her a glance. "You never noticed we don't have a dentist?"

"Well...I figured Law would just handle any teeth issues, I guess." She wondered aloud, only now just thinking of it herself.

"And he does, but it's an entirely different field to medicine, he can only deal with basic issues, like infection or pain, until we get to shore. Other things that need actual repair or dental work is another issue. At the moment the best we can do if we're far from shore and someone is in need of serious repair is to remove the tooth - which obviously isn't ideal. Which is why Captain bought the book in the first place."

Brows rising at the mental image of a pained crewmember being held down securely as Law 'Shambles'd out their aching tooth, she conceded his point. "So what are _you_ reading it for? He's not making you study it in his place or something is he?" She voiced unsurely, wondering if it was Kotta's task to become the crew's on board dentist

"Absolutely not, he never even once mentioned it to me. I know it's his intention to better his knowledge in this area but he's busy, he has more important things to spend his time on, the crew keeps getting bigger...he's only one man, I'm just trying to lessen his burden for him."

Painstakingly withholding her 'aww' at the man's quiet admission, knowing full well how much he would _not_ appreciate it, Nayla instead grinned to herself at his dedication to take it upon himself to help his crew and captain without being asked to.

"That's nice of you, Kotta. I'm sure Law appreciates it." Eyes turning back to the shelves in front of her, she decided to leave the man to his studies.

It felt as though sometimes, like now, they could just about get along with one another, but Kotta was a difficult man to read, nearly as difficult as his captain had been when she'd first met him.

Deep down, Nayla couldn't tell if he liked her even a little or if he simply accepted her presence because he had to. Some days he seemed ok with her, others he seemed to despise her. Some lessons he obviously tired of her company rapidly, others she almost felt like he genuinely engaged with her, happy that she had remembered something he'd taught or impressed she knew something already...then that'd be gone by the next time they saw one another. Maybe how he felt about her varied according to his mood. She wouldn't be surprised if he liked, tolerated and hated her on different days.

Admittedly thinking it were shame they couldn't do better, she settled for the orthopaedic surgery textbook, reaching for it (she inwardly enjoyed the gory illustrations of most of Law's surgical texts) when Kotta spoke up again quietly.

"Don't do that." He muttered, not looking up from his page as she glanced over at him.

"Do what?" She asked, fingers hovering an inch away from her chosen book, wondering if her selection was what he was opposed to for some reason.

"Talk about 'Law' like you know him. As if you'd know what he would and wouldn't appreciate." He snorted.

Brows un-knitting as she now realised what he was referring to, she shrugged to the ceiling with an aggravated sigh. It was always like this with the man, the moment she thought 'Hey, good for us, we aren't getting on too badly today,' he'd say or do something to prove her wrong.

It was infuriating, it was tiring, it was frustrating. No matter what she did, what she said, how she behaved or how long she'd been there, he always had some chip on his shoulder with her.

She'd tried simply being herself and letting him get used to her being there, agreeing with his crewmates that he'd drop whatever hostility he had with her eventually once he got to know her a little better. That hadn't worked.

She'd tried going the extra mile to be polite, respectful and kind to him. Offering help to prepare for lessons, to pack away after them, to give him a hand with his chores in the infirmary to allow him to make better use of his time as she did for his crewmates. That hadn't worked.

She'd tried matching his uncaring neutrality. Talking minimally, keeping a level demeanour and calm mood, simply entering his space when needed and leaving it when done, whether it be for lessons or when she felt like enjoying some peace in 'his' quiet lounge downstairs. That hadn't worked.

Then she'd just given up. She'd wondered why she was trying to win his approval or get on with him at all. To make lessons more pleasant? To make his crewmates or Law happy? To make _him_ happy? Her? To be friends with him? For her own shallow self satisfaction of being liked? When she couldn't answer that question was when she'd given up. What was the point of constantly trying to get along with someone who simply didn't like you and obviously didn't _want_ to like you?

Deep down, during the times that they did seem to be getting on better, she felt so sure that they could get along well if he allowed it. Even though she accepted that it was just a fact of life that not everyone in the world was going to like her or get on with her, it bothered her that he made a _deliberate_ point of not doing either.

"There's no need to get defensive. I'm sure you know your boyfriend better than I do and that even though he's fooling around with me right now, that he still loves you very much."

Shooting her a side-glance at her mocking tone, he slapped the page he was turning back down in an uncharacteristically early show of his annoyance with her before turning in his seat to glare at her openly.

...

"I've had enough of this constant, underlying bullshit from you. You got something to say? Then just say it Kotta." She finally demanded, crossing her arms and tiring of his silent, assessing stare.

"What are you to him?" He asked bluntly, apparently also tired of their flimsy civil façade as he cut right to the chase.

Blinking in surprise of him actually saying anything and even more caught off-guard by what he'd asked, Nayla tried not to openly stumble for an answer.

"Ask _him_ that question." She snapped, immediately wishing she'd told him it was none of his business or something similar as she belatedly thought of the better response.

"Then what is he to you?"

Pursing her mouth firmly shut, she tried not to swallow around the uncomfortable lump in her throat that seemed to have suddenly appeared. It was a question she didn't dare ask herself these days, let alone have it thrown at her by someone else, especially not someone like Kotta.

"Do you even know? Or are you just too deep into your own game to care?"

Narrowing her eyes at him as he got up from his seat, she stood her ground.

"What? Someone who can't ever seem to stop talking suddenly can't speak? I asked you a question. What is Captain to you? A toy? A source of amusement? Something to keep you entertained until you bore of him and move on?" He asked neutrally, his ice blue eyes darting over her as he slowly approached, seeming to be reading her body language and expression for his answer.

" _You_ , of all people, have no right to ask me such a thing. I don't have to answer you, at all." She ground out, turning on her heel to leave before he could get any closer to her.

"I warned you long ago not to try manipulating my Captain." He said quietly, knowing that she'd still hear.

"This again?!" She whipped around on him. "Are you still so sure you have me pegged as some manipulative bitch after all this time, Kotta?! _Who's_ trying to manipulate your Captain?!" She hissed at him.

"You are."

"Wha-HOW-?" Pressing her fingertips to her temple she closed her eyes with an aggravated groan, trying to settle her temper and lower her voice. "No one is trying to manipulate your precious captain, Kotta."

"Yes, you are. You manipulate everyone on board. The well-meaning idiots are one thing, but the Captain? That doesn't sit well with me at all." He muttered darkly, crossing his arms as she had.

"Have you actually _met_ Law? No one manipulates him, he's his own man. As strong-willed and stubborn as they get. If I've only known him half a year and already know that and you think _I_ don't know him well enough? You don't know him worth a _damn_ then if you think I'm capable of doing such a thing." She seethed, lowering her hand but was met with only a silent stare. "Honestly, for someone who's so besotted with their admirable, almighty captain, you sure do think so little of him."

She could see him clenching his jaw beneath the shadows of the lowered brim of his cap but he said nothing. Taking that as her cue and opportunity to leave, she turned to do so once more.

"You don't care about anyone on this ship."

Pausing in her steps, Nayla contemplated ignoring him and continuing on her merry way. Leaving the room, leaving the conversation and leaving whatever animosity he had brewing for her unsettled.

Unfortunately for her, her curious nature would simply eat away at her if she did. Wondering what he'd meant, what he'd wanted to say, what thoughts he'd kept to himself about her - festering all this time unspoken. If she left now, she was certain he wouldn't bring it up again. That she'd come back for her next lesson or bump into him again around the ship and they'd go back to their usual brisk exchanges as though he hadn't ever tried to confront her with what had been on his mind.

Deciding for her own mind's clarity, and maybe partially for his sake, that she'd best just get whatever this was with him out in the open and over with already, she bit the inside of her cheek, willing her tongue to stay still as she turned around to face him again.

"...You don't think I haven't noticed?" He continued quietly, meeting her gaze. "All the times we've ever confronted enemies and you've stayed inside? You've never fought alongside us, not once. You don't care about this crew, you don't care what we're about or where we're going, what our plans are, what we want to accomplish. You don't care about this ship that _we've_ built, that _we_ call our home. You don't care about anyone else or anything else here but yourself."

Nayla warily noticed that he'd begun moving towards her slowly again as he spoke but paid it no mind, not wanting him to think that she felt in anyway intimidated or threatened by him.

"All you care about is getting your kicks and getting off. Getting the food you like, getting the knowledge and skills our crew has to offer you, getting pampered, spoilt and waited on by a bunch of kind-hearted fools, getting a free ride, a free place to stay, mooching off of every one of us until you get bored. You know how they'll feel - how Captain will feel when you decide you're done with being indulged like a spoilt little princess and leave, but you don't care what damage you'll cause on your way out as long as you get what you want in the meantime. That's just the type of person you are."

Not for the first time, she felt as though Kotta were thinking of someone else when he looked at her and having no choice but to tilt her head up slightly as he came to a stop at a menacing height in front of her, she met his gaze defiantly, though this was the first time she'd ever seen anything akin to true heat, anger or passion in his usually bored stare.

"Apparently I'm the only one aboard this ship that sees you for what you really are, Nayla. A bored, lonely, homeless, manipulative, sad little woman with nothing else going for her in life and nothing better to do with her time than to take advantage of the kindness and hospitality of _my_ crewmates. And I don't like it." His tone descending into something sinister, though he made no move to act on it.

"Are you done?" She asked bluntly, though didn't allow him the opportunity to say anymore, he'd said plenty. "Because I'm just _dying_ to set you fucking straight."

Waiting a moment to see if he'd remain silent, willing to listen to her response, Nayla took a deep, calming breath as he did, trying her best to keep her anger at his nerve to say even half of what he'd said to her at bay.

"Firstly, don't you _ever_ presume to know what my intentions are, Kotta. Secondly, _your Captain_ is why I'm here - and I'm not talking about how I got dragged on board. _Your Captain_ wants me here and he wants me here for a reason that I can't discuss with you."

"Right, these 'jobs' of yours." He scoffed softly.

"That's right, and those 'jobs,' of mine is how I _earn_ my keep here and when I'm not working? I'm helping out around the sub. The knowledge, training and skills I'm getting whilst I'm here? Help me to do my jobs for _your captain_. As for leaving? Again, _your captain_ will be the one that decides when I go, because unfortunately for you-" She prod the tip of her index finger to his chest as she noticed him look away in disinterest at her ranting in obvious disbelief. "-I have no intention of going anywhere before Law says so."

"Do you even really do jobs? Or do you just go away for a little while to make it look like you do? Is that just something you and Captain cooked up to save face in front of the crew?" He slapped her finger away irritably, lowering his face to hers with a nasty snarl. "Because from where I'm standing, there's only one thing he wants you for and that you actually do for him to 'earn your keep' on this ship."

"...What are you saying, Kotta?" She ground out carefully, matching his snarl as he got in her face, daring him to voice his implication out loud.

"I'm saying. That you are nothing. But the Captain's whor-"

Quickly regaining his senses after the harsh slap he'd received, he grabbed Nayla by her wrists tightly to restrain as he bore down on her.

"Don't think that just because you're a woman that I won't hit you back, you temperamental little bitch." He hissed venomously, struggling to keep himself from doing just that as he belatedly felt the sting on the side of his face and the ringing in his ear.

"Then do it, show me what you got, big man." She spat.

"Don't push me any further, _whore_. You'll regret it _._ " He spat back, their faces barely an inch apart and his grip tightening in his anger.

"Call me a whore again, I fucking. Dare you." She whispered dangerously slowly, unsure in that moment who had become more unhinged between them.

"Does it hurt to know that's all that you are to him? Just a whor-?"

Anticipating her to break a hand free with her ability to slap him again he summoned Haki to his forearm and blocked her strike.

Before he could even think to gloat at how well he'd learnt to predict her movements, his eyes widened as he felt himself lifted by the front of his boilersuit and slammed into the nearest wall, his back contacting it with a loud, metallic thud that resounded heavily in the room, his arm and leg catching the items on the countertop beside them and spilling them to the floor. Metal tools clanged noisily onto the tiles, a stack of trays clattered loudly to them and the few glass items that had been resting peacefully there smashed to fragments around her feet - his were no long on the floor.

It wasn't so much the sheer brute strength she'd summoned to have lifted and thrown him against the wall that had caught him off-guard, he could see the black markings on both of her arms that allowed her to do so, he'd seen them before. It was the eyes that paralysed him. A burning red that he hated to admit had just sent a violent, numbing chill through him.

"Do not push me." Almost snapped from his daze as she spoke, he swallowed thickly at the black lines he could see spreading over her body, curling up to her jaw line, wrapping themselves like black vines around her legs, though he watched that from his peripheral vision, he didn't seem able to pull his eyes off of hers.

"I don't know what your problem is or who I remind you of but suck it up." She demanded ironically calmly despite her current state, but the bubbling rage she felt was clearly heard in her voice. "The only reason - the _only_ reason, I have held off hitting you this long is because I know that deep down, all of this, all of this acting out of yours, is just your misguided way of showing how much you care about your crewmates and about your captain, but get this through your thick. Fucking. Skull. You hateful, little shit."

Lifting him up higher against the wall, she allowed her ability to flow freely and unchecked, it's unpleasant, dark aura spilling into the air from her skin, something she knew all too well he felt as the tightly-lipped man in her grip paled to an unhealthy shade, seemingly unable to summon a word of his own.

"Your captain _wants_ my help and YOU starting a fight with me like this will cause him conflict between what _he_ wants - what he has been so desperately working for for so long, and what is best for his crew. He'll second guess my being here and might decide to get rid of me before I can accomplish what I agreed to be here to do – or is that what you were aiming for all along? Is that what this sudden confrontation was all about?" She thought out loud, not putting it past the smart, conniving man and trying to read his expression but finding nothing but clammy, muted, shock.

"If so, you are more selfish than you can ever imagine. You obviously don't care about your captain's thoughts or feelings even half as much as you think you do if you can't see how much the jobs he has me doing means to him. Look at what lengths he's gone to and what he's put up with to keep me here! All this shit you're pulling right now? You are only hurting the one man on this ship that you're trying your damndest to protect, _not_ me!"

"N-Nayla?"

Looking over her shoulder at the nervous voice, she belatedly realised Dean was in the room, that he'd likely rushed in when he'd heard all the noise she'd caused by knocking things to the floor as she'd slammed his crewmate to the wall. She'd been so blinded and deafened in her fit of rage that she hadn't even heard the door open.

The shocked man visibly startled when she locked eyes with him, making her realise what she must look like, and feel like, in that moment. He'd never seen her full ability, no one had. The red eyes were unnerving, her aura was so dense the whole room probably felt like cold, foreboding nausea to them both. The only one that had dared to withstand the sensation and her appearance at this proximity without so much as a flinch and a cocky grin, was Law.

Feeling her anger nearly vanish as she thought of him, of the reality of what she'd just done to his crewmember, of what he'd think and say when he heard about it, she all but dropped the pinned medic, allowing him to clumsily stumble back onto his own two feet.

Pulling her eyes off of Dean with a deep sense of guilt and shame for him to have seen her like that, she wondered how long it'd be until he was in the rec room, telling the others of how she'd snapped, how she'd assaulted their friend and tore up the infirmary, of how she really was, of how she'd always held back her ability and how sinister, foul and gut wrenching it - she, really was.

What would they think of her now? Would they look at her differently? Would they ever forgive her? Would Connor still call her sweetie? Would Jake still give her that big smile as he called her hun? Would she still be Jeff's lil lady? Would Bepo be disappointed in her? What would Penguin and Shachi say if they saw her like this?

Sealing off the flow, she lift a hand to her face, rubbing it as she felt everything contort it, anger, frustration, shame, guilt, anxiety, fear and tears. Suddenly she felt scared, probably as scared as she'd just intentionally forced Kotta to feel, at the thought of what Law would do to her now.

Unable to look the redhead in the face, knowing that the side she'd struck was beginning to swell, knowing that his back was probably well injured, she instead glanced at Dean briefly as she made to leave the room. In desperate need of time alone to clear her head.

"Sorry…" Was all she could muster as her boots crunched over the shards of glass on the floor.

Reaching for the door, she pushed it open, looking up as she felt it hit an obstruction then get pulled open the rest of the way.

Law.

Her anxiety increased a hundredfold as his displeased, piercing stare met hers. Suddenly feeling violently sick, she pushed past him into the hallway, not daring to look back at him.

She couldn't bear to stay a moment longer to hear his two men behind her begin to tell him their recount of what had just transpired. She couldn't bear to see the expression on his face when they did or to hear what he'd say to her when they were done.

He'd be infuriated with her, he'd be disappointed in her and he'd have no choice. The one thing that she'd known, from day one on board this ship, was that any threat to his crew was something that he saw fit to get swiftly rid of.

She knew that she'd just made a huge mistake, one that had just shortened her stay aboard The Polar Tang significantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think it's unlikely anyone but Law is able to use Haki on a crew of 20? I know that so far the majority of the Heart pirates have been given little more than default minion status but a crew that size under Law, I have to imagine at least a few of them can use it, especially the obvious ones like Penguin and Shachi, so I figured, why not some others?


	77. Reaching understandings

'Oh, you are fucked.'

Nayla rubbed her bare arms, resting her chest to her bent knees as she sat forward to curl up in a mild attempt for more warmth.

'You are sooo fucked.'

Closing her eyes tightly she blocked out the breathtaking sight of the dark waters around her as she rest her head to her knees. It wasn't as if she could really appreciate the view from the vacant deck right now anyway.

'Super fucked. - Stop it. - ...and I don't mean in the good way. - STOP. IT.'

Sighing heavily, her breath warming the flesh of her thighs pleasantly for a fleeting moment, she tried pushing the thought from her mind tiredly, exhausted in her efforts to do so.

Her brain had been rapid-firing everything from what to do and say now - to Law, to the crew and to what  _they_ would say and do, to what her fate would be, to excuses, to explanations, to lies she could hope to weave, to frank truths she wanted to get off her chest, to whether she should go back and confront Law herself, to whether she should try to tell her side of the story to anyone willing listen to...just everything.

She'd tried to play out what would, or could, happen from now in her head. The worst case scenarios had Law finding her any minute and throwing her and her things off of the ship immediately...she hoped he'd spare her a lifeboat at least. The best case scenario?...Maybe she would be granted the mercy of being allowed to continue with them until the next island and then he would tell her to leave. Which she supposed she could understand.

Though they'd only just left the last island, so whether travelling aboard a ship full of people that were upset with her, or maybe even frightened and distrustful of her now until the next stop, day in, day out, was actually the 'best' case scenario she wasn't sure...Where would she sleep? Obviously not with Law. Back on his sofa? Would he kick her out into a cleared cabin? Or would he fear her being near his crew unattended as he had before?...Would anyone talk to her? Would she be able to explain -  _should_ she even try to?...Where would she take her meals?...Assuming she'd still be getting those…

Mind re-escalating into yet another frenzy of 'what ifs' with everything on the spectrum from her being absolutely fine and treated fairly by everyone aboard to the possibility of direct or indirect harm coming to her tonight, she swore under her breath, willing the mental bombardment to stop.

The more reasonable part of her brain rationally reminded her that she knew the men on board were good people at heart that they would do right by her, that she hadn't been all bad, that she'd done her best to help where she could, had shared laughs with them, had broken bread with them, to have a little more faith in them, that they'd remember she'd helped their captain…

Then the even more reasonable part of her mind told her that at the end of the day, the reality of it was that these men, as kind as they'd been to her, were still pirates, that they were still dangerous, violent criminals and capable of things she had a hard time believing them to be, just as they did of her. It also reminded her that she was not one of them and that, in the big picture, she had not known them all that long, not as long as they'd known each other, not as long as they'd known their captain or Kotta…

The more she thought about it, and the more she re-thought about it, the more she questioned what she really knew of the people she was travelling with and what they really thought of her and felt about her. The result of her actions kept dissolving into more and more worrying and extreme scenarios the more she dwelled on it...so she decided to stop dwelling on it. Or at least, tried to.

What was done was done and although she initially regretted not sticking around to defend herself when Law had shown up, she was now glad she had left. She would have responded too emotionally to anything said, she may even have said things she didn't really mean out of fear of his displeasure.

She'd given herself time to regain her composure, think as logically as she could between the emotional turmoil and really reflect on her position there and what she meant to anyone.

She realised how alone, vulnerable and reliant she was on the ship. She was not a crewmember. No one, including Law, had any obligation to her, but he  _did_ have obligation to see to the rights and safety of his crew. She was on her own when things went wrong and she had just done a good job of alienating herself completely from everyone on board.

This was about to challenge the strength and sincerity of the bonds she had built with every man on the ship, and she was annoyed with herself to find that she was genuinely scared to hear the answer. This was one of the many reasons why she made a point of living, working and moving alone, choosing not to stay around others she could grow fond of too readily; because what they thought of her and what they felt about her, started to matter.

She honestly wasn't sure what would happen to her now.

'Maybe all the nice things you've done so far will even out with Law wanting to murder you about now... - … - I mean, if there  _is_ a bright side to all this, it's that I'm pretty sure Law won't  _kill_ you. - … - Pretty sure… - Ok, you can stop trying to reassure me now.'

Uncertain of how long she had been outside, Nayla lift her chin up to rest on her knees, feeling the chilly ocean breeze that drifted past her and grazed her skin unpleasantly.

She was cold, she was tired, she wanted to go back inside to warm up and to sleep, but she suddenly felt as though she had nowhere to go...

Tensing as she heard the creak of the heavy metal of the upper deck's hatch door pushed open, Nayla pressed her back to the wall behind her, stilling her breath.

She had chosen to sit on the complete opposite side of the deck to the hatch; behind the housing of the ship's entrance, in the snug space between it and the railing that oversaw the lower deck. Well out of sight of anyone who may be looking for her through portholes or doors.

Hoping that whoever it was  _was_ simply up there to glance around for her, she waited silently for them to go back inside when they didn't see her, anticipating the sound of the door being swung closed any moment (hopefully not fully as she'd left it partially open to get back inside).

…

Not hearing anything at all, she released her breath quietly as she realised she'd held it, it wasn't as if it'd be heard over the waves around her and whoever was out on deck this late.

Daring to take a small peak around the corner to see if she could spot who it was, her heart sank into the pit of her stomach as her eyes landed on him. She honestly wasn't sure who she had wanted to see less in that moment; Law or Kotta, as the latter walked around the side of the deck towards her, seemingly oblivious to her presence.

Even in the darkness, she could see the dulling redness of the swollen cheek she'd left him with. The taught, inflamed skin shone in the dim illumination the sub's exterior lighting offered.

He rest a hand to the wall beside, him, beginning to ease himself down to sit on the deck, his movement stuttering as he noticed her, making Nayla realise she'd been too preoccupied with staring at the damage she'd left behind to recoil back out of sight.

Their gazes locked for a tense, wary second before he pulled his away first and resumed taking his seat, resting the acoustic guitar he had brought with him to his lap as he crossed his legs and made himself comfortable.

Turning away from him as she felt a deeply angry, low-boiling rumble in her gut, she rest her back to the wall around the corner from him, closing her eyes in muted irritation of his presence.

There was both an overwhelming need to react to it; to demand answers, to yell, to express her hurt...and an overwhelming tiredness. Emotionally and mentally. A sense of futility and pointlessness in expending any of her little remaining energy in engaging with the man any further on any level.

Exhaustion winning out, she listened to him briefly check the tuning of his instrument before he began to strum its strings. A gentle, simple set of notes that struck the night air sharply and cleanly against the roaring white noise of the waves beneath them.

It was something akin to the start of a folk song that soon blended into something that reminded her of the slow beginnings of a soon to be impassioned and vigorous Spanish ballad, though it never crescendoed. Instead it levelled into a pleasant, lulling melody of chords, a touch of nautical influence that she could recognise from her times hearing the crew sing their shanties together making its distinct impression as he played.

Although she was relieved he didn't seem to have any intention of talking to her, she realised that she was inwardly enjoying the much needed, soothing music and appreciating his talent at a time that she really didn't want to.

Nayla got up, deciding to leave. If Kotta was up here, then he wasn't in the quiet lounge downstairs that she had specifically avoided as it was his usual den. The only other crewmembers she saw in there on rare occasion were people like Vereck, or Jean Bart and chances were, there was no one there at this time of night.

Beginning to walk briskly past him without sparing him a glance, she decided she'd be much happier to take those chances.

"Running away again?"

Sucking the inside of her cheek, she paused in her step and looked down at him, catching his ice blue gaze from beneath the dark rim of his cap as he continued to strum his instrument casually. His face was entirely neutral though his voice held a mild air of taunt to it, at how she had stormed out of the infirmary earlier.

The belated thought of running into Law or anyone else on the ship on her way in cropped up as she contemplated her options of remaining where she was or escaping his company.

Her sense of futility and exhaustion resurfacing, she reluctantly sat back down a healthy distance away from him, partly out of stubbornness of his comment.

"...What are you even doing here?" She grouched out, refusing to look at him as she stared over the railing, taking deep, calming breaths as she watched the moon shimmering over the waves that met the horizon.

"I could ask you the same question. Though, now I guess I know why the hatch was left open." He replied coolly. "...Sometimes when it's clear out, I like to play. It soothes me. If you have a problem with that, then you  _can_ go back inside."

Minutes passed without further comment, which she was thankful for, as she listened to him play. Her temper gradually settled back down to nothing and she soon realised she could feel the coldness of the night air again as she sat forward from the wall behind them and hugged her bare knees.

Resting her chin to her arms, she sighed deeply, blinking the silver sheen of the ocean in and out of view as her mind stilled again, superficially appreciating the increasingly more intricate chords and notes of the melody being played.

She found herself stealing glances at the man sat beside her, his injured left cheek facing her direction. Eyes running over it, she unfortunately felt a pang of guilt as she wondered if she had really hit him that hard. She wondered if he had put ice on it and wondered why he didn't continue to do so...maybe that  _was_ the result after ice. She'd obviously been extremely angry with him if even she hadn't noticed how hard she had struck him.

Swallowing thickly as her mind's eye envisioned Law's expression as he examined the damage she'd left behind, she quickly darted her eyes down to the guitar he held instead, only now registering why some nights in the rec room, she had noticed it absent from amongst the other instruments there. She had never cared enough to question why.

Despite knowing the guitars were his, she'd never once connected the dots that he had taken them to play them elsewhere. Maybe he came up here to do so more often than she'd ever realised...

"You're trying to learn, aren't you." He asked blandly, seeming to know her eyes were watching how he played, though he didn't look at her, his own eyes watching his left hand as his fingers worked its way through the chords of the song he played skilfully.

Wondering for a long moment whether or not to humour him with a response at all, she eventually did.

"Maybe…" She smiled meekly as he lifted his head to deadpan at her. "...I already know how to play though, or at least I did…I learnt as a child."

"I never knew...Lost interest as you got older?" He asked, a brow perked in genuine curiosity of something he hadn't realised they had in common.

"No. Hit puberty, nails." She answered lazily, raising a hand in illustration.

Looking at the long red tips and realising how her vanity impeded her being able to play properly, he snorted and shook his head, seeming to think it a typical answer of her.

'Or maybe of women in general,' she commented inwardly, bitterly reminded of how he seemed to have tarred her with the same brush as others, or at least one in particular.

"You sure do like to learn a lot of things…" He muttered quietly, reflecting on their lessons together and her insistence to persevere with them, even though he admittedly hadn't made things easy for her at times through his own displeasure of having to teach her.

After a long stretch of silence, he looked back at her, noticing she had taken to staring at the ocean soberly with no intention of replying to him any further. Understandably, she didn't seem to be in the mood for anymore small talk as she brooded about what would happen to her from now on.

"...Captain said you were enrolled as a medical student at one point."

She slid her gaze back to him though didn't offer to answer his unspoken question of whether what he'd been told was true or not.

"I didn't really believe him until we started lessons together…"

…

His strumming slowing to a near-stop as she remained silent, she seemed to be trying to understand why he was talking to her or where he was going with what he was saying.

"Why did you still want to learn stuff like that from me, what could you have possibly have done with that medical knowledge  _now_?"

Expression seeming to sadden at the blunt reality of his question, she turned away. "...I just still love it is all...I can see why you always said our lessons were a waste of time. You're right, they didn't really have any purpose other than me meeting my selfish, childish desire to still learn...I know that there's nothing I could really do with the knowledge now...I just...I always wanted to be a doctor…"

A small amount of pity struck him as she openly admitted her honest dream, now long gone, something she most likely already knew he could relate to.

"I know how much you hate teaching me, I won't force you to anymore…" 'If I'm even still around after tonight,' she thought miserably, another afterthought quickly following as she looked back at him. "Your captain told me you were a qualified doctor you know."

The medic didn't look all that surprised that she knew, though couldn't help but wonder: "Now what reason would he have to tell you that?"

"I was arguing with him." She admitted bluntly, earning a small huff of amusement from Kotta. "Back before our first lesson. I didn't want to be taught by you, I was demanding to be taught by someone else. I asked for Dean, he said Dean was a paramedic before he was a pirate, that his knowledge and skills were limited to emergencies and trauma only. I asked for anyone else on the crew, he said they all had less knowledge to offer than Dean did, that they mostly did technical assistance and had other main duties that he didn't want them pulled from."

"And then?" Kotta asked, a small, entertained smile on his face at how much she had tried to avoid working with him.

"He insisted that you were more than suited for it and that I'd get the best opportunity to learn with you because you're a fully trained doctor... and that if I kept 'throwing a tantrum' about it, that he'd be teaching me himself and that I'd  _wish_ I'd gone with you instead" She reluctantly smiled as the man chuckled, seeming to imagine his captain threatening such a thing.

It dawned on her then that it was probably the first time her and Kotta had actually sat down and talked normally to one another, in all the times they had been in the same room speaking. It was oddly comfortable, despite what had just happened between them, maybe they had both admitted defeat here. No one had won that exchange.

"...Are you really a doctor?" She finally wondered aloud as she watched him play, the question had crossed her mind numerous times.

"You don't believe Captain?" He mused.

"No I do, I just...find it hard to imagine someone as abrasive as you as a real doctor. Your bedside manner must have been shit." She was pleasantly surprised by the almost genuine laugh that got from him.

"I wasn't always so bitter." He chuckled.

"At least you admit you are…" She huffed, daring to ask another question that had crossed her mind many a time. "...If you were a doctor, why did you become a pirate?"

His playing paused for a long moment before he lifted his eyes to hers. It was obvious from her steady return gaze that she knew there was no happy answer to her question.

Although he hadn't been around when she had apparently divulged why she had failed to become a doctor herself, he'd overheard in snippets, the reasons why. He'd pieced together enough of what went wrong to understand she'd been through unfortunate experiences that had lead her to where she was today.

Unable to place why he felt as though he owed her at least something of an explanation, Kotta frowned at his stilled fingers and resumed the light melody he'd given an untimely end.

Maybe it was because he knew so much about her already and she knew virtually nothing about him. But then, that was her own fault for opening her mouth and exposing too much of her inner workings, not his own...Perhaps he just felt guilty about their confrontation - not for saying what he did, he'd spoken his mind...but at least for what he'd called her. That was unnecessary, he saw it on her face, how hard he'd hit a nerve...he hadn't expected that.

He'd expected her usual thick-skinned, bitchy, snarky, temperamental response...he hadn't actually expected to genuinely hurt her feelings at all. It surprised him that he felt bad at all about it, let alone as bad as he did.

…

Assuming she'd overstepped her boundaries and that she wouldn't be receiving an answer to her question, Nayla shrugged off his silence as his refusal to answer and instead began watching the sea again, sighing quietly to herself as she resigned to never understanding the man and what drove him any better than she already did.

"You remind me so much of her..."

Brows shooting up at the unexpected response, Nayla whipped her head back to him, almost unsure that the small, soft voice she'd heard even belonged to the man beside her.

"...Not in appearance mind you, she didn't look like a blow up doll." He gestured his head rudely to her chest, causing her to frown mildly at the dig. "Just in personality..."

Ignoring her slight irritation at him, she instead tried to focus on what he said carefully as he opened his mouth to continue, knowing full well that this would be a very rare, if not one-time opportunity, to hear something so sensitive from the otherwise closely-guarded man.

"I loved her personality…"

The level of sorrow in his voice would have suited that sentence more with its last word missing. There was an unmistakable gnaw of pity for the man as he kept his eyes on the strings he plucked, shielded beneath the brim of his cap as his playing slowed.

"She was always laughing and smiling, she'd always make  _you_ laugh and smile - even when you didn't want to. She was fun-loving, carefree, adventurous but a creature of comfort. She was sharp as a tack too, witty...She was friendly, generous, kind, everyone adored her. She could bond with just about anyone, always saying all the right things that would make you feel so special…"

Enough silence stretched after he last spoke that Nayla started to think he'd forgotten himself and what he had begun to say as he seemed to withdraw back into his own thoughts.

Just as she was wondering how to encourage him to say more and not trigger him into receding back into his usual hard shell, he spoke again.

"I'm from Ludum, North Blue. You ever hear of it?"

There was a more familiar strength to his voice as he looked up at her expectantly and Nayla found herself inwardly relieved to hear it. She wasn't sure how to handle an emotional Kotta, before a moment ago; she'd have thought it impossibility.

"Yeah, isn't it the place that's famous for casinos and gambling?"

"That's the one." He smiled slightly, seeming to have an understandable fondness and pride for his hometown. "Well, you know how it goes. Where there's gambling, there's loan sharks. Where there's loan sharks, there's usually organised crime. Ludum is no different, though it's no issue if you don't have a gambling problem."

"...Did she?" Nayla boldly asked, wondering where the connections between this mystery woman, where he was from and how he became a pirate would tie in.

He shook his head. "No, not by a long shot. Though, I did meet her in a casino."

"Did  _you_ have a gambling problem?" She ventured carefully, watching his expression.

Huffing at the sly look she gave him, he shook his head again. "No, casino's just have nice food is all. They're twenty-four seven and a dime a dozen on every street in Ludum. Great places for a single, junior doctor to have a decent, cooked meal on their way back to their empty apartment with no groceries in it after their shift...I met her at one I used to go to all the time. She was a waitress there."

"So...you got together, things went south and because I remind you of her you hate me?" Nayla hastily concluded, some of her irritation at the stupidity of how it sounded evident in her voice.

Abruptly stopping mid-strum, he looked at her in surprise as though seeing her for the first time. "You think I hate you?"

"Seriously? How would I  _not_ think that with the way you've treated me since the moment I got here?" She deadpanned at him, wondering why he wouldn't be aware enough to realise how his behaviour would come across to her.

The man's brows lowered and furrowed as he looked her dead in the eye, speaking with absolute earnest. "I don't hate you, Nayla. I never have...I'm scared of you."

Taking her turn to be shocked she felt a momentary loss for words as she registered that before finally summoning something to say. "But I didn't actually use my ability fully in front of you until today and I mean, you use Haki too so why would me being a little strong when I wanna be be so frigh-?"

"It's nothing to do with your physical strength. You could have the upper body strength of a wet noodle and you would still be the most dangerous person on this ship right now." He cut off firmly, with equally steely eye contact, rendering her mute once more as she looked at him stunned.

"Women are so unbelievably dangerous…" He murmured, more to himself than to her as he began to run his fingers over his strings again. "You only have to listen to the news to know how many violent deaths are caused by love, jealousy and betrayal. You only have to pick up a single history book to know how many kings, rulers, conquerors, cities and civilisations went to war or  _crumbled_ , all over a single. Woman."

Shutting up at the sight of his grim facial expression, she rest her hands back into her lap as she slacked her bent knees to sit with crossed legs instead, unsure of what to say to his strong, though not entirely invalid, opinion. Though if you asked her, she could easily argue it wasn't necessarily women that was the only issue, it was just as much men's gullibility, naivety or stupidity that was.

"Things did not 'go South' with this woman. There was nothing there  _to_ 'go south.' Nothing she ever said was real, nothing she ever did for me was real, nothing she ever said told me she felt for me was real. Right from the start, she was nothing more than a conniving, manipulative, little bitch with her own agenda...and I fell for it. Hook, line and sinker."

His jaw clenched as the bitter words were left to echo heavily between them, there was certainly no trace of the fondness that had been in his voice when referring to her before.

Letting what he said linger a moment longer as he played idly, Nayla couldn't help but feel...well, a little confused. She wasn't sure what to feel, about him suddenly opening up, about what he was telling her - or why, about being compared to someone who had done him wrong or about him being 'scared' of her.

She did feel good about him entrusting her with  _something_ about him, she felt a little more respected to finally be worth his time and words, but she did feel angry to be lumped in with this woman he spoke about...she didn't know how to feel at all about his 'fear' of her...Confused was where she seemed to mentally and emotionally land in that moment.

"How do you know none of it was real? Maybe that's just how you felt after your relationship ended." Nayla speculated, deciding that if she were unsure on how to feel about things, that perhaps hearing the rest of what he had to say would help clear things up for her.

Chuckling sourly, he gave up on the melody he struggled to maintain as his mind wandered to less pleasant memories. Lowering his hands into his lap as she did, he leant back against the wall behind them, tilting his chin up and resting his head with a tired sigh as he closed his eyes.

...

Eyes darting over his features and over the red stubble of his goatee as each of the short, tough hairs caught the moonlight at that angle, she found herself appreciating him as, well a person.

Between his nasty remarks, stand-offish behaviour, insults and continual attempts to dissociate her from the crew by making her feel unwelcome and reminding her that she was very much temporary, it had been difficult to appreciate that he was a person with his own thoughts and feelings as well. Maybe she just hadn't wanted to humanise him before, but right now, he was very much human.

Just as she was sure he wouldn't answer and would no longer talk, he finally did.

"We were together for nearly ten months. Everything was going fine...One day, she came to my place in the middle of the night, distressed, in tears. I'd never seen her like that before." He opened his eyes, sadness at the recall seeming to reflect in them as he stared out at the ocean beyond the railing. "She said that her father had gotten in over his head with a loan shark - now he  _did_ apparently have a gambling problem, which was why I had never met the man up until then. She told me that she'd been contacted by the criminal syndicate that had lent him the money, asking for it in exchange for his safe return but that she couldn't possibly pay back the amount he owed and she was asking me for help."

"She used you for money?"

A sardonic smile made its way onto his face as he kept his gaze on the distant waves. "I'd only just graduated, I was still only a junior doctor. I had more student debt than cash and more minus numbers than plus numbers on my account balances. She'd  _really_ have been barking up the wrong tree if she were after money." He chuckled at the thought. "But she already knew as much and I told her that I couldn't help, that she had to call the police."

"Obviously her dad would get offed if she did." Nayla tutted immediately.

"Exactly what she said. She begged and cried and pleaded for me to at least go with her to talk to them. To try to reason with them, to try to buy her dad more time to pay them back, anything...Eventually, I agreed."

"You really went?" She asked in shock.

"I couldn't stand to see her cry like that...Stupid move on my part."

"...Weren't you scared?"

"Terrified, I didn't even know how to fight back then."

Nayla almost couldn't imagine the man to be so soft as to let a woman's tears move him to such recklessness; it probably spoke to just how much he must have cared for her. She was honestly starting to feel bad she had ever teased him about being bitter over an ex; sometimes it wasn't fun to be right.

"She led me downtown to some casino that particular mob owned, they were a notoriously vicious one, one of the biggest in Ludum. The top dogs were all living it up in the lavish backroom of it."

"What did you say when you got there?"

"Not a lot, just pleaded for some understanding and some time, for her sake. When I couldn't offer to pay in place of the man, the mob boss proposed a different solution to let him off the hook...It wasn't as if injured, sick, criminals could just waltz into a hospital, right?" He asked her cryptically.

"You were a mob doctor?!" She whispered, aghast.

"Yeah…" He replied quietly, resettling his forgotten instrument back to his lap as he chose to play again.

Realising she was still staring at him in disbelief, she shook her head and pulled her eyes off of him to her own hands. His were probably as sullied as hers; treating and saving the lives of some of the most violent, unforgiving criminals the world had to offer.

"...Did you get stuck there, working for them after your relationship ended or something?" She asked, almost unsure she wanted to hear how this story ended or how he'd been so deeply burned by the woman he'd once loved.

He broke out into a bitter smile and then a chuckle at the question, there was no humour in it though, just a cynical dryness that was almost uncomfortable to listen to.

"Far worse." He looked over at her, a mixture of anticipatory amusement at her impending reaction and hurt in his expression. "The mob boss  _was_ her father."

Nayla could feel her facial expression fall, the numbness at the realisation of what that meant washing over her unpleasantly as it all sunk in and connected.

"She never loved you...she headhunted and manipulated you from the day you met, to recruit you into the syndicate…"

"Bingo." He smiled grimly. "...Took me nearly a year after starting to work for them to realise it too."

"She kept it up for that long?"

"Oh yeah, she played the apologetic, supportive, grateful girlfriend role perfectly. Coming home to her, she'd help ease the pain of working my two jobs, the guilt I felt, the tiredness of my round the clock on-call duties to go pluck a well deserved bullet out of some jackass's chest in some ramshackle theatre in a warehouse basement with no serious surgical training under my belt...but eventually, she got tired of the charade and moved on. I was well and truly incriminated and indoctrinated by then anyway, they didn't need her to keep on manipulating me anymore."

Able to understand what it felt like to have someone she truly believed loved and cared for her suddenly drop her as though she were meaningless, Nayla bit her lip at the empathetic pain she felt for him.

"...How did you get out, Kotta?"

"Honestly? I didn't. I had to be rescued. Things were getting worse and worse. At first they supplied the meds and tools I needed, then they stopped and decided that seeing as I already had hospital access, that I should be able to get that stuff for myself. So I had to start stealing to meet their needs...Then they started demanding I do procedures and treatments I had no experience of, I'd not graduated that long ago after all...Obviously failed multiple times, some of their people died under my amateur care...the beatings for that were pretty terrible…" He ignored the way she her head whipped around to him as she heard that.

"The beatings for failing to steal that extra bottle of opioids or thousands of berries worth medical tools weren't much better...The beatings for showing up later than their liking when they'd call and wake me at four o'clock in the morning to rush down were no picnic either...Worst part of those were that I had no choice but to treat myself, poorly. Couldn't exactly explain where my injuries came from to another doctor, huh."

Watching his eyes flicker to an old scar on the back of his forearm, one of a few she had noticed him to have that she had simply assumed to be an old battle injury she pursed her lips tightly. She'd honestly had no idea that he'd ever experienced anything close to what he must have, she wondered if she'd have been more patient and understanding of him if she had.

"Did the cops take down the mob or something? Who finally helped you?" She asked, hoping to hear about his uplifting, saving grace rather than anymore of the man's suffering and feeling relieved when his mouth pulled into a genuine smile.

"Who do you think?"

Her eyes widened at what seemed like an obvious answer now that she had asked the question out loud. "Really? Law?"

"Yeah."

"What...Well how, I mean why would Law even know about you to help you?"

He chuckled a little at her obvious fluster of excitement to hear how his captain had saved the day. "Well, the Heart Pirates were smaller back then, they hadn't made much of a name for themselves yet, but I recognised who he was. They were stopped at Ludum's docks, he was strolling around the city like he owned the place, with that big sword of his." He grinned a little at the memory though his expression quickly took on a sober edge again.

"Usually, after a 'disciplining,' I wouldn't be able to make it all the way home right away...I used to sit in the alleyway behind their warehouse and rest. Patch myself up with whatever medical supplies I could smuggle back out with me under my clothes…"

Nayla grimaced to herself, not wanting to imagine the state a bunch of mobsters would have left him in once they were done.

"...I'll never forget the first time I saw Captain. How tall, strong and larger than life he seemed as he and his crew strut by that alley. No one else noticed me as they made their way past but he did. We locked eyes for a second, but he didn't say or do anything. When I think about it now, maybe it was because he didn't want to draw the others' attention to me, in what was obviously the lowest point in my life. A doctor in way over their head, sitting between trash cans in a festering alleyway using dirty bandages to patch themselves up all because they'd stupidly followed some girl down a rabbit hole…"

Thinking back to the first impression she'd gotten of Law, she decided it wasn't all that different to his, inwardly wondering why she hadn't thought to ask a few others if Law's imposing demeanour had left the same initial mark with them too.

"About a week later, the same thing happened. I looked up when I felt eyes on me and found he was alone, stood still, hands in pocket, watching me from the sidewalk. But again he didn't say or do anything, just looked at me curiously for a long moment then left...But he has this way of making you feel as though he's taken in everything he needs to about you in just a glance, ya know?"

"Yeah, tell me about it." Nayla agreed in understanding, nearly rolling her eyes at the thought.

Catching her exasperated expression the corner of his mouth lifted with a humoured huff. "It's a curse to know someone like that, but a blessing too. He may always have a really invasive-seeming idea of how you feel and what you're thinking, but then he'll also know when you're hurting or when you're in desperate need of help. Even if you never breathe a word of it to him."

"...I guess that's true, I'd never really thought of it that way." She conceded with a small smile.

"Anyway, a few days after that. I was back in that alley-"

"A few days?" Nayla interrupted in disbelief of the frequency he found himself injured at the hands of his former employers.

Unsure of how to feel about the obvious concern and pity in her voice, Kotta simply shrugged, eyes focused on his fingers as he played slowly. "Hardly ever got beatings in the beginning, but between the tiredness, stress, lack of money, people at my job knowing something was up, suspecting me of stealing and threatening to have my licence taken away and the heartache I was still in, I'd started majorly underperforming at my mob jobs. So they'd really started laying in…"

Seeming to give up on his melody with a heavy sigh, Kotta rest his hand to the top of his guitar. "All of those miserable days had begun to just blend into one another, but that day I remember really well and probably always will...I sat there, all bloodied up with my back against that same, damn, grimy brick wall, staring at that same, damn spot of illegible graffiti on the opposite one. I remember sitting there for a long time, just staring at it before I eventually leant over and started trying to clean the gash on my leg. I remember that it was hard to bend forwards, that a few of my ribs had been broken that day...I remember stopping, and wondering why I was even bothering to clean a wound to prevent infection when I didn't even care about living anymore...I think I'd truly reached my limit that day. I'd lost and was losing everything. Everything I'd managed to start carving out for myself in life was in ruins and the way things were going, it was only a matter of time before I got killed."

Turning the head he'd leant back against the wall towards her, he smiled a little, despite the gravity of what he was saying. "...I'll tell you what I  _don't_ remember that day. I don't remember hearing the gunfire or crashing or yells of that mob getting slaughtered and robbed by a bunch of pirates they'd had the nerve to disrespect and threaten the previous evening at a casino. They took so much cash that day they had enough to set them up properly  _and_ get their sub totally refurbished." He chuckled.

"And you missed it all?" Nayla giggled, not needing a guess as to which pirates that'd be.

"Yeah, unfortunately...I didn't even realise what was happening inside until I noticed a pair of boots in my peripheral vision. Looked up and found it was that same guy again as he crouched down and stared at me, tapping the sheath of that big sword of his."

"Just staring at you?" She giggled again, imagining it in her head.

"Yep, just staring at me. I can't imagine what he must have been thinking of me in that moment and I don't want to, I must have had 'pathetic' written all over my face." He grinned all the same at the memory.

"He treated you?" Nayla asked knowingly.

"He did. He invited me back to the sub for treatment, said they'd been looking for another doctor for their ship. I asked him how he even knew I was one. He said that he could tell by the technique he'd seen me using to inject and stitch up my own arm the other day."

Nayla glanced at the scar on his right forearm again as he did, knowing which injury he was referring to now and admittedly impressed he'd managed to do such a thing one-handed with his non-dominant side and in the state he must have been in at the time. Law must have been as well she realised.

"When I asked him why me, why not any other doctor on the island, he said…" His voice trailed off softly for a moment as he seemed to choke up. "...He said, because I was the one that looked like I needed an out the most…"

Watching the man press his lips together into a tight expression as he suppressed the emotions he obviously felt strongly when repeating the words his captain had said to him that day, Nayla felt genuinely happy for him, for how incredibly fortunate he was to have been freed  _and_ taken in when he had.

"I owe,  _everything_ to that man. Everything." He said firmly, his voice back to its regular strength. "And I've decided to dedicate my life to him. To everything he stands for, to everything he could ever want, to everything he has built. Anyone that would disturb that for him would have to go through me first."

Surprised to find him suddenly levelling her with a stern, accusatory stare, she frowned, trying to pick her words carefully.

"Listen, Kotta. I'm sorry you had to go through all that, really, I am. I get it, I get why you'd be wary of me, but don't sit there and tell me that just because I remind you of  _her_ that it simply MUST mean that  _I'm_ just here deliberately manipulating everyone to suit my needs as well. I've learnt enough about you by now to know you're logical and rational and you KNOW your opinion of me isn't rational at all, don't you?" She challenged lowly, a bit of her earlier rage beginning to bubble back up, even more so now knowing what kind of person he was comparing her to.

The medic looked her over for what seemed like minutes, as though trying to decide the honest answer for himself for the first time. "...I understand that you didn't  _choose_ to be here, initially, but I do think that you've found yourself stumbling into a comfortable little niche that you're taking advantage of whilst you can."

Seeing her jaw clench and her expression pull into a frown, he cut off whatever angry response was on the tip of her tongue. "But...I will admit, that deep down...I do think that you care about or at least feel indebted to the people here...I know what you did for Captain, I haven't forgotten it."

"Then why would you say that I didn't care about anyone here but myself?" She snapped irritably, honestly feeling more irritable at how easily he admitted the flaws in his thinking than if he'd stuck to his guns...

"Because that's what I initially truly believed and even though I've seen evidence of the contrary since...I still  _want_ to continue to believe that you don't."

...

"...Are you stupid?"

He snorted at her unexpectedly blunt question. "I'm the only person left on this ship that still looks at you objectively and if I don't continue to do so, to look at you as a potential problem or a threat, then no one will - and believe me, after what I saw tonight, I'm NOT wrong." He added firmly at the protesting expression on her face. "We can't  _all_ just decide to like you and let our guards down...not when you have this much influence already. You underestimate the impact you have here, greatly...Especially on my Captain."

Snapping from her attempt to understand his complex inner thoughts about her, she groaned and rolled her eyes. "Again? Really? I'm  _not_ manipulating your Captain."

"...Maybe not intentionally." He admitted quietly, closing his eyes and resting his head back to the wall once more. "...You wouldn't know but believe me, you being here has an impact on him."

Falling into shocked silence, Nayla furrowed her brows in thought, wondering if it were true...She supposed it was in a way, everyone and everything influences everyone and everything to some extent, she was just...sure that he was exaggerating her effect...Perhaps he was understandably paranoid, given the impact one bad, selfish person had had on  _his_ life before.

Deciding not to confront him on that, she instead addressed something else he'd said that had bothered her.

"You know, for the record? I don't fight with your crew because I don't want the marines lumping me in with you and giving me a bounty...Because it'd really get in the way of any JOBS-" She emphasised firmly, pausing on the word to level him a look, though his eyes remained shut. "-I did after I leave. I'm not really interested in being a known outlaw."

"...Sorry I called you that." He finally said, knowing she was digging at his nasty insult of her earlier.

"Three times."

He cracked a small, amused smile at her testy tone. "Three times." Opening his eyes he lazily side-glanced at her, looking at her expectantly. "...Well?

"Well what?"

"Isn't this the part where you apologise to me for hitting me?"

"Pfft, no." She scoffed, crossing her arms and looking back out at the sea.

"No?"

"I'm taking a page out of your captain's book, I only apologise for things I'm actually sorry about."

He blinked at her in surprise before breaking out into laughter. "Is that right?...Well, I guess you  _do_ know him a little, huh."

She smiled despite herself as he chuckled, rest his hand back to the strings of his guitar and began playing again, falling into a comfortable, almost close silence with the man, letting her thoughts mull over all that had been said and had happened between them that night.

...

"That thing I saw you use today…it's making you ill."

Apparently, so was he as he seemed to piece together his realisation out loud for the first time.

Not expecting him to have said such a thing and not sure she wanted to affirm his calmly stated conclusion, Nayla instead tried to cautiously deny it. "...Just because your captain ran those tests, doesn-"

"Multiple times, over months, he never let us help him or look at the results...and you come back from those long jobs of yours looking awful…" He cut off whatever flimsy excuse was brewing, explaining his deduction with conviction and watching her expression carefully though she didn't open her mouth to confirm it either way.

"Has he found a way to help you?"

...

"He's trying...It's one of the reasons I chose to stay…"

Humming in understanding but deciding not to pry any further if she was clearly uncomfortable discussing it with him, he turned his attention back to his instrument, inwardly feeling a little worse about the accusations of being selfish he'd thrown at her earlier now. It seemed she had at least one valid reason to remain around his captain.

Feeling the familiar, unpleasant gnawing of apprehension in her gut resurface as her mind remained on Law - memories of waking up and seeing him hovering over her infirmary bed with a small smile when she finally woke, she gave in to her temptation to ask, fearing the answer.

"What did you tell him?"

Knowing she was referring to what was said in the infirmary after she left it, Kotta could easily read the underlying fear and concern in her eyes. Understandable he supposed.

…

"The truth." He finally answered.

"Everything?" She asked, wondering if he'd have been honest enough to have told him what he'd called her, wondering what Law's reaction would have been to it.

"He has a way of getting everything out of you whether you like it or not." He smiled grimly, not entirely happy about the fact either...

"...What did he say?" She asked, unsure she really wanted to know as she shifted uncomfortably in anticipation of it.

"Very little, actually…" He shrugged half-heartedly as he played, letting the relaxing melody fill the quiet that fell between them for a long minute before finally adding on:

"It's not usually a good sign...Captain is  _beyond_ pissed off with me...I don't think I've ever seen anyone on board make him as angry as that, other than Jeff."

Glancing at her as she turned to him, he deadpanned at the hope practically glistening in her eyes. "Don't look so happy about it. He's pissed off with you too."

Feeling a little sorry about disappointing her as she turned away with a heavy sigh, he decided to humour what he knew she'd have been most interested in hearing; what his captain had to say about what he'd called her.

"He said that I didn't have to like you…" He started, regaining her wary attention. "But that I  _had_ to respect you."

"...Did you refuse?" She scoffed.

"No." He answered seriously. "I told him that I already did."

"Oh, bull."

"It's the truth. Although I may not like you very much and it may not seem like it, I  _do_ respect you….At least for how good you are to my crewmates, for how surprisingly smart and resilient you are…and for how happy you make Captain."

Saying it out loud for the first time, Kotta wondered if in some way, he resented her for doing so in a way that he couldn't. He certainly resented the secrecy of her purpose on board the ship. He didn't understand why it wasn't something that was shared with  _him,_ or with Law's  _real_ crew...but his diligent loyalty stopped him from questioning his captain on such an issue. It was obvious his captain had his reasons for everything he chose to do, or not do.

Realising Nayla was staring at him in surprise, expectant of some sort of explanation, Kotta cleared his throat, pushing away the less pleasant insecurities in his head that made him want to reassess himself.

"I know you don't know Captain any differently to how he is now, because you obviously had no way of seeing him before you were here...He smiles more, he laughs more, he's always exuding this...sense of inner content these days. I feel as though I'm looking at a man who's got everything going his way right now. He looks just like  _I_ did back then...I don't ever want to see him upset, not over a woman."

"Like I said, Law isn't like that - and not that it's any of your business, but  _we_ aren't like that...Besides, Law isn't exactly emotionally vulnerable, you should know-" She starting dismissing, only to be interrupted.

"He thinks he's smart enough to know when he's in too deep. He thinks he'll be able to completely control his emotional distance to you and that's exactly the same thing  _I_ thought about her...But it just sneaks up on you so damn fast." He muttered the latter, more to himself than to her.

He noticed her roll her eyes in disbelief, obviously unconvinced. "You know, Captain was so disturbed over whatever it was you guys fought about before you went to Pugna."

Pressing her lips together tightly, she took in the seriousness on the man's face. As far as she knew, what had happened that night had stayed firmly between her and Law, no one on board knew he'd taken her heart just as much as no one on board knew about their physical confrontation when they next saw one another.

"He hid it well but I know my Captain. He was distracted, withdrawn, moody and it affected how he ran this ship where mine and my friends  _lives_ depend on how he does it...I don't care how unemotional you think Law is Nayla, but even the strongest of us have feelings and whatever had gone on between you two had deeply upset him. You already have way more influence on him then you know, than even  _he_ seems to be aware of and  _that's_ what makes you being here dangerous. I don't like it and I don't want you here. The longer you're here the more problematic you'll be. Even if you have good intentions, even if though he wants you here for some purpose of his but whatever it is, it's not worth it."

Even though he hadn't said it in a nasty or malicious way, Nayla found the words still stung a little to hear, even if she didn't fully agree with them, even if she did feel he was exaggerating or being overly paranoid...Not that his opinion on whether she affected his captain or not mattered at this point.

"...Well I don't think you'll have to worry about it much longer. I'll probably be thrown off this ship as soon as possible. You finally got your way, and  _I_  don't think your captain or your crew will be half as broken up about it as you seem to think so."

"...You really think that?"

"Kotta please, some girl that you guys have known half a year? Yeah, I think your friends and your captain will cope just fine." She scoffed. "Will probably have forgotten me by the next island...Will probably forget me all together by another six months." She mumbled to herself, folding her arms over her chest with a deep sigh as she leant back against the wall.

"...You  _really_ think you don't mean anything to anyone here, don't you?" He asked, stopping his tune in honest shock at the realisation as he'd pegged her to be an arrogant, self-assured woman that thought the world of herself and her appearance.

When she didn't answer but her expression seemed to sadden, he could feel he'd touched on something he hadn't known was there. Though admittedly, had he bothered to even try to get to know her as the others had, maybe he would have.

Feeling a little ashamed at the deliberate distance he'd put between them for so long and for what he was now beginning to realise was a misguided and irrational dislike of her, he frowned, already regretting what he was about to say.

"I'll remember you." She visibly tensed at his quiet words but didn't respond. "Even if you got thrown off the ship tonight. I'd remember you."

Furrowing her brows in uncertainty, she finally glanced at him, trying to read the sincerity of what he said, wondering whether he was just saying something to make her feel better - then wondering why he would do such a thing.

"...Why would you say something like that?" She asked sceptically.

"Because it's the truth. The first woman we've had travel with this crew? The first person to have ever made me lose my temper like that? - What happened wasn't premeditated by the way, you just finally got too far under my skin." He clarified on a side note, remembering her earlier accusation of him purposely trying to get her to act up to get thrown off the ship.

"You're also my first real student, the others don't really count because they just needed basic brush-ups on their trauma training...You were the first person I actually had to plan lessons for and the first one that listened to and learned from me so eagerly...Actually made me feel pretty proud when you remembered things I'd taken the time to teach you…" He smiled a little as she did, leaning in closer as though to tell her something secretive. "I'll also probably remember being manhandled and nearly crushed like a bug against a wall by a woman half my size for the rest of my life, so believe me,  _I_  won't be forgetting you."

Laughing at what she was sure was the first time she'd ever heard the man make an honest joke, she touched her cheek as she felt something brush past it, realising it to be a tear as her fingertips came back wet. Surprised at how rapidly it had formed and fallen, she turned away, wiping her eyes with both hands quickly.

"Sorry...I didn't even feel that." She apologised quietly.

He said nothing to further her obvious embarrassment as she rubbed her eyes clear, unsure where her tears had come from or how deep rooted her fear of being insignificant was but choosing to leave well enough alone. Whatever underlying issue he'd touched upon there, certainly wasn't any of his business.

Clearing her throat, she sniffed sharply, keen to change the subject. "Speaking of people I've emotionally scarred...Is Dean, does Dean ha-I mean does the whole crew hate me now?"

"Actually, Captain explained to us that you'd prefer to keep that party trick of yours to yourself and ordered us both to keep what we'd seen quiet. So no, the crew don't know and won't know anything about your power…'thing,' that you apparently have going on."

Relieved to hear it, she exhaled in a deep sigh of relief, knowing that the rec room downstairs and its occupants weren't abuzz with rumour, speculation, fear or disgust of her ability.

"And Dean was actually more worried that  _you_ disliked  _him_ now, because of his reaction. He was very concerned about how upset you were when you left."

'Bless him,' she thought to herself, imagining the concern on his face as he asked about her. The man was sincerely as sweet as the treats he made.

Her mind drifting into a pleasant lull as she thought of him, and of the others, she curled her legs back up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as Kotta summoned the start of another gentle melody to his fingertips, allowing her the time to think quietly to herself.

...

"You know this is all well and good and you can put it off for as long as you want, but Captain is looking for you."

Her short-lived peaceful reprieve interrupted by the grim reality of her near future, she groaned. 'What else is new?' She thought dejectedly

"...Ya know, the longer you keep him waiting, the worse it'll be for you." Kotta cautioned.

"I think...I'll just put it off a little while longer." She mumbled, burying her face into her knees with a sad frown at the inevitable confrontation that was fast approaching her.

"I never thought I'd see the day you preferred  _my_ company over Law's..." He chuckled quietly.

"...Me either." She admitted, unable to help the slight smile that made its way onto her face despite her situation.

* * *

 

Gnawing her lower lip, Nayla tried one more time to pull her hand away from attempting to squeeze her anxious energy into her forearm long enough to knock on Law's door.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so nauseated, so nervous. Maybe she hadn't felt this way since she was a child waiting to be scolded severely by a parent or teacher. It had been such a long time, years probably, since something had made her feel this way.

Not even the tension and anticipation of a daring or difficult job had come close to this. That was more of a level of excitement and adrenaline, this…

She closed her eyes and lowered her hand with a silent sigh, feeling pathetic...Since when did what Law say or do to her mean so much that it terrified her? When did she unwittingly give him this much power over how she felt?

Shifting her weight on her feet, she idly wondered how long she'd been trying to drum up the courage to face him. Then she idly wondered again why Kotta had told her all that he had.

He'd already spoken to his captain tonight, he obviously knew where Law was emotionally and mentally now, how mad he was, and probably what his plans were for her...Maybe Kotta had spoken to her as some form of indirect apology, or simply an explanation for his actions...or to bury the hatchet without a sense of regret because he knew it was likely she would be promptly escorted off the sub at the nearest opportunity.

…

That would be fine. It would probably be what was best for her and for everybody, to avoid this ever happening again, to avoid her getting any more emotionally attached to being there and to the people around her.

Frowning at her cowardice and firmly denying that this behaviour was like her at all, she took a deep breath and shook off her sense of dread. Reminding herself that she was an adult and that she'd take on whatever the consequences of her actions may be with level-headedness, calmness and dignity, she raised her hand again to knock.

"How long do you plan on standing out there, Nayla-ya?"

Blinking at the door she was just about to knock on, she lowered her hand numbly to its handle instead, swallowing thickly to stop her from needing to do so in front of him and schooling her face to something that would hopefully betray her inner turmoil as she belatedly tried to analyse the tone of his voice already fading from her ears.

Law sounded neutral, though terse. The '-ya' suffix was back - never a good sign...but that was all she could glean of his current mood before she slowly pushed open his door.

Peering around its edge with some paranoia and caution as it swung into his room, she looked for him in his usual chair only to find it empty, but immediately set her eyes onto him stood by his desk instead; arms crossed, hat removed, hip leaning to its edge, his nodachi not far behind him she couldn't help but notice, resting against his bookshelves.

A firm mask of neutrality was in place on his features as he watched her enter the room and quietly close the door behind her. She hadn't seen one that cold, analytical and calculating in a very long time...He was really pissed off.

The confirmation of how upset he was with her made her legs feel as though ice water had just flooded through them. She stood where she was, not daring to venture towards him any further and avoided his steady, piercing gaze, though kept a close eye on his movement.

…

A thick tension filled the room as he stared at her in silence for what felt like an eternity and as she failed continuously to meet and hold his line of sight as he analysed her. She could feel the way he was taking in everything about her body language and the facial expression she tried as best she could to keep firmly under control under his intense scrutiny.

At least he didn't seem like he was in any rush to beat her to a pulp. Though that should have been a given, she knew deep down that he didn't want to hurt her and he'd proved as much many a time, but the line between wanting to and having to was one that she wasn't all that sure he wouldn't cross if he felt it necessary.

She had no doubt in her mind that it still stood that if she were to attack his crew that he'd take her out without blinking...so maybe it was just that he didn't deem what had happened earlier to be  _much_ of an attack?

Slightly more hopeful at the thought, she felt a little of the tension in her muscles ease as more and more time passed without him making any move towards her, though she was reluctant to let her guard down just yet.

Eyes lingering on the forearm she'd reddened in her nervous habit outside his door for a moment, Law finally broke the silence. "Nayla." Her gaze snapped up to his from idly staring at the carpet between them at the sound of his voice, as though almost startled by it. "We need to talk, have a seat."

Glancing at the sofas on either side of her briefly, she decided to use neither, she didn't feel like sitting down whilst Law was angry and on his feet.

"I think I'll stand." That hadn't sounded as firm and as confident as she had hoped, her voice sounded much too meek for her liking.

Saying nothing for a long second, as he contemplated at her, Law then decided to move on with what needed to be said. "I'm not happy with you."

She'd already known that, so why had those five words spoken so calmly and quietly stung her so badly, she almost felt her body cringe guiltily at the simple statement.

...

"What happened in the infirmary?"

"...Didn't you already ask Kotta this question?" She asked, confused as to why he would even listen to  _her_ side of the story over his crewmember's.

"I'm asking you."

Trying to search for how serious he was about actually hearing her out in his eyes, she wasn't able to but she was confident it wouldn't matter and that the end result would be the same. To her, it was obvious he'd already come to a conclusion on how to handle this and he'd had more than enough time to decide what to do with her. Relaying her version of events would make no difference, not now.

Unwilling to humour a superficial attempt on his part to give each party involved a fair say, she shook her head. There was no point in expending that kind of energy. He knew what had happened and he knew, as she did, that whether she were in the right or not that she was not his crewmember. His crewmember would always win; he would always side with his own over her, no matter what she had to say.

"Don't. You heard it from him. You know what happened."

He flit his eyes over her face a moment, she could practically hear the cogs in his head whirr as he reassessed her. "... _He's_ saying that you hit him, is that true?"

Finding her tongue running over her teeth at that; at the patronising question when it was as obvious as the swollen bruise on Kotta's face that they both knew the answer, she quickly quelled the slight spark of anger at it.

Just because Law was the more likely to win a physical confrontation between them didn't make her any less equal to him. So why exactly was she allowing herself to be talked down to like a child by him again?

"Obviously."

Brow perking at her suddenly dry response, Law stood up straight from his lean. "You don't sound very sorry about it."

"Because I'm not." It was the truth.

Stilling in his movement, he looked at her with mild shock pulling at the stoic facade on his face. "...You aren't?"

"No. Not one bit. He deserved it." She answered firmly, shaking off the last of her self-pitying, submissive sulk that had been hounding her since she'd left the infirmary and looking him dead in the eye.

If her fate was already as sealed as she was sure it was from before she had even entered the room, then there was no point in being regretful or demure about it.

Deep down, she knew she had made every effort to get on with everyone on board and that she had never, ever, intended to harm anyone. If  _he_ didn't know her well enough to know even that much about her by now, then perhaps she  _was_ better off leaving before anymore mishaps occurred...as admittedly sad as she may feel to be forced to leave and to have misjudged him so severely.

"...He deserved it, did he?" Law challenged smoothly, uncrossing his arms as he glided across the carpet towards her.

Swallowing as discretely as she could manage as he closed in, she decided it wise to keep her mouth shut as she silently stood her ground, looking up at him at his imposing full height as he came to stop in front of her.

"You used your ability to assault and injure my crewmember, damage my property and you have so little to say in your defence, Nayla?" He asked lowly as she remained quiet.

"I don't  _have_ to defend my actions to you." She refused defiantly, unwilling to play that role.

...

In the long, thick tension that followed in the stiflingly silent room, she awaited the inevitable sinister turn of events and his dark, angry reminder of who he was and that he was in a position of authority on this ship that she  _had_ to respect.

…

She was surprised when instead the corner of his mouth curved up ever so slightly.

"You are to clean every outer panel of this ship, every porthole, every railing, each mast and every sail until they are spotless before sunset tomorrow.  _With_ Kotta."

Unsure she'd heard him correctly for what felt like a long, dumbstruck second, she shook her head, unable to muster a more intelligible response to that other than: "...What?"

"Your punishment."

"You're punishing me?" She asked, her voice an octave higher than she recalled, the simplicity of his words far too good to be true.

"Yes. Punishment is standard when two crewmembers get into fight, isn't it? You should know this by now."

Mind flitting back to a couple of the men getting into a drunken scuffle over some gambling in the rec room a while back and how they'd been sentenced to scrub every ceiling together, she shook her head in confusion.

" _Crewmem-_ "

"It doesn't matter. We discussed this long ago. I told you that although you may not be my crewmember, that I will expect you to follow similar, if not the same, rules as the rest of the crew whilst you are with us...Am I not expected to punish you two for getting into a fight with one another?"

"Well, no, but I-"

"Then it's settled. I recommend getting started exceptionally early, it's a big job, and you'll need to work as a team with him to complete it in time, so try to get along."

Opening and closing her mouth as she realised she'd lost her ability to form a coherent sentence, Nayla felt a sense of utmost relief flood through her, seeming to take all of the tension out of her muscles and make standing feel like a monumental effort.

"Though no one on my crew would dare backtalk me when being reprimanded...I suppose it's no surprise that this is as close as I can expect from  _you_ to abide by the rules." He huffed quietly.

She barely heard the afterthought as she felt her squared shoulders slump, her schooled expression drop, the headache she hadn't even noticed up until now throb heavily...and tears of utmost relief and joy nearly form beneath her closed eyelids.

He trusted she meant no real harm. He trusted her. He  _did_ understand her. He  _did_ know her well enough. He did have at least this much faith in her as a person to know enough about what went on in that room. .She'd been given the benefit of the doubt - even without voicing her version of events. She'd been pitted against one of his crewmembers and hadn't lost. She'd been treated fairly - far more fairly than she could have ever have hoped. She'd been treated as if she were one of his own...it made her feel so unbelievably happy and relieved.

Watching her closely, Law's eyes drifted to the mild discolouration of her wrists as she lifted a hand to her face to rub it tiredly. He couldn't say it didn't make him angry to see it, though he couldn't say he wasn't just as angry to see the mark on Kotta's face...or back...or to have to examine the man's ringing ear to ensure she hadn't perforated his ear drum with the force of that 'slap.'

The full intensity of the severe drain the loss of adrenaline and anxiety caused making itself rapidly known, she glanced up at him as she felt his hands rest to either of her arms and as he leant down.

...

"What were you so frightened of, Nayla?"

...

Pursing her lips together to stop them betraying her at the softness in his voice, she shook her head in refusal to answer, instead pressing her face to his chest to conceal the expression she no longer had any control over.

Brows rising in his surprise as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, he stood still for a moment, unsure if he'd ever seen her this emotional before...Had she really been this worried about him being angry at her? At what he may do or say to her? Did it matter to her this much?...Had she really thought that he'd discard her?...

Sighing as he easily answered that question himself, he reluctantly wrapped his arms around her, soaking in the coldness of her skin from the deck he knew her to be hiding on.

He knew his action was offering some sort of reassurance that he couldn't entirely place his finger on, that it probably wasn't wise to give her it without fully understanding it, that it was the same as a false promise if he misunderstood...but he was sure that whatever he was promising, he could keep.

"...I'm still upset with you, Nayla." He grumbled into her hair.

"I know...Immph sorrefh"

Smiling at her muffled response against his chest, he rest a hand to the back of her head, rubbing it gingerly, letting his fingers slip between her strands to idly run over the scar on the back of her scalp. A habit that he'd formed that he wasn't sure which one of them found more soothing.

"You're sorry that you upset me but you're  _not_ sorry about punching Kotta in the face?" He mused.

"Yepph…and it wasnphh a punmph."

"That's what you said when you 'slapped' Jeff so hard you knocked him overboard." He pressed his lips firmly together to not join her as he heard her giggle at the reminder. "That wasn't supposed to be funny, Nayla."

Chuckling as she only laughed harder, he held her tighter, relieved to hear the sound as he sighed into her hair at the long day she'd given him.

"...Honestly? I'm surprised it took you  _this_ long to finally take a swing at him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ancient throwback but yes, Law did in fact say she would abide by the same rules and be treated similarly to his own crewmembers whilst on board waaay back in chapter 23 when he was establishing their ground rules.
> 
> Heart Pirates Ship - If you give that a quick google or if you have a really good memory of it, you'd know exactly where Nayla was sitting. I spent quite a long time looking at it from the outside and trying to work out what would be where back in earlier chapters when Connor gave her a tour of it.


	78. He hated it

Exhaling in displeasure as sleep gradually and inevitably left him, Law turned his face away from the porthole of his room with a tired scrunch of his eyes at the invasive amount of morning daylight streaming in. Seems he'd forgotten to draw his curtains before settling into bed.

Given the events of the previous night and how much it had disrupted his usual evening routine, he wasn't surprised he supposed. Speaking of which...

He arched a brow and cracked an eye open as he realised the additional weight on his chest, finding Nayla all but curled up on it, still sound asleep. Her arms snuggly around him.

Other eye popping open, he blinked unsurely at the extreme proximity for a moment before resting a hand to the back of her head with a resigned sigh, stroking her hair soothingly and stirring her from her sleep slightly.

He'd long noticed her valiant efforts to keep some measure of distance between them, physically and emotionally, but they had been gradually becoming less and less effective over time, and seemed to have gone out of the window entirely at some point last night.

Where she  _had_ started out sleeping on the pillow beside his six months ago and he would rest a comfortable arm over her side, she'd gradually begun sharing one with him, draping an arm around his waist if she were facing him, allowing him to wrap one tightly around hers if the opposite...but she'd never rest her head to his chest for sleep other than during an occasional snooze on the deck or sofa.

Over time, their amicable distance to one another had become shorter and shorter, and he'd done nothing to stop it, he'd simply silenced the alarms going off in his head.

The alarms were there for a reason he was sure, but everytime he tried to pick apart exactly why they were going off, he found a brutal and worrying honesty in his answer.

They were sounding because he  _should_ be feeling wary and discomforted by Nayla's increasing proximity. He  _should_ be feeling worried, guarded, apprehensive, defensive, perhaps even a little vulnerable. But he didn't.

They were sounding to let him know that now was the time to go with that instinctual, hair trigger-like urge to start putting more distance or barriers between himself and her. But he didn't want to.

He didn't  _want_ to.

The brutal honesty he found himself facing was that he had no desire to stop her and that he enjoyed her growing closeness and her company. Why should he be fearfully pushing her away exactly? Was he that insecure in his own ability to handle the situation? Was he supposed to be doing it to protect her feelings as though  _she_ weren't able to handle the situation? Why  _should_  he be putting up walls in some adolescent display of emotional and mental insecurity?

He could handle it.

Looking at the woman fondly embracing him in her sleep as though he were her teddy bear, Law found himself, yet again, wondering whether to respond to Nayla in a way he felt he  _should,_ or in a way that he  _wanted_ to.

Toying with the idea of saying something or pushing her to a less close personal distance he decided to do neither.

Forcing a reaction to suit something he thought he  _should_  feel but didn't, didn't seem like a mature or reasonable way to behave...It was the conclusion he often came to these days and the one that often resulted in him responding as he  _wanted_ to.

He didn't  _want_ to push her away, he felt no need to...Though he did want to get out of bed.

"Nayla..."

"Hmm?" She mumbled lazily into his chest, an almost purr-like quality to the sound as she enjoyed his fingers in her hair, still more than half asleep.

"When you are done holding me hostage, I would like to get up."

Seeming to have a moment of slow realisation as she pieced together his meaning and how firmly she was holding onto him, she lift her head from his chest, catching his neutral though obviously assessing stare as he seemed to watch her reaction to waking up on his chest carefully.

"Oh...sorry." She offered quietly pulling her arms away and leaning on her side slightly to allow his escape.

Sitting up and peeling the covers off of them, he gave her a pointedly unimpressed look at her overly content, sleepy smile as she held a hand to her mouth to yawn. Not putting nearly as much thought into her behaviour as he had, in fact, it seemed to have lasted all but a split second at best.

Her teasing about his overthinking was probably more accurate than he'd like to admit.

Huffing as she, as usual, immediately slid into the warm spot he left behind with the covers to her chin - blissfully unaware of her impressive bed head, Law made his way into his En Suite.

Thoughts shifting to reflect instead on the turmoil aboard his ship last night, he ran the tap at his sink and stooped to rinse his face with the sharp, awakening tang of cold water that ran before it began to warm to a more comfortable temperature.

He wasn't stupid, he knew Nayla and Kotta's confrontation would eventually happen, it needed to, but perhaps he hadn't expected it to be such an explosive one. Maybe the two of them had remained in such a state of stable antagonism with one another that he'd become too complacent with their situation and had lost focus on it, stopped observing it cautiously as he had been, deeming it unworthy of his attention in the short term as it didn't appear anything would be happening any time soon.

Sighing into the towel he pat his face dry with, Law chose not to bother beating himself up about his mild lapse because he knew that even if he  _had_ seen that fight coming last night, he probably wouldn't have stopped it anyway.

With a ship built to house this many people, he knew long ago that it would be far from realistic to expect everyone to get along at all times. Fights happened. People that lived together in close quarters day in and day out did eventually step on each other's toes and no amount of telling people to get along as if they were children would quell any underlying hostility, it had to resolve itself. And on a submarine full of crewmembers with violent tendencies and long, sometimes stressful hauls at sea? That resolution usually took the form of a fist fight.

One would eventually break out, he'd get annoyed, punishment would be issued - deliberately together, they'd bond through their united suffering under his 'unfair tyranny,' then they'd often become the best of friends afterwards.

...Though a small, self-doubting part of Law questioned whether he should have allowed what happened last night to occur.

Permitting a skirmish for an ultimately better resolution that would build for a stronger, more gelled together crew was a luxury tolerance that he afforded his  _crewmembers_. People who he intended to be on the ship together long term; years, or even the rest of their lives.

Should he have tolerated his crewmember's, Kotta's, physical, emotional and mental suffering for the benefit of hopefully bettering the man's relationship with a woman who was not a part of their crew and would not be with them long term? Had he done the right thing, as captain, to allow a conflict between a crewmember and a temporary visitor? Had it been fair? Had it been at Kotta's expense? Had the visitor been anyone other than Nayla, would he have gotten rid of them before a fight had broken out?

Staring at himself critically in the mirror, Law wondered if it were truly his own, unbiased decisions at play here, or if it were his selfish desire to keep Nayla so that she would continue to aid his ruthless pursuit of Doflamingo's head, or if it were Nayla's increasing emotional and sexual hold on him that had driven his behaviour.

...

He hated this much self-reflection this early in the morning.

"Such a serious look, you thinking this hard already?"

Law slid his gaze off of the glass in front of him to the sleepy-sounding current occupant of his thoughts as she entered the room, stifling another small yawn.

Taking a moment to choose to say nothing, he instead hung the small towel in his hands back to its rail, reaching for his toothbrush instead.

Undeterred by his commonly quiet behaviour when in a more thoughtful mood, Nayla sidled up beside him as he ran it under the tap, put some paste on it and began brushing his teeth, reaching for her own brush and doing the same.

Although still sleepy, she'd woken up feeling well rested, content, happy and grateful to the man beside her for his understanding and reassurance the previous night.

Catching each other's gaze in the mirror in front of them, Nayla smiled widely at him around her toothbrush, getting a questioningly perked brow from Law in response but offering no explanation for her apparent good mood. Though she did allow her line of sight to take its usual, pleasant, scenic morning route.

Rolling his eyes in response to the lustful roam of her gaze down the tattoos of his bare chest, he leant over the sink and spit out his mouthful before looking at her expectantly, wondering what it was that was on her mind, aside from the obvious.

Patiently waiting for her to finish, spit out her paste, rinse her brush and set it back in its place, he met her eye contact for a long while, waiting for her to speak up, her obviously doting gaze and growing smile beginning to make him feel unnerved.

...

"I've never seen anyone this happy to wake up to a full day of punishment. What is it?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to say thank you." She murmured softly, curling her arms around his waist.

"For punishing you?" He reminded dryly, deliberately not returning the embrace and ignoring the warmth of her chest pressing against him through the thin satin of her remarkably short nightdress.

"I guess so." She laughed, leaning up and giving him his soft morning peck on the cheek. "...and for telling those two to keep what they saw to themselves. You didn't have to, it was very kind of you."

He waved a hand dismissively, his other subconsciously curling around her waist. "It's understandable why you'd want to keep it to yourself. It's not pleasant being feared and misunderstood by those around you..."

Realising her gaze had taken on an acute sharpness as she picked up on his all too personal empathy, Law pushed the surfacing childhood memories of encounters with those who felt his syndrome to be contagious back down firmly with a clear of his throat.

"It'd probably only cause an unnecessary panic. You practically had Penguin and Shachi holding each another's hands on the way back to the inn the other night after watching you murder Ori-ya so freely. Inciting any further unnecessary fear of you - although amusing, would probably not do either of us any favours." He chuckled.

"Hmm…" She smiled meekly at the idea, glancing down at his chest.

Detecting the unintentional disappointment he'd caused her at the idea of her friends being scared of her, he continued. "Though, once they  _did_ finally come to the realisation that you were still the same person despite your ability, I'm fairly certain their behaviour would soon dissolve into bets on who could withstand that frightening aura of yours the longest."

Scoffing, she laughed a little at the probably accurate prediction. "You think so? Pen and Shach seemed kinda shaken."

"I'm sure they almost don't believe you're a mercenary at all, the crew still greatly underestimate you. Though I suppose I don't blame them given what limited they've seen of what you're capable of…" He trailed off, wondering if there had ever been a time they'd ever really seen her fight, his mind recalling her at Pugna's battlefield. "...Like a blender making its way through a crowd." He muttered as an afterthought.

"Nice."

Smirking at the mildly insulted look on her face he amended his observation slightly. "A very talented and graceful blender. Even you have to admit that although your kills are fairly merciful they are terribly...gruesome."

"I resent that coming from a man that stuck a marine's severed head to a barrel just the other week." She huffed, starting to leave his hold.

Chuckling he wrapped his other hand around her waist to keep her in place, enjoying her playful offence. "Don't pretend you didn't find that funny." He said lowly.

Her expression cracking as she suppressed a giggle, she rest her hands to the warm flesh of his chest. "Maybe a little...when it started rolling…"

Laughing as he chucked at the memory, she ran her hands up either side of his neck, resting her fingers to his cheeks.

"So, am I back in your good books now?" She asked softly, smiling up at him suggestively.

"You? You were never in them." He scoffed, allowing her to trace his sideburns and the angle of his jaw.

"Well, maybe I'll finally get in there after some punishment...I could suggest a few more fun ways to do it than cleaning your ship though." She purred invitingly, leaning her lips closer to his.

"Like I've said, it's not a punishment if you enjoy it." He mumbled, eyes closing as she kissed him gently, all flirty playfulness gone as she did.

The tender press of her soft lips sent a small tingle down his spine. It felt as though his breath had been partially taken from him as she pulled away from her innocent peck, as though whatever small creature she had caused to nestle in his chest had fluttered its wings.

That was how he could best describe the sensation anyway. At least now he could start to put into words what it felt like.

When it had first happened, the night they had kissed on his deck and he had taken her heart, he hadn't even remotely been able to place a description to it, seeing as it had been so fleeting and his first time experiencing such a thing.

It didn't happen all the time by any means but, occasionally, when she kissed him like that, those small, short, gentle, kind, meaningful little kisses she gave him from time to time, he'd feel it.

He hated it.

The more times he felt it, the stronger and more recognisable it seemed to become, the more it confused him, the more it worried him. Lusty kisses, he understood. Heated, hungry, sexually charged kisses, he understood.

Quickly gripping her chin between his thumb and index finger with an admittedly irritable amount of force, he stopped her advance for another kiss, holding her gaze sternly.

Her surprised brows lowered and her eyes took on a mildly questioning look but she didn't seem concerned by his action in the slightest. If the small smile still on her face were any indication.

...

He could feel the scowl on his face deepen as her smile grew, knowingly. It almost felt like she was inwardly, smugly, mocking him for what she  _knew_ was his inner discomfort at the emotions she provoked in him.

…

He was probably being paranoid and just projecting his own fear of her knowledge onto her.

…

Maybe.

…

He wasn't imagining the way she looked at him though. He noticed it more and more often.

…

Why did she look at him like that? So adoringly.

…

He hated that too.

…

Tiring of their silent staring contest and of the obvious affection for him that was practically radiating off of her, he closed the gap between them, willing the seriousness on his face to enter his voice.

"Stop it, or I'm going to fuck the hell  _and_ all of this mushyness out of you." He muttered darkly.

Relieved to see the softer, more doting edge to her gaze melt into a more amorous, sly expression beneath lidded eyelids, Law released her as she rest a hand to his wrist.

"Are you threatening me or promising me a good time later, sailor?"

Cracking a smirk despite his attempts not to at his alluringly purred new title, he lowered his hand back down to his side. "Both."

"Why not now?" She bit her lip and glanced down at his bare torso again, her fingers tracing lightly over the low waistband of his sweats.

"We've been over this. Punishment first. Then  _this_ punishment later." He said firmly, pushing her hand aside before she could touch anything that may remotely change his mind. "...As adorable as that sulky little pout is Nayla, it's of no use to me whilst I'm having my shower. I recommend you go down for breakfast as quickly as you can, eat well and get started on your day as soon as possible."

Turning away from her, he made his way over to the grandiose bathtub in the corner of the large En Suite, already able to feel her perturbed glare heating the skin of his back. For a woman so used to getting what she wanted through flirtation, seduction and sexual manipulation, he imagined  _his_ ability to reject her advances as he pleased always got under her skin quite a bit.

"You should probably stop staring at me and get going. You're going to need all the energy and time you can get to complete your task today." He warned, a teasing lilt to his tone.

Running her tongue over her teeth at the mocking smirk he shot her over his shoulder as he tucked a thumb into either side of his pants and began to slowly peel them down, Nayla abruptly headed for the door. Unwilling to let him torment her with a view of what he was denying her until she met  _his_ criteria.

"I've seen the boys do this plenty of times already. It's just cleaning at the end of the day and I do that all the time around here anyway." She grumbled, stomping out of the room.

"Oh? Your really think two people, in transit, doing a  _ten_ person job that is usually done  _stationary_ at dock is 'just cleaning,' do you?" Law taunted smoothly after her.

Pausing at the doorway and glancing back at him against her better judgement to see him nude, folding up his pants with a widening grin and an amused glint to his gaze, Nayla pursed her lips.

"...If I had one berri for every time I wanted to knock that expression off your face I'd have more money than if I handed your ass into the marines. Ten times over."

Pulling the bathroom door shut between them with a firm slam, she made her way over to her bureau drawer to look for something practical to wear for her apparently long day, huffing under her breath fondly as she heard Law chuckling through the wood behind her.

* * *

Smiling to herself and raring to get started on exerting her apparently abundant energy on her punishment, Nayla trot down the stairs of the sub feeling high in spirits.

She felt well rested - probably due to the deep sleep she'd earned by worrying herself into exhaustion the night before.

She was in a great mood - there was just something about her interactions with Law, whether they were joking with each other, talking over the mundane points of her work, having incredible sex or even arguing with one another that left her feeling satisfied afterwards.

Snickering under her breath at the look on his face that morning, she tugged the hem of her, decidedly more appropriate, though less comfortable than skirts, shorts down a little as she made her way along the corridor.

Not often, but sometimes, she could see small glimpses of his genuine inner workings. Sometimes, it almost seemed like he was...confused with himself? If confused was the right word for it. He seemed uncomfortable with her genuine adoration of him, like he wasn't sure how he should react or if he should be worried. About it, her or himself.

She didn't really have any shame in it. She  _did_ adore him. For all they'd shared together so far, why shouldn't she? It was perfectly natural and it wasn't something she felt a need to hide from him.

She'd grown very fond of him and had no issue letting him know, though it was probably best not to offer it verbally. She imagined it might put his already overactive thinking habits into overdrive and fry his circuits entirely.

Reaching up to tighten her ponytail, a small snort of amusement escaped her lips at the thought of Law malfunctioning and sparking like a robot suffering an electrical surge.

Though, if he ever  _did_ bother to ask her, she'd have no issue admitting it. Sometimes she wished he would, just so that she could put his mind at ease by clarifying what she felt for him.

To make it clear that she respected and regarded him highly as a man, fighter and captain. To make it clear that she valued his input, opinion, humour, companionship, intelligence and time. To make it clear that she'd grown to shamelessly like him; as a person, a friend and as a generous and passionate lover. To make it clear that she was  _not_  developing an infatuation beyond what they had pre-agreed would be the limits of their relationship and falling hopelessly in love with him like a naive schoolgirl.

'...'

Perhaps if he asked and she had the opportunity to say those things outright, then maybe he would be less concerned about her shows of affection for him. But until he did, she supposed she would keep it to herself. There would probably be nothing less reassuring about a woman's feelings for you than for that woman to  _bring up_  her feelings for you.

'…'

Shaking her head at the irony of how unsettling her telling him how she felt so that he wouldn't feel unsettled about how she felt was, Nayla reached a hand for the mess deck door as she approached it, only now tuning into the louder than usual rumble of excited, wakeful morning chatter of the crew inside.

The smile on her face dropped as she realised, with a deep wave of dread that felt as though someone had doused her with a bucket of ice water, that the excess noise was most likely due to the active rumour mill aboard that seemed to have already picked up on what had happened between her and Kotta.

In all her relief of Law's level-headed understanding the previous night and in all her amusement of his peculiar tendencies that morning, she'd completely forgotten about the overwhelming anxiety she'd felt over the crew finding out about what had happened.

Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, the idea of fleeing the scene and quietly asking Jake for scraps later on once breakfast was over, flit across her mind...but then Law's rule about no one skipping meals, his irritation at her for doing so and her own self-irritation at being too cowardly to face up to the fallout of her actions soon followed.

With a deep breath and and long exhale through her nose, Nayla steeled herself for whatever may come and pushed open the door - perhaps with a little less confidence than her psyche had wanted, but entered the mess hall nonetheless.

Peering around the edge of it with caution, she glanced the room, instantly drawn to the right side of it where the majority of the men, and hence the noise, were as she heard Jeff's loud, hearty laugh.

Him and a small gathering of the crew were crowded onto and standing around the furthest table in the room, tucked into the corner, where Kotta usually preferred to take his meals with the other quieter pirates aboard.

"We're gonna find out eventually, so you may as well just tell us!" She heard Funada yell, getting a round of eager agreements from his seated fellow shipwrights currently sandwiching what she imagined was an extremely grumpy-looking Kotta as he tried to eat. She only knew the man was there because she could just about see the top of his cap past the men stood around his usual table.

Furrowing her brows a little at...whatever it was that was happening there, Nayla decided it was probably an opportune time to quickly get her breakfast, eat and slip back out again with as little interaction as possible. She'd be spending the whole day with Kotta, she'd be able to find out what he'd been being harassed about later.

'Or he'll likely just blame you for it all day with that sarcastic monotone and sourpuss of his.'

Rolling her eyes at that more than probable inner amendment, she slinked over to the open canteen window as discreetly as possible, trying not to draw too much attention from the men in the room.

It seemed as though the crew knew something had happened but didn't have the full picture. It would be wise to leave before they did. It'd be easier to deal with their reactions in small numbers, or individually, rather than all of them at once.

Appetite igniting as soon as she started looking over the tempting spread of cooked delights on offer for today's breakfast, Nayla rest her hands to the metal bars she'd soon be sliding her tray over, the heat from the overhead lamps that kept the food at serving temperature warming them and seeping into her palms pleasantly as she tried to decide on what to have, remembering Law's cryptic tip of needing a considerable amount of energy for her day ahead.

Maybe some porridge if a slow burn of fuel was gonna be needed...though Jake did make the most amazing tasting hash browns she ever did have, maybe that and some sausages, thought it wouldn't be nearly as sensible an option for the physical endurance task Law had set her…

Eyes darting up automatically as she saw a flicker of white in her periphery, she was surprised to have caught Dean's gaze as he walked past the other side of the open window, expecting (or hoping) to perhaps see Jake or one of the other two chefs instead.

Almost seeming just as startled, he slowed in his motion for just a moment, noticing the immediate drop in her features. An unfamiliar sense of insecurity coming from a woman he'd come to know as so brazen, confident and outspoken.

Stopping immediately, he looked her over for a moment, pity panging at his gut at her unsure expression.

Still carrying the dirty pots and pans he'd been on his way to the dishwasher with, he made his way over, offering a small, reassuring smile. "Hey."

"...Morning, Dean..." She replied meekly, returning it before glancing back down at what would have been her shoes guiltily had the bars suspended beneath the window not been there. She was just met with sneak glimpses of her sneakers through the gaps in them, amidst her own broken reflection bouncing off of the well polished chrome. "...I'm sorry."

The chef couldn't help but arch a slightly bewildered brow at that. "...Nayla, what are you apologising to me for, exactly?" He leant forward through the window, glancing to either side of her as if checking to be sure no one else was in earshot before speaking again. "Clobbering Kotta?" He added on quietly.

"Well...not so much th-"

"'Cause to be honest with ya…"

She watched as he leant in closer, carefully holding the dirty pile in his hands aside and glancing around them again. "I'd have clobbered him a helluva lot harder had I been there to hear what he called you." He said sternly.

Blinking at his stern expression and unusually serious tone, Nayla found herself stifling a laugh, her lips poorly suppressing a smile at the thought.

"No, I'm not saying sorry for that...Well maybe, kinda. I mean he is your friend."

"So are you." He added on just as sternly, settling his load to rest on the edge of the canteen window with an emphasising clunk and ignoring her surprised expression and attempt to speak again. "Listen, we're all friends with one another on this crew, for the most part, but it aint acceptable to any of us when one person here wrongs another. Doesn't matter who it is."

Huffing, she smiled, genuinely warmed by what he said. "Well...I was more apologising for the…" She gestured to herself in vague indication of the state he'd seen her in. "...and kinda keeping that a secret from you guys, I guess."

"Pfft, I've seen a lot scarier than you." He dismissed nonchalantly, easily picking up on her genuine guilt at perhaps frightening or offending him and trying to ease it. "Nothing more scary than my own ma when she was royally ticked off and looking to put a spanking down. My ass still aches to this day when I think about it, first person to suffer from phantom buttcheek pain  _and_ ass PTSD." He pointed to himself proudly as though it were an achievement.

Happy to have her laughing more like her usual self at that, he looked at Jake as he spotted him making his way towards them from his side. "Though I tell ya what came close."

"Go on, what was  _nearly_ as frightening as your mom on a spanking mission?" She giggled, enjoying the confusion on Jake's face as he joined the conversation at an apparently very odd time.

"The day Bepo got eyebrows, glasses, a tash and a beard  _shaved_ into his fur when he'd fallen asleep. I've  _never_ seen Captain so mad."

Gasping at the thought, Nayla pressed a hand to her mouth, aghast at the image of Bepo missing half the fur on his head and at Law's reaction to the poor bear's appearance - and distress. "No…"

"Oooh, yes." Jake chimed in, slinging his dish towel over his shoulder, thankful to be off of the...mom-spanking topic? "That was a day. Captain was  _not_ happy. It took ages to regrow that fur fully too, even with Captain's Devil Fruit. Poor thing looked like a complete idiot for weeks." Jake tutted, glancing at Law's table at said navigator with a sympathetic shake of his head.

"Speaking of  _idiot._  Who was stupid enough to do that to Law's beloved, personal teddy bear?"

Sharing a knowing look between himself and the chef beside him, Jake then looked pointedly over her shoulder. "I'll give ya one guess." He muttered.

"Morning, lil lady!"

"Morning." She replied, turning to look behind her at the obliviously joyous face of the Heart Pirates' resident womaniser as he greeted her happily and starting to feel a little apprehensive about what he and the crew did and didn't know about last night as she stole a glance at the table he'd just come from.

"You're never gonna believe this -  _you'll_ get a kick out of it though!" He grinned widely in amusement, slinging a heavy arm over her shoulders.

"What?" She tried to sound as innocent and neutral as possible until she could work out more.

"Captain's personal brown-noser, that ass-" He gestured behind him towards Kotta's table with his thumb. "- _actually_  got what was coming to him for once!" He cackled loudly, obviously getting a huge amount of satisfaction out of the thought.

"Whaddya mean?" She asked cautiously, casting an unintended, wary, sideways glance at Dean which she soon realised was a mistake as Jake cocked his head as he noticed it.

"He-he came in here-" Jeff took a moment to compose himself between snickers. "Oh man, ahem. He came in here with a massive bruise on his face, tucked himself into the corner and figured we wouldn't notice."

"A bruise, huh?...From what?" She dared prod, noticing Dean take an abrupt leave from the conversation with his load as Jake continued to stare at him curiously, obviously aware of some secret between them.

"Obviously pissed someone off enough to get a smack to the face. Surprised it didn't happen sooner - but still!  _That_ guy? Captain's golden boy? Get into a scuffle on board? Unheard of! " He waved a hand at that, furrowing his brows and glancing her up and down as he noticed her unusual dress choice for the day.

"Oh...is that right?" Nayla wasn't sure what to say, acutely aware of his stare as she tugged her shorts down a little.

"Well yeah, of course. The guy is a professional suck-up, not a troublemaker. He still won't tell us who he got in a fight with though. Not like we won't figure it out when we see who gets punished for it...What's with the get-up?" He finally asked, tugging her ponytail slightly in illustration.

Tutting and pulling away from him, she reached her hands up to redo her loosened hair. "Just felt like wearing shorts and putting my hair up is all. Can't I mix it up a little?"

"I guess, only time I ever see you with it up is cooking or training though, maybe during chores…" He muttered somewhat suspiciously, staring at her shorts as though mourning her usual skirt and trying to get an answer out of them at the same time.

"It is a little unusual, hun. You doing something different this morning?" Jake added, watching more closely than she was comfortable with, his gaze seeming fixated on her hands.

"Well, sorta…I'm famished ya know, this smells great." She smiled, finishing retying her hair and grabbing a tray.

"Well what are you up to this early? Training?" Jeff rubbed his chin, refusing to take the hint to move on from the topic.

"Sweetie, hey! Get in on this!"

She'd never been so grateful to see Connor bounding up to them with his wide, toothy grin and a huge wad of cash fanned out in his hands. "Who do  _you_ think got into a fight with Kotta last night?"

Laughing at his obvious glee at his ludicrous betting pool, she tried to humour him as naturally as possible, briefly wondering if  _her_ name had come up as a possible candidate to place money on.

"Um, hmm, well let's see. Who are people currently going for?"

"Well  _I_ have my money riding on Jean Bart. He's the only one that hangs with Kotta in that lounge downstairs, probably got sick of his shit and slapped him down." He nudged Jeff with a wolfish grin. "This one thinks it was Dean."

She blinked in shock at Jeff, beckoning an explanation for his betting choice.

"Well, Dean's in the infirmary with him a lot and he's been kinda off today…" He explained monotonously, clearly uninterested and not sharing in the humour anymore.

Connor's smile fell at the unexpectedly unenthused tone of his friend, following his gaze to Nayla's empty tray. "...You had a lesson with Kotta last night, right?"

"...Right." Nayla answered him, unnerved by his abrupt change of tone to match Jeff's and pretty sure she just felt the prickle of sweat on the back of her nec.

…

The silence and scrutiny from the three men around her was starting to grow uncomfortable as she waited for someone to say something, unwilling to do so in case she somehow further incriminated herself.

...

"Those weren't there yesterday. Where did you get the bruises, lil lady?"

She whipped her head back down to look at her hands holding onto the edge of her tray in surprise, unsure of why she hadn't thought it important enough to cover the wrists Kotta had left marks on from his tight grip. Maybe a mixture between thinking there'd be no point in hiding them as the crew would have already known by now and outright forgetting about them with all that had gone on?

Startled by the loud metallic clang of something being slammed down on the other side of the canteen window, Nayla watched as Jake disappeared from view, striding quickly to and through the double doors that separated the galley from the mess hall.

Shocked at the look of thunder on the usually good-natured man's face as he stormed past them, she belatedly processed his intent, reaching a hand out to stop him as she saw the direction he was starting to head in.

Beaten to it before she could open her mouth, Connor roughly grabbed onto the chef's arm pulling him back to stop him from doing or saying anything too rash.

Grudgingly, the chef shared a look with him, seeming to cool off a little...only to get aggravated again when  _Connor_ began making a beeline for Kotta's table instead. "Oi!" He called after him angrily, following.

"Wait a minute!" Nayla called out, relieved this time when Jeff grabbed both of them by a shoulder.

She relaxed a little, glad that at least one of the three, surprisingly him, had enough sense to settle the other two down.

It was short lived as Jeff pulled them both back and launched himself between them with ill intent towards Kotta's table.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Nayla called out more forcefully, pushing past Connor and Jake and grabbing onto his arm, drawing the attention of crewmembers at nearby tables as he dragged her along behind him. "I said WAIT! Would you stop it?!" She called out, digging her heels into the floor as he ignored her but thankful to notice Penguin and Shachi getting up from their table in the distance as they spotted the situation unfolding.

"Don't be an idiot! STOP ALREADY!"

The attention of Kotta and the other men around his table were now on them as she grew louder in her attempts to derail an unnecessary confrontation.

"Be quiet Nayla, go get some breakfast or something." Jeff said lowly, shaking her off of his arm as her grip grew slack in her surprise of his hostile tone and the way he addressed her.

She looked over at Kotta, catching his eye for the first time that day. His face it's usual neutral, uncaring and unsurprised expression, as though he expected this kind of response eventually. The bruise she'd given him blooming a much darker and more obvious shade this morning, far larger than intended (though admittedly, she hadn't intended to bruise him at all) and well beyond being hidden beneath the shadows of his cap.

Watching as Jeff slammed his palms down onto the opposite side of the redhead's table to draw his attention and leant intimidatingly close to the man, Nayla sighed in frustration, resigning from her attempts to prevent the apparently inevitable. It seemed Jeff was adamant on giving his two cents no matter what she said.

"...You think picking fights with women is ok, do you?" Jeff growled lowly through gritted teeth, watching in irritation as Kotta cooly finished his mouthful and met his gaze without shame and ignoring the surprised looks from the men around him as they came to the realisation that it had been Nayla he'd gotten into a brawl with.

"You say that as though she were a woman that weren't more than capable of defending herself." He replied dryly, calmly scooping up another forkful of eggs from his plate.

"Should that even matter?" Jeff hissed, leaning in closer to his face.

"It should. Spare me your false chivalry. As if you wouldn't fight an enemy if they were female, or as if you don't train with her every other day."

There was a low "Oooooo" from the men sitting at the table as Jeff abruptly slapped the fork out of Kotta's hand before it could reach his mouth, letting it clatter to the table loudly, yellow flecks of egg spilling haphazardly across its surface.

Other than the visibly clenched jaw and slight edge to Kotta's gaze as he looked back up at Jeff from his spilt food, he kept his composure.

"That, is an  _enemy_. That, is when she is my  _training partner_. She was neither of those when  _you_ put your hands on her!"

Inwardly grinding his teeth as his irritating morning bubbled to a head, Kotta simply felt unwilling to justify his actions, or clarify he'd never actually struck Nayla, or that he'd simply been restaining her from striking  _him_ again. In his opinion, he owed nobody an explanation of his actions other than his captain.

"She hit me first." He stringently replied, getting a roughly grabbed handful of the front of his boilersuit in rapid response.

"Don't say that to me like that's an excuse!"

"Oi oi oi!" One of the crewmembers exclaimed, getting up from his seat beside Jeff as he realised his close proximity to a rapidly approaching fight.

"Knock it off!" The one beside Kotta chimed in, getting up as well as the medic was pulled to his feet.

"That's enough! Break it up! NOW!" Penguin's seldom used authoritative voice silenced the rabble as he shoved between the men around Kotta and roughly pulled Jeff's hand's from the man's clothing with a sharp glare.

Leaning back with a displeased frown, Jeff glanced over at Shachi as he sidled up beside Penguin with his arms crossed, looking equally angry with him behind his sunglasses.

Crossing his own arms and running his tongue over his teeth, Jeff looked between them in the tense silence for a long moment before speaking.

"...You bastards knew about this, didn't you."

"Stop making this worse, Captain has already resolved this." Shachi evaded, resting a hand on Kotta's shoulder as he saw the medic's clenched fists in his periphery.

"How could I make this worse?" Jeff scoffed, rolling his eyes arrogantly and ignoring Kotta's icy glare as he took Shachi's non-verbal cue to sit back down in his seat.

"Do you think what you're doing right now is helping anyone?" Penguin gestured behind him at the ironically central, yet currently forgotten, person in the midst of it all.

Seeming to only just remember Nayla was there, Jeff turned to look at her as she rubbed her forehead exasperatedly.

"...Kotta apologised last night. We've already smoothed things over and we'll be punished for our actions today. It's all done already."

Aggravation reducing a little at her saddened tone, Jeff relaxed his stance somewhat, uncrossing his arms. "...That's still bullshit, what the hell are  _you_ being punished for, lil lady?" He muttered bitterly.

"Have you seen my face you fucking idiot?" Kotta snipped indignantly, uncharacteristically swearing in his own anger at Jeff's manhandling.

"Have  _you_ , you ugly FUCK?!" Jeff snapped back, his rage reigniting as the medic spoke.

"ENOUGH!" Penguin bellowed, pinching the bridge of his nose at the immaturity and not particularly wanting to break up a fist fight this early in the morning.

"This isn't the same as a tussle between two members, that's just funny. I don't find  _this_ funny at all. You tell me you felt any differently to me when  _you_ found out who he'd been fighting with Pen and I'll call you a fucking liar."

Pursing his lips together tightly at Jeff's challenge, Penguin glanced down at the medic as he looked up at him. "...It doesn't matter what I felt. Captain has already dealt with this, get over it and let it go."

"Like hel-"

"Jeff…" Feeling a gentle hand on his arm he regretfully caught Nayla's pleading gaze. "...You're proving everything Kotta said to me last night, right. That me being here is gonna cause problems. So, if you really wanna get back at him, or help me stay here, then just let it go and prove him wrong..."

"I couldn't have put it better myself."

The brief contemplation flickering over Jeff's features was cut short as they looked towards the doors of the mess hall at Law. His dry, displeased tone hanging heavily in the abnormal hush and punctuated by his slow, purposeful strides as he made his way over to them.

As if shaking off a momentary freeze, the excess crewmembers that had gathered around Kotta's usual table for what they had originally thought would just be harmless banter scrambled back to their own seats as their clearly peeved captain approached. Although, standing his ground stubbornly, Jeff remained where he was.

Sharing a brief look with Nayla as he stopped beside her, Law registered her worry. Likely, she was hoping he wouldn't begin agreeing with Kotta's sentiment and consider her the root source of the discord on board his ship.

He didn't.

With a little perspective of the bigger picture, it had actually been Kotta's unnecessary remarks that had been the root cause.

"If you wish to question my handling of the issue, Jeff, feel free to discuss it with me privately in my quarters." Law's low, challenging tone offered the false invitation. The threatening bite of his reminder of absolute authority sending a slight shiver down Nayla's spine, and she wasn't even the one in trouble. "Otherwise, if you so much as utter another word or do anything further to undermine me or cause an unnecessary confrontation with your crewmate, you will find yourself joining him and Nayla for their punishment today."

Jeff turned from his captain's steely gaze back to the medic in his seat, the man now casually taking a bite of his breakfast with a sly, victorious, taunting smirk.

Clenching his jaw at that, Jeff stared at him silently as he ate smugly...

"Jeff!" Law shouted angrily as Kotta sat up spluttering from the plateful of eggs Jeff had just introduced him to face first with a sharp slap to the top of his head.

"Worth it."


End file.
